U.S. Water News Online
PARIS -- France announced an increase in funding for African water projects amid warnings that the world is falling behind on its pledge to halve the number of people who have no access to drinking water by 2015.
Finance Minister Thierry Breton, who hosted a meeting of African ministers organized by the African Development Bank in Paris, said France will increase its funding to $518.6 million by 2007 from the previous target of $466.7 million.
The meeting brought together about 60 finance and utilities ministers from African countries. It was seeking calls for similar efforts from other donors.
"The supply of drinking water and sanitation are the first step on the path to development," Breton said.
Omar Kabbaj, head of the African Development Bank, told the conference that the lack of clean water had far-reaching repercussions in rural communities besides increasing the spread of deadly diseases like cholera and typhoid and boosting infant mortality.
"The onerous chore of fetching water is still the responsibility of women and girls," Kabbaj said. "This is one of the major factors behind the curtailed school attendance of girls in rural areas."
Five years after the international community made its pledge on access to drinking water and sanitation, Africa "is falling further behind in meeting this millennium development goal," Kabbaj said, citing two recent U.N. reports.
More than 300 million Africans still lack access to drinking water, Kabbaj said, and 400 million -- roughly half the continent's population -- are deprived of basic sanitation for the disposal of dirty water and sewage.
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