Wednesday June 27, 2018
Improved water supply in Kipanduka village, Tanzania Photo: Alessandra Argenti/ World Bank
DAR ES SALAAM, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has approved 350
million U.S. dollars credit to Tanzania for connecting water to more
than 3 million people in rural areas, the bank said in a statement on
Wednesday.
The credit will also benefit another 4 million people by accessing
improved sanitation through a program called Rural Water and Sanitation
Program-For-Results, said the statement.
The statement said the new financing aims to increase access to rural
water supply and sanitation services in 17 administrative regions and
support the government in building strong institutions to sustain access
to rural water supply.
"The quality and strength of Tanzania's human capital is critical,
especially as it aspires to become a middle-income country," said Bella
Bird, World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi and
Somalia.
"There is a strong relationship between water and sanitation access
and improved child health outcomes, which is critical for productivity
and learning, particularly for girls whose school completion rates are
lagging," she added.
A key issue for Tanzania is the chronic under nutrition which affect
one in three children, about 2.7 million children, and is linked to poor
sanitation, said the statement.
It added that only 11 percent of rural Tanzanians have access to an
improved toilet, only 50 percent of public schools in rural areas have
the required number of toilets, and only 43 percent with functional hand
washing stations.
"Through this program, up to 1,250 communities and 1,500 schools will
benefit from improved sanitation facilities, which directly supports
the government's national sanitation campaign," said the statement.
"Under this new World Bank program, activities will be strategically
designed to enhance the capacity of the national, regional, and local
governments to monitor, ensure quality and improve and sustain water
service delivery," said Kristoffer Welsien, World Bank Water Supply and
Sanitation Specialist and co-task team leader for the program.
"The program will also strengthen environmental management
supervision and operationalize existing policies and procedures," added
Welsien.
The Tanzanian government's second Water Sector Development Program
(2016-2019) is intended to strengthen sector institutions for integrated
water resource management and improve access to water supply and
sanitation services across the east African nation.