Water is life. We need only think of what it means to lack clean drinking water to grasp how true this is. Particularly in poorer nations and regions with high population growth, in Africa or Central America for example, many people suffer from illnesses due to lack of access to clean water. When people cannot get water from the tap, it affects major aspects of their social life. Children are often sent to fetch water instead of going to school, girls especially, who are frequently deprived of proper education as a result.

Water supply and improved sanitation

To help make improvements here, Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) directs its efforts at the water sector. Some ten per cent of budget funds in bilateral development assistance is earmarked for water and sanitation programmes, because supplying clean drinking water is not enough to curb illnesses. The hygienic and sanitary conditions in a region also need to be improved.

To ensure the sustainability of the programmes, ADC promotes technical training and management quality upgrading in public administration and the private sector in partner countries.

Only self-help helps

Austria has extensive know-how in the water sector: Preparations for national infrastructure development schemes comprise innovative pilot projects and approaches, applied research and training. Every year, ADC spends between nine and ten million euros of its bilateral project budget on the water and sanitation sector.

Presently Austrian support for water projects includes Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda in East Africa, West Africa's Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and Senegal, Mozambique in Southern Africa, the Palestinian Territories, Central American Guatemala and the South-East European countries of Albania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. In cooperation with other donors, ADC also cofinances the African Water Facility, an initiative of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW).