Developing a U.S. Strategy of Water and Sanitation: Water for the Poor Report

Thanks as well to the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Center of Strategic and International Studies for working with us to organize today’s meeting. And finally, thanks to all of you. We are here to learn from you, so I am particularly grateful that you took time out of your busy schedules to be with us. The United States has always been committed to international water issues. This commitment is now growing in exciting new directions.

As most of you know, little over a year ago, President Bush signed into law the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005. The Act made achieving the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation a priority of U.S. foreign assistance.I’m sure many of you can recite these by heart:

•  By 2015, to reduce by half the number of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water; and
•  By the same time, reduce by half the number of people without access to basic sanitation.

Remarkably, these are the only goals from the Millennium Declaration that have been enshrined into U.S. law. The Act also asked the Secretary of State, working closely with USAID and other U.S. technical agencies, to develop and implement a strategy to provide affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries.

In other words, the Act asked us to develop a unifying framework for how the United States will work on water. Last June, we completed the first report on this strategy, which defined U.S. goals on water and identified several key areas where the U.S. will focus its efforts.

The 2006 report was not intended as a final statement on how the United States will address the water challenge. Instead, it was the beginning of a long-term process to develop and implement a strategy to improve U.S. efforts on international water issues.

The reality is we don’t have all the answers because these are extremely challenging and difficult problems. So we are looking at the Water for the Poor Act as a continuing obligation to build and implement a strategy that will deliver results on the ground.

Over the past year, we have been working hard to fill gaps in the previous report. I would like to highlight two areas in particular:. he first is metrics for monitoring and evaluating progress. Most of us feel comfortable counting the number of wells we’ve dug, or the number of feet of pipe laid, but how do we assess the long-term impact of these activities on human health or economic growth?How do we measure the contributions of activities aimed at improving governance; activities like utility reform, public participation, and land tenure?

In many cases, good answers didn’t exist. So, over the last year, the United States launched an effort with a number of donors throughout the world to exchange information on monitoring and evaluation and to begin to develop a robust set of indicators that can measure progress in the sector.The second area I would like to highlight is our efforts to consult with developing country governments and civil society groups.

This past year, we asked Embassies and USAID Missions overseas – working with local governments and civil society groups – to conduct their own assessment and to tell us what conditions are like in their host country, what are the key impediments to addressing water and sanitation issues, and where the opportunities exist to strengthen U.S. engagement.

We received responses from our Embassies and USAID Missions in over 60 countries. Governance came up again and again. Things like the need for central institutions to better manage water and sanitation funding, improving management and technical capacity at the local level, and improving trans-boundary conflict management and resolution.

We also heard of the need to increase private investment and promote local financing, such as providing credit to local water companies to expand potable water access to small towns.The health challenge is also significant. There is a need to prevent use of contaminated groundwater from shallow wells, improve household water disinfection practices, and increase hygiene awareness.

These are just some of the issues we have attempted to work into our strategy. In addition to developing the strategy, there are many other on-the-ground accomplishments in 2006 that have taken place. Just a few of them are:

Approximately 210,000 people in 129 communities in Burkina Faso have received clean water for school children and residents as part of a joint Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID initiative to improve the health and educational status of rural girls. The U.S. Geological Service performed water resource evaluations of three Cape Verde watersheds and provided critical information for assessing water availability and water resources development.

With support from USAID, CDC, and the Department of State, Population Services International sold over 23,000 bottles of chlorine solution per day in 18 countries in Africa and Asia – enough to provide 12.5 million people with two liters of safe drinking water every single day.

With assistance from the U.S. Trade and Development Administration, the Shanghai Water Service Assets Operation and Development Company, Ltd. announced the issuance of China’s first-ever infrastructure revenue bond to support city water and wastewater treatment facilities.

And every day, Peace Corps volunteers around the world work to build potable water systems and latrines, benefiting thousands of people in countries ranging from Bolivia to Uganda. Our goal, however, is to do better. That’s why today’s meeting is so important. We don’t have all the answers. We can learn from you. My hope is that you will use today as an opportunity to tell us what approaches have worked for you and to help us think through how we can work better to get water and sanitation to the millions currently without.

I’m sorry that I won’t be able to stay, but I leave you in the good hands of Dan and his water team. I look forward to hearing the results of today’s meeting from them. Thank you all again, for working through this very challenging set of issues with us.