Agriculture minister John Mutorwa said at the 9th Water and Sanitation Sector Joint Annual Review in Windhoek that Namibia failed to meet targets set for sanitation although it had managed to provide water supply to 87 percent of households by 2015,
The annual review seeks to facilitate dialogue for the water and sanitation sector stakeholders to discuss achievements and challenges encountered from 2013 until now.
The minister bemoaned the disparity of water and sanitation service coverage between urban and rural is cause for concern.
A 2013 health survey said for sanitation the coverage is 73.1 percent for urban and 22.7 percent for rural.
“Access to water has increased overally, even if sanitation remains – despite our genuine efforts – the neglected stepchild of this country,” Mutorwa said.
He also said the challenge now lies with lack of progress on sanitation, with only 34% of the population having access to improved sanitation as indicated by the the survey.
Mutorwa said the sanitation and hygiene promotion should adopt community-led approaches that empower whole communities to collectively change the sanitation and hygiene behavior.
“If sustainability aspects are not duly considered, there is considerable risk of slippage on the gains made in extending these services; hence comprehensive efforts should be made to address the issue of sustainability,” he urged. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
