Water and sanitation access is a critical indicator in the development of any country. Having been recognized as a major factor of development since the 1970s, countries have put and continue to put in resources, measures, and policies towards the provision of water and sanitation access to all. One important process and policy has been the recognition of the human right to water (Langford and Russel, 2017). Despite the pervasive importance of water, the Millennium Development Goals omitted water as an independent goal, only appearing explicitly in one target under goal 7 (MDGs, 2000). However, by the end of the 1st quarter of the 21st century, many countries, particularly in the global South, had not achieved the goal to half the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on the other hand, have explicitly recognized water under Goal number 6 (SDG, 2015).
According to the American Sociological Association (2012), the global South refers broadly to the region of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, while the global North refers to the countries in the region of Europe, North America, and Australia. This paper adopts a similar description in defining the two regions and in the discussions.
Evidently, the countries in the global North, in most cases referred to as developed countries, have achieved or are on track to achieve safely managed water and sanitation services for all. In countries such as Russia and the UK, the coverage of water and sanitation services is at 99%, with the remaining proportion lacking access due to other factors such as homelessness. This is not mean that those who are homeless totally lack safe drinking water or proper sanitation services. While they have their share of challenges in water resource management, drinking water and sanitation access is definitely not one of these challenges.
On the contrary, in the global South, citizens are faced with enormous water challenges. Barbier (2019), in his book “Water Paradox,” notes that one-third of the world’s population lives in water-scarce countries. Most of which are in the global south. Further, the population in the global south continues to expand exponentially, posing serious food and water access challenges. Presently, 35%, 42%, and 40% of people in East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are affected by water scarcity in food production. (Barbier, 2019). In Kenya, only 30.9% of the population has access to safely managed water access. It is much more dire in rural areas, with 18.2% having access to safely managed water services. Unfortunately, 21.7% use water from surface water sources which are highly polluted by industries and agriculture inputs. (KNBS, 2019).
Given this and many more challenges, as we start the second quarter of implementation of the SDGs, the global south will require diverse support from the global North towards achieving SDGs 6.1 and 6.2. Arguably, achieving these two targets will have a ripple effect on at least 5 other goals (UNDP, 2016). While this can be considered to be an untimely time due to the ripple effect of the COVID-19 epidemic and the ongoing Ukraine - Russia war, lessons on the need for water, sanitation, and hygiene may be an indicator of the need for global support to provide more sustainable safely managed water and sanitation. Pragmatically, what pivotal strategies should be put in place by the global North to support the global South to achieve the set-out SDGs? This paper provides some solutions taking this into consideration and looking at the timeline set for 2030.
Strategies for water and sanitation support
The global south countries are commonly referred to as third-world countries (American Sociology Association, 2012). These countries have huge inequalities in access to most services, such as health, education, and energy, among others. Water and sanitation inequalities are serious despite most of them being signatories to the UN Human Right to Water (UN,2010). For example, the Kenyan constitution in 2010, article 43d under the economic and social rights states that every person has a right to clean and safe water in adequate quantities. (WASREB, 2016).
On the other hand, richer countries have greater water productivity in terms of the value of the production gained from water use compared to poor countries. Productivity in developed countries in the last decade was almost 50 dollars, with productivity in developing countries less than 10 dollars (Barbier, 2019). To reduce these inequalities, enhance productivity, and expand water and sanitation services to their fast-urbanizing towns, the global North can provide the following support:
First is water governance support. Many countries in the global south are faced with unique governance challenges. While these challenges range from political governance to local governance, water resource governance will be paramount to be able to make sound decisions on the management of water resources. This support entails enhancing the three pillars of water governance, which include effectiveness, efficiency, trust, and engagement (OECD, 2015). Due to low water management capacity, water utilities in urban and rural areas lack efficiency, even in situations where there are resources and sound government policies to provide water services. In Nigeria, for example, while state governments have a lot of resources from fossil fuel proceeds, corruption and lack of political will to implement programs that benefit communities is a huge barrier.
Second, the global south requires support in knowledge transfer. Investment in education in third world countries is limited to primary and secondary level education. Access to tertiary education is a reserve of a few, particularly those from privileged backgrounds. Further, natural science in tertiary institutions is not common, and those that offer have limited capacity. In this light and to enhance water resource management, knowledge of natural science is paramount. This support includes partnerships with local universities for technical training in water resources, policy, and management. For example, in the implementation of water safety plans to enhance the monitoring of water quality, local understanding is paramount (Omar, 2016). This can be a serious hindrance with low capacity.
Thirdly, financing is critical in expanding water and sanitation infrastructure. The financing gap in the global South is huge; however, with the support of the global South, the gap is not unbridgeable (Annamraju et al., 2001). Globally, 23 trillion dollars is required to finance water and sanitation. Most of these investments are concentrated in South America and Asia (Booz and Allen,2007). Further, in South Africa, it is estimated that 33 billion rands are required every year to close the water infrastructure funding gap over the next 10 years (DWS, 2018). Further, In Kenya, the Water Services Regulatory Board (2016) estimates that the country required 1.7 billion US dollars cumulatively to support water supply. Unfortunately, the central government budget is only able to provide 592 billion. As such, the global south can support countries in the global North to identify innovative financing models such as borrowing from the international bond market and providing subsidy bases commercial financing. For example, through the World Bank’s Output-based aid program, water utilities in Kenya are able to borrow from the private sector since the program provides a guarantee and a subsidy component.
Finally, technological transfer in water supply and sanitation is invaluable. One major characteristic of countries in the global north is technological advancement. In water supply and sanitation, the Global North has sophisticated technologies in natural sciences, climate monitoring and prediction, flood control, and water quality. On the contrary, the global south nation lacks the technology and capacity to help them understand and study water resources and climate catchment processes that can help make sound decisions. To achieve safely managed water supply and sanitation services for all, the global south will need to adopt such technology to enhance water management. For example, Japanese technology in developing water treatment plants is invaluable to ensuring sustainability in countries in the global south. Further, technology in monitoring groundwater provided by the British Geological Society can support many counties in the global south to better manage their groundwater resource.
Conclusion
The global North comprises developed countries, while the global South comprised developing countries. While water resources are intertwined and finite, supporting each other for better management and access to water resources is critical. In a way, this has been seriously highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. To achieve global security and water security for all, there is a need for continuous support from the global north to the global south. This support can be provided in four ways. This is through water governance, knowledge transfer, innovative financing option, and technological transfer. At the same time, the global south has to take responsibility for the poor political system that yields corruption and huge inequalities in water resource management.
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