Other Poverty Study
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Publication
When Water Becomes a Hazard: A Diagnostic Report on The State of Water Supply, Sanitation, and Poverty in Pakistan and Its Impact on Child Stunting
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-11-06)Despite a substantial decline in poverty, an increase in access to water and sanitation and a large decline in open defecation, diarrhea and stunting rates in Pakistan show few signs of a decline. This report provides evidence that the policy focus on eliminating open defecation rather than the safe management of fecal waste has been largely responsible for this. Water tests reveal shockingly high rates of E. coli contamination in both surface and ground water. To make matters worse, few households practice water treatment and untreated waste water is routinely mixed with surface and ground water for use in crop irrigation. This multiplies the channels through which the oral transmission of fecal bacteria can occur and creates strong downstream effects through food supplies headed to urban centers. Unsurprisingly, rates of diarrhea have remained stubbornly high even among the wealthiest households in metropolitan cities like Karachi. While the impact of of E. coli on diarrhea is well known, new research is showing the far more damaging impact of environmental enteropathy, a process by which fecal pathogens like E. coli can permanently damage the intestinal villi of young children making it difficult to absorb nutrients, even during periods when the child shows no signs of diarrhea. The report urges urgent action on safe sanitation and the treatment of water to combat this health crisis. -
Publication
Water and Sanitation for All in Tunisia: A Realistic Objective
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-11)In recent decades, Tunisia has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty and increasing access to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. More than 4 million people in Tunisia have gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2015, and 4 million have gained access to water. This is a significant accomplishment, considering that Tunisia is currently home to 11 million people, 33 percent of whom live in rural areas. Despite this progress, however, around 250,000 people in Tunisia still rely on unimproved drinking water from mostly unprotected wells and springs; of the 900,000 people who use unimproved sanitation, about half use shared latrines, and the other half use mostly unimproved latrines. There are also substantial imbalances in terms of water-resource distribution between the better endowed North and the semi-arid South. If left unaddressed, deficiencies could become more severe in the coming years. Tunisia is a water-scarce country, and water supply security challenges are predicted to be exacerbated by climate change in the coming years. Opportunities for improvement are analyzed and condensed into five clear recommendations for the way forward for the WASH sector in Tunisia. -
Publication
Promising Progress: A Diagnostic of Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in Bangladesh
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-03)This summary report presents the findings of the Bangladesh WASH Poverty Diagnostic (BWPD) study led by the World Bank's Water and Poverty Global Practices. Though very few Bangladeshis now fetch water from rivers or defecate in fields, the vast majority still live in environments plagued by inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) that hinder the country's overall development. BWPD is a data-driven exercise with an objective to highlight the key inadequacies in WASH service delivery and guide country and sector priorities for maximum impact during the Sustainable Development Goal era. BWPD gives a snapshot of the quality and inequality of WASH access by generating statistics from numerous datasets. BWPD also attempts to show the implications of these numbers on human development and poverty reduction. A large portion of the work is dedicated to presenting stylized facts on the synergies between different dimensions of WASH and human development outcomes such as in health, nutrition, and education. Further, the generated numbers should help government and other stakeholders identify gaps in service delivery and ask questions on why these gaps exist. The final portion of this study begins a discussion on the institutional challenges that could be inhibiting high-quality service delivery. The report concludes by offering recommendations for moving Bangladesh's WASH sector forward. -
Publication
Findings of the Mozambique Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Poverty Diagnostic
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-03-01)The Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Poverty Diagnostic in Mozambique is part of a global initiative to improve the evidence base on the linkages between WASH, human development, and poverty. The Diagnostic provides a detailed analysis of sector status, strengths and weaknesses to inform the conditions needed to attain the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim not only for universal access but for safely managed water and sanitation coverage. This report summarizes three background papers of this activity; the first containing the overall summary of findings, a dossier of sector data, and lessons and recommendations; then two technical reports that cover (i) the detailed information and data on the linkages between WASH, health and human development outcomes, and (ii) the analysis of the main institutional barriers that exist in the rural water subsector. The report presents updated evidence and data using diverse analytical tools that contribute to understand why and how WASH investments could be coordinated with other sectors to improve human development outcomes, such as reduced childhood stunting. The information presented in this comprehensive report explores water supply service quality, affordability and availability and offers conceptual framework and institutional diagnostic applied to the rural water sector, where services have been lagging behind in terms of coverage over the past decades. -
