Country and Sector Background
After decades of war access to safe and adequate water supply and Sanitation services is extremely constrained in Southern Sudan. Estimates vary but the JAM assumes that around 75% of the rural population lacks access to safe water. However, UNICEF records show that of the 6,500 rural water points which have been recorded on the national database only 35% of these may currently be operational. A number of reasons are attributable for this – e.g. destruction during the war, lack of operation and maintenance arrangements and poor quality of construction.
Using a norm of 500 people per water point (which is itself high), the % of the population with Access falls to 14% and this may be a more realistic baseline figure for the sparsely populated Rural areas. Evidence also suggests that water consumption at existing water points does not exceed 6 liters per capita per day, which is far below the recommended standard of 20 liters. The JAM-report proposes as mid-term 6 year target by 2010, a consumption level of 15 liters per capita/day and not more than 500 persons per safe water point within a range of not more than 1.5 km.
Overall the level of access to appropriate sanitary facilities is estimated to be around 30 percent (60% in urban areas and much lower in rural areas). In reality most of these facilities are in very poor condition due to lack of maintenance. Most sector specialists suggest that access to and appropriate use of sanitation facilities in most rural areas is virtually non-existent. It is estimated that 50 percent (or even less) of existing primary schools and even fewer health facilities have access to safe water and sanitary latrines. The general level of hygiene awareness and of vectors of disease is very low.
The incidence of waterborne diseases is widespread. Children under 5 are the most affected; approximately one in four children dies before turning five. Forty-eight percent of these deaths result from water related diseases. Southern Sudan bears an estimated 80 to 90 percent of the world's remaining guinea worm disease burden.