Achievements and challenges

This booklet is the second in a series of publications resulting from the Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation. It is a scene-setting paper which reviews the progress achieved during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), summarizes analyses of past successes and failures, and links these to the urgent needs recognized by the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The paper begins by noting two changes in the management of water resources; namely, demand management based on the consumer's ability to pay for water and sanitation facilities, and the importance of involving local communities from the start, especially in household sanitation projects. A review of the extent of the problems of water pollution, scarcity and wasteful use in various parts of the world follows. The paper also outlines the achievements in water and sanitation since the 1977 UN Conference which include the dissemination of low-cost technologies, the recognition that the provision of safe water and sanitation to the poor is a global issue, and the acceptance of the importance of hygiene education and health improvement measures. Three areas where changes of approach could build on past achievements are identified; namely, improving the effectiveness of sector investments, maximizing the mobilization and use of financial resources, and increasing the extent of collaboration at all levels. The paper ends with a list of the challenges in partnership, water management, capacity-building, and finance which need to be addressed.

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