Boost for water and sanitation

The Danish government is to launch a four-year water sector support programme to help Zambia provide increased access to safe water and sanitation, improving the food security and health of low-income rural and urban residents. The K162 billion (US $35 million) project will be implemented by the ministries of local government and housing, and energy and water development. Local authorities, who are mandated to provide water and sanitation services to residents in their jurisdiction, will benefit from the new programme, which is aimed at helping government decentralise the planning and implementation of water and sanitation activities. It is hoped the programme will help government meet some of the UN Millennium Development Goals, such as halving the number of people without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015. About 30 percent of Zambia's population currently has access to clean water and sanitation. At a recent meeting to discuss the project, donors, civil society and local authorities welcomed the initiative. However, German technical co-operation manager Roland Werchota warned against merely pumping financial and material resources to local authorities whose corporate governance records were poor. "Investment is not all you need. Adherence to corporate governance to ensure resources disbursed yield intended results [is critical,]" Werchota said.