WORLD
HEALTH
ORGANIZATION
Of\GANISATION MONOIALE DE LA SANT~
REGION-"L ·OFFICE FOR
THE WESTERN PACIFIC
BUREAU R£GIONAL - DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITI'EE
WPR/RC26j14
25 August 1975 Twenty-sixth session Manila l-6 September 1975 Supplementary agenda · i tern 2
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
:rnTERNATIONAL FROG~ FOR THE IMPRO"VF.MeNT OF WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION IN RURAL AREAS OF.DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The Regional -Director has the. honour to bring to the attention of the Regional · Committee, -for 1 ts consideration, . the following inf'o:nna tic>h wi th regard to the proposed international programme for the ' improvement of water supply and sanitation in rural are~s of developing countries.
1.
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
The lot of people living in rural areas and on the fringes of cities i s becoming a matter of increasing concern t.o governments. From the standpoint of sanitation and public health, the conditions in which these people live are usually very bad. About four-fifths of the world's rural population, or well over 1000 million men, women and children, do not have safe w~ter available in adequate quantity. Basic sanitary services are largely absent. Stripped of the statistical evidence, the stark global facts are that: ~·people need and want water; the pace of providing 1t is miserably slow; the :prospect of speeding up the pace over the next five or ten years is not · . promising; and where installations have been provided, they have been allowed with distressing frequency to fall into disrepair and disuse through faulty operation and maintenance.
In the hope of raising levels of health and development in rural areas and on: the ..neglected fringes of cities, a number of international organizations have formed an Ad Hoc working Group on Rural Potable Water Supply and -Sanitation.
WPR/RC26/14 page 2
2.
AND OBJEcriVES OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON RURAL PCYI'ABLE WATER SUPPLY AND SANri'ATION
C~POSITION
The Group was set up following a meeting held in Montreal in April 1974 of inte~ested international o~ganizations, namely: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Environment P~ogramme (UNEP); International Bank for Reconst~ction and Development {Wo~ld Bank); World Health Organization (WHO); Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and International Development Research Oentre (IDRC). The objective of the Group is to accelerate work and strengthen the support in the improvement of water supplies and sanitation in the rural areas of developing countries, through a concerted international effort.
3.
EXPERr PANELS
To assist in the formulation of specific proposals, the Group decided to convene two expert panels: a Technical Panel to consider existing constraints on progress in the sector of rural water supplies and sanitation and to outline priorities for international action; and an Institutional Panel to consider the organizat1onal arrangements that might be needed in mounting an expanded international effort. The Technical Panel met in Geneva in October 1974 and the Institutional Panel in Ottawa in December, after visiting selected institutes in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
4.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The reports and recommendations of the panels were considered by the Group which· was reconvened at WHO Headquarters, Geneva, in February 1975. The Group agreed with most of the recommendations and decided, in particular, that a network of international, regional and national centres should be established to promote and assist programmes and projects for improving water supplies and sanitation in rural areas. The centres should be based, to the greatest extent possible. on existing institutions. The main function of the network should include: (a) (b)
technological investigations, adaptive ~search programmes, demonst~ation projects, and evaluation; training and education;
(c) (d)
promotion of community motivation and health education: collection, evaluation and dissemination of information.
WPR/RC26/14 page 3
Further, the Group decided that as a first step specific proposal~ should be prepared for regional programmes, ln collaboration w1tr. existing regional centres, i.e. CEPIS (Pan-American Centre for .Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences) in Lima, Peru, PAID (P~-Afr1c nn Institute for Development) in Douala and Buea~ Cameroon, and CIEH (InterAfrican Committee for Hydraulic Studies) in Ouagadougou, Upper Volta. It also decided that the possibility should be considered of restructuring the WHO Collabo~ating Centre in The Hague to serve as an international centre for the network, and that an international programme for the first year should be formulated. Finally. it resolved that further consideration should be give~ to the identification or creation of cooperating centres in other regions, particularly Asia and possibly East Africa.
5.
PREPARATORY C<Jv1MIT!'EE
The Group c~ated a Preparatory Committee with representatives of UNDP, WHO, IDRC and world Bank to pursue the work of programme preparation and organization pending the next meeting. WHO has been asked to prepare the detailed plan for implementation
of the technical component of the programme, and IDRC is ~sponsible for development of the information systems component, with some technical input from WHO. A programme has been worked out for activities in the proposed network of centres and a master programme is being finalized for submission to the Group at a meeting to be held in Geneva from 26 to 28 November 1975 •
6.
ENLARGED WORKING GROUP
To strengthen its drive and potential and con~ider further steps toward the establishment of the proposed international network of. centres the Group is now inviting, fo~ its next meeting, the participation of: governments having bilateral programmes and a special interest in rural water supply and sanitation (Belgium, Canada, France, Federal Republic of Gennany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Swi tze~land, United Kingdom, United States of America); other United Nations agencies and the E.Uropean Economic Community. Action to associate developing countries with the Group is also believed to be essential. In selecting representatives from developing countries there are no fixed criteria, but interest and priority given to programmes of rural development m~ perhaps be the most important. The representatives at the meeting should preferably be from the highetechelon Of the ministry most concerned with rural water supply.
WPR/R~6/14
page 4
It is expected that the enlarged meeting of. the Group will recQgnize the importance of the problem, will agree with the proposed strategy and will -consider provision of the required financial support for its implementation.
7.
PARI'ICIPATION OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC REGION
Since WHO has been given responsibility fo-r this matter, it is considered appropriate that the Regional Committee~should be kept infonned of and be involved in the arrangements made !--in·- this connexion. It is- considered that' participation- by two or three developing countries-from the Western Pacific Region would provide effective representation in the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working .. Group. The Regional Director would like to have the views of the Oommittee as to which developing countries in the Region should be invited to participate.
8.
DRAFT RESOLUTION
The Regional Cornmi ttee might wish-- to consider a draft· resolution along the following lines: ''The Regional Committee,
_ Having considered the statement provided by the Regional Director on the proposed intermitional programme for the improvement of water supply and sanitation in rural areas of developing countries, 1. RECOGNIZES that safe water supply and adequate sanitation are essential for promoting-rural development-and ~ ttie-health of rural populations: 2. ENOORSES the proposal to enlarge the membership of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Rural Potable Water Supply ~ and Sanitation by including' representatives from . (name of country) (name "of country) , and (name of country) ;
J.
EXPRESSES agreement in principle to the proposed programme;
4. THANKS-the Regional Director for having provided information on this- subject. 11