DFID's New Water and Sanitation
Policy
26) Water and sanitation are essential to development,
underpinning and impacting upon other issues such as health, education,
conflict and economic growth. The Millennium Development Goals
on water and sanitation—which DFID is focused on achieving—aim
to halve the proportion of people without sanitation and water
by 2015. On 1 May 2008, our 2007 Report on Sanitation and Water
was debated in Westminster Hall.[9]
DFID's new Water and Sanitation Policy was launched on 28 October
2008.[10] This commits
£200 million of DFID funding over the next five years to
help up to 25 million people across Africa gain access to safe
water and basic sanitation. As well as providing crucial support
in Africa, the new policy will help up to 30 million people in
South Asia to gain access to sanitation.
27) At the policy launch event, tribute was paid
to the Committee for the role our Report had played in formulating
DFID's new policy.[11]
We were pleased that DFID had taken note of many of the
Report's recommendations in its new policy, particularly the focus
on sanitation and water resources management. It was encouraging
to hear that, under its new strategy, DFID will work harder to
integrate sanitation with health and education programmes, a step
we strongly recommended. During the launch event, the Chairman
was asked to comment on the new policy, alongside international
experts in the sanitation and water sectors. He highlighted key
messages from our Report, including the importance of matching
human resources and expertise within developing countries—and
within DFID—to the Department's expanded funding for sanitation
and water. A lively debate followed in which over 100 representatives
from the sectors, including from developing countries, participated.
We saw at first-hand the challenges of providing water and sanitation
in Asia's largest country, China, during our visit to the country
in December 2008.
6 
