The highest priority for UN-HABITAT’s Water and Sanitation Programme is improving access to safe water and helping provide adequate sanitation to millions of low income urban dwellers and measuring that impact. In 2000, more than 830 million people in Asia Pacific region did not have access to safe drinking water. More than 2 billion lacked sanitation facilities. This problem is even worse in sub-Saharan Africa where in 2000, over 300 million people in Africa did not have access to safe water and over 500 million were without adequate sanitation. Additionally, low-income urban dwellers have to pay high prices for water sometimes up to 50 times the price paid by higher income groups. This problem has been worsened by a high rate of urbanization. Africa has been experiencing the world’s most rapid rate of urbanization at nearly 5 per cent per annum.

World leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 committed themselves to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Goal 7, target 10 addresses the aim to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) added another target: to halve by 2015, the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation. This is a huge task but it is also one that can be fulfilled, it is possible to improve provision of water and sanitation in low-income settlements.

UN-HABITAT established a Water and Sanitation Trust Fund in 2002 to provide a well coordinated, fast track programmatic approach, working with cities and municipalities to enable them to reach out to the poorest of the poor and offering contributors an opportunity to target a high priority sector with maximum impact with a clear set of objectives.  In 2003, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UN-HABITAT and the Canada Fund for Africa, the Canadian Government contributed 15 million Canadian dollars (USD$12.4) to support the second phase of the Water for African Cities Programme. In early December 2003, the Government of Norway announced a further contribution to the Trust Fund of 10 million Kroners (USD$1.6 million). The fund has also received boosts from the Government of the Netherlands and Sweden International Development Agency. In 2005, the Trust Fund received a further boost from the Government of Norway of nearly US$7 million.

The Water and Sanitation Trust Fund activities focuses on the following thematic areas, Water Demand Management, Values Based Water Education, Improved Sanitation for the Urban Poor, Urban Catchment Management and, Advocacy, Awareness-raising and Information Exchange.  Regional Activities include the gender mainstreaming strategy initiative and the training and capacity building programme.  The Water and Sanitation section is also involved in two regional water initiatives in Africa and Asia, the Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative and the Mekong Regional Initiative.

Two strategic partnerships with the regional development banks have proved to be of paramount importance. The partnership with the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) has facilitated additional pro-poor investment in the region to the tune of US$125 million ($100 million in Nanjing, China and $25 million in Lao DPR). UN-HABITAT and African Development Bank (AfDB) collaborations in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Mozambique total US$183.3 million.

Contributions to the Trust Fund by the Canadian Government, the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of Norway and the Swedish Government have been important in helping us continue our work. In October 2005, the Government of Norway boosted the Fund by contributing a further US$7 million towards the programme.