Sudan’s struggle to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene


Devdiscourse News DeskDevdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 08-10-2021 12:50 IST | Created: 13-03-2018 21:10 IST
Sudan’s struggle to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene
The Sudanese Government and the United Nations had announced the allocation of $1 billion for water funding. (Representative image)
  • Country:
  • Sudan

Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene are universally accepted as being essential for human life, dignity and human development. Sudan is geo-politically well located, bridging the Arab world to Africa. Its large size and extension from south to north provides for several agro-ecological zones with a variety of climatic conditions, rainfall, soils and vegetation.

In Sudan, only 68 percent of households have access to basic improved water, with disparities in access between rural and urban populations at 64 and 78 per cent respectively.

There are also disparities between states, with just around a third of households having access to safe water in Red Sea, White Nile and Gedarif compared to 90 per cent access in Khartoum and the Northern States.

Lack of funding, inadequate management and community participation are among the main reasons behind the system’s low functionality levels. An estimated 13 million people are still using unimproved drinking water sources.

About 32 per cent of the population is drinking contaminated water from unimproved water sources. The majority of these water sources are mainly surface water while some are groundwater sources (open wells and contaminated groundwater aquifers).

Secondary sources of chemical and bacteriological contamination are seriously degrading the quality of water sources. These are mainly coming from industrial waste, domestic and commercial waste (mainly excreta, urine and grey water) which are washed into surface water bodies or injected into the groundwater aquifers. National and state level acts to prevent these pollutants exist, but needs to be activated.

Sudan suffers a clear shortage of pure water in its rural districts. The states of Western Sudan are the most to suffer from drinking water crisis, particularly in the summer.

That is due to the absence of water sources other than boreholes which dry up after sometime. As well, inability to store rain water is responsible for water shortage in that part of the country.

Sudan’s sanitation sector is also facing some serious challenges. Due to these challenges strategic objectives; raising the number of persons with access to clean and safe drinking water to 82 percent and access to hygiene services to 67 percent by the end of 2016 could not be achieved.

At the moment one out of three persons has access to clean safe water and one out of three persons does not have a sewage disposal service. About 50 per cent of the country’s primary schools, in rural areas in particular, neither have sources of clean drinking water nor sewage systems.

Impact of scarcity of water on Socio-economic condition

  • Water has a tremendous bearing on the situation of poverty in Sudan as the majority of local rural communities depend in their livelihoods on water for their livestock and to irrigate their small domestic farms.
  • Scarcity of water may oblige families to spend 50 per cent of their income to buy water from vendors.
  • Scarcity of water has adverse effects on education in rural areas, because children have to spend a lot of time to bring water to their homes. This leads the children either to refrain from going to school or quit education after enrollment.
  • Poor water sources incur diseases, among children frequently. Diarrhea in North Sudan is a major problem for the children. According to the Federal Ministry of Health and WHO as of 18 August 2017, 30,762 cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) including 657 related deaths have been reported in the 18 states in the country since August 2016. 
  • A lot of tribal clashes are directly connected with the scarcity of water sources, in particular between pastoralists and sedentary farmers.

Institutional reform aimed at sustainable water facilities is one of the preoccupations and worries that should be taken into consideration. The specification of roles and responsibilities among federal, regional and municipal authorities and with the local communities should be clear with respect to the management, operation and sustainability of projects.

The Sudanese Government and the United Nations had announced the allocation of $1 billion for water funding. The announcement was made during a conference on water problems in Darfur, held in Khartoum in 2011.

Some 65 water projects were to be funded over six years within this endeavor. The projects cater for drinking water, sewage systems and projects for integrated rural development in the domains of agriculture, livestock and the environment.

In 2015 the Government of Sudan (GoS) has received financing from the African Development Fund (AfDB) toward the cost of the Water Sector Reforms & Institutional Capacity Development Program. Its objective is to contribute to building a resilient and sustainable water and sanitation sector that meets the needs of all users or beneficiaries in Sudan in particular West Kordofan State with a view to contribute to peace building, improving livelihoods and building resilience against climate variability and changes.

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