Uganda has made substantial progress in increasing coverage to safe drinking water from 42% in 1991 to 64% in 2014, while access to sanitation has raised from 51% in 2001 to 74.6% in 2014. A report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) shows the agency has injected up to $218m (about sh785.9b) to close the water and sanitation services gap in Uganda at the end of September 2017 through loans, line of credit and grants to various projects.
The goal of the African Development Bank funded Water Supply and Sanitation Program (WSSP) is to contribute to improvement of health and productivity and reduction of epidemic diseases through use of safe water and sanitation services in the Central region towns and rural towns.
Initial findings highlighted that water points are located in central and busy places which gives easy access to clean water but also very strategic in protecting girls and women against violence. Distances to water sources are drastically reduced which means that children spend more time in school whilst women engage in other productive activities such as small retail businesses rather than spending the majority of their time fetching water. Schools and health centers visited as well have water points thus have improved issues of hand washing and easy access to water. In some areas, there are more than one water point which greatly reduces on the congestion and waiting time.
While water points were designed with women, girls, and children in mind, the water points are not easily accessible for persons with disabilities and must be changed or adapted. The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) shared the acceptable guidelines and designs approved by the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, with both the Ministry of Water and Environment and AfDB teams who promised to make some adjustments in the areas where construction is still in progress. They stated that retrofitting of finished sites was not possible.
The waterborne toilets which replaced the dirty pit latrines have greatly improved sanitation. The toilets however are not accessible as they had no rails or handles. Key recommendations were made by NUDIPU and action was immediately taken by AfDB. Toilets that lacked the supportive devices for persons with disabilities were fixed and are now accessible.
Construction of water tanks in areas hit by long dry spells has left out persons with disabilities who have roofed houses but cannot afford the Ugx 100,000 installation fee. Persons with disabilities who can’t access the water points and cannot afford the water tanks still don’t have access to clean water.
Regarding labour influx, the Ministry confirms that all recruitment was done locally and no cases of violence against children have been reported. However, there is a major concern that the sites lack sociologists or grievance offices where community members can safely report cases related to the project. Both the Ministry and AfDB are advised to have these offices in place and communicated to the communities as soon as possible.
Government of Uganda- $9.28M
African Development Bank-$83.51M
