§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the projects supported by her Department for the provision of potable water. [91722]
§ Clare ShortThe White Paper on International Development makes clear that fresh water resources are essential for sustaining life, development and the environment. Access to potable water, sanitation and hygiene education is vital to poor people's health and well-being. We ensure that our support for the provision of potable water is integrated with improved sanitation and hygiene education. With the increasing 469W demands on limited fresh water resources, we are also working to ensure that water resources are managed in an integrated and sustainable way.
We are increasing commitments on water supply and sanitation projects. In all, we funded approximately 175 projects in 1998–99. Expenditure was £11 million on rural water supply and sanitation and £16 million on urban water supply and sanitation. In total, we spent £45 million in the water sector, including water resources management. Of this 52 per cent. was in Africa (notably, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Uganda and Tanzania); 39 per cent. in Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China) and the remaining 9 per cent. was spread between South America, Middle East and Eastern Europe.