UNICEF is calling on the government of Madagascar to increase water investment.
The government must mobilise more resources for the water sector. “I appeal to the government to increase its investment in this sector and to make a structural and sustainable commitment,” said Christine Jaulmes, Resident Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), in her speech yesterday at the opening ceremony of the National Water Week, which is being held at the Barea Mahamasina Stadium until 18 April. Funding will be severely limited. In any case, Madagascar can no longer count on certain partners, such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been “closed”. This agency has been at Madagascar’s side for many years, providing access to water for hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas.
The challenge of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which aims to provide universal access to water and sanitation and ensure sustainable management of water resources, is immense. In Madagascar, more than 40% of the population still does not have access to drinking water, including the inhabitants of Antananarivo city. The situation is particularly worrying in the south, where less than a third of the population has access to quality water, according to UNICEF.
The effects of climate change and human activities such as deforestation, which have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of water resources, make the task even more difficult. Every time there is a period of low water, the water supply becomes more difficult. Recently, Head of State Andry Rajoelina ordered the massive deployment of water tankers in Antananarivo, which suffered a severe water shortage in September-October.
Madagascar should benefit from significant climate finance for the water sector, but this funding is currently very low. According to a recent study by UNICEF and the Stockholm International Water Institute, the sector receives just 0.3% of climate finance, compared to a global average of 10%. Christine Jaulmes encouraged the government to address this imbalance as a matter of urgency.
She stressed the importance of fully integrating the water, sanitation and hygiene sector into the national climate change strategy and insisted that the water sector must be truly considered as a pillar of climate resilience, which deserves to be recognised and valued as such, in order to attract significant resources for the water sector through climate finance.
This is the second time in April that Madagascar’s technical and financial partners have asked the government to review its budgets. On 7 April, on the occasion of World Health Day, the resident representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Professor Laurent Musango, called on the government to increase the budget allocated to the health sector in a context where some funding has been suspended.
