Water OR Sanitation?

Uganda’s population increased significantly over the past 20 years; its growth rate triple that of the world average. As a result, existing water and sanitation services have been faced with unprecedented demand. The availability of natural resources in Northern Uganda cannot adequately serve the needs of the people residing in the area. Water and sanitation are two of the major issues with which Ugandans struggle today, and though progress has been made, it struggles to keep up with this growth.

Today, approximately 61% of people living in Uganda do not have access to safe water, and 75% do not have access to improved sanitation. Most of the inadequacies occur in rural areas, as urban areas have received much improvement since the 1990s. The United Nations and the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) have been closely keeping track of how initiatives in Uganda have been affecting water and sanitation services. One of the most significant factors in the improvement of Uganda’s water and sanitation supply has been the reestablishment of the National Water and Sewage Corporation. The NWSC meets annual mandates set by the government and has been improving quality of water and sanitation steadily for the past twenty years. Cities and large towns are regulated by the NWSC, whereas small towns are regulated by local governments.

Freshwater has been more abundant in urbanized areas, which tend to be geographically located closer to bodies of water. Lake Victoria and Lake Albert are two main bodies of water in the region, and have been major contributing factors of urbanization within their vicinities. In urban areas, 95% of the population has access to clean water, as compared to 75% of the population in rural areas. Geographic location and regulation by the NWSC are two contributing factors to this difference, as some local governments are inexperienced, have little public participation, or are too poor to provide for this need.

Urban areas also surpass rural areas in improved sanitation services. 29% of urban populations have access to improved sanitation, whereas only 17% of rural populations have access to these services. UNICEF and the NWSC intend to increase these numbers steadily over the next five years. In hope, these conditions will continue to improve.