§ Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the Government are doing to implement the goals of the World Summit for Children relating to providing access to safe sanitation for people in Sub-Saharan Africa. [27299]
§ Mr. FoulkesWhile access to safe water supply has increased steadily over the last 25 years, adequate sanitation coverage in developing countries has remained roughly constant with more than half the population lacking the most basic provision. The health implications are severe; there are more than 3.3 million deaths each year due to diarrhoea, most of these are children under five. This equates to one child dying every ten seconds.
We welcome the new emphasis being put on sanitation and hygiene awareness by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and others. My Department is fully behind this initiative. This year we have agreed to provide an additional one million pounds to UNICEF for water and sanitation projects in Africa. Our expenditure on water and sanitation is increasing but we do need to put more emphasis on sanitation. New guidance on water and sanitation programmes, which stresses the importance of integrating water, sanitation and hygiene education, is under preparation. These efforts directly support the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children relating to providing universal access to safe sanitation.