Sanitation facillities severely lacking - UNICEF

Ethiopia severely lacks sanitation facilities, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday, adding that a mere six percent of the population have access to basic sanitation facilities - fuelling diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases, while less than a quarter has access to clean water. Hans Spruijt, head of water and environmental sanitation for UNICEF Ethiopia, told IRIN he believed the situation in Ethiopia had got worse because of a lack of commitment by previous governments. He said that addressing the water crisis in the country had "fallen between the cracks". Calling for emphasis to be given to water sanitation as immunisation, he told IRIN: "It is the cause of debilitating diseases for the majority of children. That is how serious a lack of sanitation and clean water is. It also affects malnutrition. Worm infestation and diarrhoea are the exact opposite of food intake, so it is one of the most important factors of malnutrition." Up to 70 percent of transmissible diseases are due to dirty water or lack of sanitation, according to UNICEF. It was for this reason that the UN has underscored the importance of safe clean water by calling for the number of people without clean water to be halved by 2015 - a Millennium Development Goal. Spruijt said that by 2020 a "significant improvement" could be made by enhancing access to sanitation for 100 million slum dwellers worldwide, but more needed to be done in Ethiopia. At the moment, the Ethiopian government is striving to improve water and sanitation conditions, but acknowledges it is a gargantuan task that needs massive financing from international donors. Government officials from the Ministry of Water Resources told IRIN that a 15-year plan aims to utilise the potential within the country. The scheme, which would require some US $7.6 billion, will harness the country's rivers and aquifers. It will also promote water-harvesting schemes for domestic use. At a recent conference attended by 1,000 delegates in the capital, Addis Ababa, experts said Africa was facing an enormous water crisis afflicting 300 million people. The UN Economic Commission for Africa stated that the lack of clean water and sanitation claimed 6,000 lives a year. Water scarcity was also rapidly increasing the dangers of "social and political conflict" among booming city populations, senior UN officials warned. They said although water was in abundant supply on the world's poorest continent, it was poorly managed and was fuelling a catastrophic crisis. Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), said failing to utilise water effectively would undermine important economic and political strides made on the continent. "This economic recovery could be in peril if Africa fails to manage its water resources efficiently and equitably," Tibaijuka told the conference.