Community engagement and participation in water projects is crucial
Women fetch water from one of the community water tanks in Gitendere Village in Kisoro district. PHOTOS/ ROLAND NASASIRA
What you need to know:
- According to Unicef, 33 percent children die from diarrhoea in Uganda due to unsafe drinking water and urban people living in poverty spend as much as 22 percent of their income on water from water vendors.
On March 13, the media reported that more than 14,000 villages in Uganda lack access to safe and reliable water, which is endangering the community’s health by increasing the risk of waterborne illnesses, which is unfortunate.
It is noted that most people in rural areas get their drinking water mainly from surface sources such as ponds, rivers and lakes and these sources are often watering holes for livestock, downhill from latrines and catchments for mudslide debris that is contaminated.
This contributes to life-threatening illnesses like waterborne diseases, diarrhoea and many others. According to the findings, waterborne illnesses kill more than three million people every year.
Clean and reliable water is not only essential for life and health but also a fundamental to every child and adult growth. According to BioMed Central, 22 percent of the deaths of Ugandan children under the age of five are due to diarrhoea.
According to Unicef, 33 percent children die from diarrhoea in Uganda due to unsafe drinking water and urban people living in poverty spend as much as 22 percent of their income on water from water vendors.
The government should work together with the communities and ensure their participation in water projects and invest in water infrastructure projects to extend piped water systems, boreholes to underserved villages, which involve drilling new boreholes, repairing existing ones and laying pipelines and train local technicians to repair and maintain water pumps and systems as well as establishing funding mechanisms for ongoing maintenance to ensure that all villages in Uganda have access to safe and reliable water to improve people’s health and enhance their quality of life.
Additional, the government through the Ministry of Water should implement measures to ensure the quality of drinking water including regular testing and treatment of water sources to remove contaminants through providing communities with access to water purification technologies such as filters or chlorination tablets.
Integrate water supply projects with health and education programmes to maximise their impacts through incorporating water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education into school curriculums as well as providing access to healthcare services to address water-related diseases.
Atuhaire Shine, Kampala