Publication
Reaching for the SDGs: The Untapped Potential of Tanzania’s Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Sector
(Washington, DC, 2017-10-10)The purpose of the document is to lay out the findings from this diagnostic exercise. Its key messages include stressing the need to reach higher to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for water and sanitation in the light of little improvement in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era; the lack of access to improved water for rural dwellers and the issues with quality, affordability and reliability of water services for urban dwellers, and how this is linked with the overreliance on an informal service provider market; the lack of improved sanitation in the population with 80% still reliant on rudimentary and unsafe facilities; the identification of rurality and poverty as the primary drivers of low WASH coverage with an in-depth data-based and political economy analysis on why water point failure in rural Tanzania is so high (20% of all water points fail in the very first year of operation); improved WASH can lead to broad knock-on effects on productivity and human development in Tanzania, in particular for reducing chronic malnutrition in children under five; identifies the importance of emphasizing improved WASH in public spaces also such as in schools and health centers; identifies how shortcomings in the decentralization process for Tanzania’s WASH sector have impacted its capacity to deliver services, and how these bottlenecks may be unblocked. It then makes a series of recommendations in order to deliver a better service. -
Publication
Improving Service Levels and Impact on the Poor: A Diagnostic of Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in Indonesia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-10)The objective of this report is to provide an empirical basis for more inclusive and equitable service delivery in the water and sanitation sector in Indonesia. Despite recent gains, there are close to 100 million people without improved sanitation and 33 million without improved drinking water. These figures hide the persistent divides between urban and rural populations and among different income levels in access to services, and they mask underlying gaps in quality faced by all households, regardless of income or geographic location. Unequal access to services at the beginning of life is a key driver of inequality, placing children at a unfair disadvantage from the outset. The report shows that children living in communities where open defecation is practiced and where the quality of drinking water is poor are more likely to be stunted and suffer from cognitive deficits later in life. Improving the ability of and opportunity for the poor and vulnerable to benefit from water and sanitation services can help to ensure that Indonesia not only achieves its service delivery targets, but that water supply and sanitation become key drivers of a reduction in inequality, enhanced health and well-being, and economic growth and prosperity. -
Publication
Pipe(d) Dreams: Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Progress and Remaining Challenges in Ecuador
(Washington, DC, 2017-09-07)The document summarizes an extensive body of research conducted to assess the extent and quality of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services geographically and over the income distribution using a variety of techniques and data sources; the interaction between WASH outcomes and health, especially nutrition; and the institutional barriers as well as opportunities to reduce the gaps in improved access to WASH between rural and urban areas in Ecuador. -
Publication
Maintaining the Momentum While Addressing Service Quality and Equity: A Diagnostic of Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in Ethiopia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-06-01)This summary report presents the findings of the Ethiopia WASH Poverty Diagnostic (EWPD) study led by the World Bank`s Water and Poverty Global Practices. Though Ethiopia has made good progress in increasing access to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in recent years, the quality of many services are below the standards set for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study review existing institutional structures and challenges that are inhibiting high-quality service delivery. The EWPD also reviews the quality and inequality in access to WASH service between those living in urban and rural areas, as well as different regions, areas of water insecurity and amongst the poorest households. EWPD also attempts to show the implications of poor access to WASH services on human development (health, nutrition, and education) and poverty reduction. The analysis aims to support the government and other stakeholders identify gaps in service delivery and answer questions on why these gaps exist. The report concludes by offering recommendations for moving Ethiopia`s WASH sector forward.