Water Supply the crisis .
The conference is expected to reinforce an approach that combines the response to people ’ s immediate humanitarian needs with addressing the root causes of the crisis in a way that leads to sustainable , resilient development . Financial pledges will be made by donors both to the current humanitarian response but also to the longer-term needs of the people affected by this crisis .
Source : UNDP
Water Access May Be More Important Than Electricity for Sub-Saharan Africa
By Louise Grogan , University of Guelph and Tselmuun Tserenkhuu
For nearly two decades , the United States has strongly pushed for the electrification of rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa to raise the standard of living . It has carried out these goals via the USAID ’ s Power Africa and the World Bank , and under the UN Sustainable Development Goal on Energy ( SDG7 ).
And yet , it remains unclear whether electrification can actually improve living standards in rural areas of sub- Saharan Africa .
As researchers , we have previously documented the positive effects of electrification schemes . Still , we think that money earmarked for rural electrification in sub-Saharan Africa might be better spent elsewhere .
Providing people with clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure may do more to improve living standards than providing them with electricity . In addition , water and sanitation provisions are generally less expensive than rural electrification . They could improve many more lives at the same cost .
Power versus water
The electrification of low-density rural areas in Nicaragua , Guatemalaand KwaZulu-Natal has increased the number of working women . Rural electrification substantially increased household living standards in India However , South Asian rural electrification schemes often did not reach the poor . Similarly , in Ghana and Rwanda , economic opportunities were not obviously increased . In Ghana , electricity remainsprohibitively expensive for newly connected rural households . In Rwanda , grid electrification did not result in significant new income generation in rural areas .
While there is some potential for off-grid solar energy to improve agricultural productivity in Africa , very small-scale solar provisions are unlikely to do so .
Solar provisions may be commercially viable , but they are not necessarily the most cost-effective source of clean energy . A home installation in sub-Saharan Africa may cost US $ 500-1,000 , far above what most rural households can pay .
Dirty drinking water
Electrification of rural areas may not be the most costeffective way of improving health and wellbeing .
In sub-Saharan Africa , two out of three people lack access to electricity , but 40 per cent do not have clean drinking water and 70 per cent lack adequate sanitation .
The burden of waterborne childhood diseases is great . One in nine children under age five dies every year in sub- Saharan Africa . Diarrhea from dirty drinking water is the second major cause of death , after malaria .
Drilling wells , disinfecting water and providing sealed sewerage services improve population health remarkably . A reduction in the incidence of childhood diarrhea lowers the likelihood of childhood stunting ( impaired growth and development ), being underweight and susceptibility to other disease .
Africa Water , Sanitation & Hygiene • September 2018 23