Press release – for immediate release

NZ Government needs to do much more to alleviate world water crisis

For 22 March 2007

On World Water Day (March 22nd) an estimated 1.1 billion people will be unable to find safe water to drink.

“For many people in the world getting water for the most basic of needs is a daily struggle,” says Council for International Development (CID) Executive Director, Rae Julian.

“An estimated one billion people are still without adequate and safe water. Ten million children die from preventable illnesses each year – many as a result of poor quality water and sanitation. This shows a need for much more aid.”

“Our government does not give its fair share of international aid despite, in 1990, signing up the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve extreme poverty by 2015. With our aid at just 0.27 percent of Gross National Income, New Zealand is well off target to achieving the internationally-agreed goal of giving 0.7 percent of GNI in aid by 2015.”

“One of the specific MDGs is to halve the number of people who don’t have access to safe water or adequate sanitation. Unfortunately progress has been slow and this goal is in danger of not being met.”

Rae Julian says that New Zealand aid is clearly effective but much more is needed.

“When funding has been made available, the government and NGOs have worked well together to help provide access to water.”

CID represents 88 New Zealand-based international development agencies, many of which are involved in helping provide developing communities with access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and irrigation. Much of this work is done in cooperation with the government through NZAID.

Some of the current projects include:

* Christian World Service and NZAID are funding the Zimbabwe Council of Churches to enable women in the dry south western areas of the country to harvest rain. The programme provides materials and enables women to build and maintain tanks. Despite the turmoil in the country, fresh water has illness and saved women from walking many kilometres to fetch it.

* UNICEF New Zealand and NZAID are supporting a Water and Sanitation Project in Lao PDR to provide safe water, sanitation facilities and improved hygiene practices. In Laos only 30 percent of primary schools have access to clean water and toilets causing serious health problems for children. Childhood diarrhoea is the second highest cause of child mortality in the country. In parts of the country, girls don’t get to primary school as chores such as collecting water from distant supplies force them to work instead of attend school.

* SurfAid is working with communities in the Mentawai and Nias Islands to bring better quality water, sanitation and hygiene practices to 53 villages with a population of more than 37,000. Children on Nias Island typically spend 2-3 hours a day carting water. Following the March 2005 earthquake there was an immediate need for reconstruction of latrines and improvement in water provision.

* Childfund New Zealand has built a borehole and two shallow wells close to villages of Emali in Kenya as part of an ongoing project to provide water in the region. Before the new wells, Maasai women spent six hours carrying water in the heat of the day. Now the wells have reduced the time taken to collect water to as little as 30 minutes a day making a dramatic impact on the lives of these women. With a source of readily available clean water and extra time, the women are now growing additional food and running micro-enterprise projects to earn an income for their families.

* World Vision and the Government have worked together on 17 international water projects in the past three years. One is in western Honduras where families grow mainly corn and sorghum for their own use. The project involves constructing microdams and installing irrigation systems to alleviate problems of drought and erratic rainfall. About 285 farming families directly benefit from the project.

* The Oxfam Water for Survival Programme has expanded in recent years with projects not only in Africa but particularly in the Pacific and East Asia. The programme provides communities with the tools and training they need to create solutions to their water programmes through a combination of local ownership, technical assistance and practical solutions.

“These programmes show the real difference New Zealand aid has made to the lives of people in poor countries. But our Government can do much more and we call on it to keep its promises by committing to give 0.7 percent of national income to aid by 2015,”says Ms Julian.

ENDS

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