We're looking into the possibility of supporting a Rotary Foundation Global Grant to provide funds to Uganda's efforts to improve water quality and sanitation. Here are some facts for your consideration:
The Uganda Water Crisis: Facts, Progress, and How to Help
Over 21 million people in Uganda are living without basic access to safe drinking water. That’s 51 percent—a majority of the population—in the East African country.
But, it’s not just about water. The water crisis is inseparable from the sanitation and hygiene crisis; together, these form what is known as “WASH,” three factors that greatly impact health.
Uganda is making a way out of the water and sanitation crisis and building a foundation from which to thrive. The country is growing and changing, and people are rising to the challenge to create better, healthier lives. Below are the top facts you should know about the Uganda water and sanitation crisis today and how you can help put it to an end.
Uganda Water Crisis 2020 Facts
- A Majority of People are Without Basic Access to Safe Water
The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), the United Nations and World Health Organization’s (WHO) mechanism tasked with monitoring water, sanitation, and hygiene progress, reports that 19 percent of the Ugandan population relies on unimproved or surface water water for their daily needs. This means that over 8 million people are drinking from sources like streams, ponds, unprotected hand dug wells, and more.
Another 32 percent of the population has what JMP deems “limited” access, meaning the water is likely safe, but it takes over 30 minutes to retrieve it because of distance, overcrowding, or both.
In total, that is over 21 million people living without basic access to safe drinking water.
2020 Progress Update
The country is experiencing a water crisis, and everyone from the national and local government to charities, the United Nations, and communities themselves are working to solve it. As a result of these efforts, Uganda has made progress.
In the year 2000, 14 percent of the population in Uganda relied on surface water sources. The most recent data shows that number has been cut in half at seven percent.
- 64 Percent of the Population Doesn’t Have Access to a Sanitary Toilet
This is called the sanitation crisis, and it most often exists in tandem with the water crisis. In addition to being a country-wide health problem, the sanitation crisis in Uganda can damage the dignity and confidence of families.
Right now, 64 percent of the country doesn’t have access to a toilet that “hygienically separate[s] excreta from human contact,” according to the JMP.
And, six percent are practicing open defecation, the act of going to the bathroom in fields, forests, or along the countryside. In these communities, human feces are washed by the rain into rivers, open wells, ponds, and swamps—places where 19 percent of the population is gathering their drinking water. This creates an unsafe environment, especially for children.
Meanwhile, a majority of the country, 58 percent, are using toilets considered unhygienic. These are things like buckets and pit latrines without slabs.
2020 Progress Update
Since 2000, Uganda has made progress in their efforts to combat open defecation. While 15 percent of the population was going in the open then, that number has been reduced by 60 percent according to recent data.
This is over a million more people experiencing greater health and dignity.