The capacity gap in the water and sanitation sector

In 2006, WHO estimated that 4.3 million additional health workers are needed worldwide - 1.5 million health workers for Africa alone - to alleviate the current human resource crisis. UNESCO (2008) estimates that 18 million new teachers are needed to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of achieving universal primary education. Sub Saharan Africa alone needs to increase the number of its teachers by 1.6 million or 68 per cent. It is also expected that adequate quantity and quality of service providers is one of the preconditions to making progress towards the MDG targets for safe water and basic sanitation. Yet the human resource gap in this sector is relatively unknown. This paper outlines a piece of research that is being conducted to provide reliable data on the extent of the capacity gap in the water and sanitation sector. [authors abstract]