Uganda is not performing well at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 for water and sanitation for all by 2030.
In 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at the UN Summit. SDG 6 calls for the provision of safe and affordable drinking water, ending open defecation and providing access to sanitation, and hygiene, improving water quality, wastewater treatment, and safe reuse.
Others are increasing water-use efficiency and ensuring freshwater supplies, implementing Integrated Water Resource Management, and protecting and restoring water-related sources.
Speaking at a three-day annual water and sanitation civil society forum at Hotel African, Dr. Callist Tindimugaya the commissioner Ministry of Water and Environment said that water-use efficiency and ensuring freshwater supplies is still a challenge in the country.
He said that only 17 percent of Ugandans have access to safe and clean water in their homes, while the majority have to walk distances to access clean water. He also noted that 51 percent of the water bodies in Uganda have good water quality and 4 percent of wastewater is treated and a lot of it is being discharged without being treated.
Tindimugaya said that the country has revised the national water policy to strengthen the partnerships. He said that there is a need for the government to work with all stakeholders such as CSOs, religious, and cultural institutions.
According to Tindimugya, the ministry needs 7.6 trillion Shillings every year to achieve the targets. He added that the 1.5 trillion Shillings they receive is inadequate.
Yunia Musaazi, the Executive Director of Uganda Water and Sanitation Network (WASNET) called for collaboration between the government and CSOs in the water sector if SDG6 is to be achieved.
She also noted that there is a need to involve the communities to finance access to clean water and sanitation. According to Yunia out of every 10 households only 7 have access to clean water and more than 15 million Ugandans still practice open defecation.
Alfred Okot Okidi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Environment urged members of UWASNET to always report to the government what they are doing as part of good governance. He said that currently, only 50 percent of the members have reported to the government which affects national and global reporting and acquisition of data.
In 2022, findings from WHO and UN-Water’s Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report showed that acceleration is needed in many countries to achieve (SDG) 6.
According to the report, while 45 percent of countries are on track to achieve their nationally-defined drinking-water coverage targets, only 25% of countries are on track to achieve their national sanitation targets.
