The challenges of meeting the water and sanitation MDGs in the smaller urban centres in the Lake Victoria region

The implementation of the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative (LVWATSAN) started in June, 2006 in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The focus of the initiative has been to rehabilitate and improve physical infrastructure in the 7 pilot towns, while at the same time building the necessary institutional capacity to improve water and sanitation governance and ensure the long term sustainability, so protecting Lake Victoria. A key feature of improved institutional capacity has been the establishment of Multi-Stakeholder Forums in each town to promote the involvement of local stakeholders in the planning and implementation of the Programme. To monitor the progress toward the MDGs and the impact of project interventions a comprehensive socio-economic baseline survey was carried out in 17 towns and which has now been used to establish a database and geographic information management system to monitor a wide range of socio-economic conditions. For the first time spatial information is available on the numbers served. Results indicate that coverage levels are far lower than those reported through official statistics. After 2 years, LVWATSAN is now at the mid-way point of the 4 year implementation time frame and has already made significant achievements. The upgraded infrastructure facilities are providing about 80,000 persons with improved water supplies and about 15,000 persons with improved sanitation. Once the programme is completed in 2010, it is expected that over 230,000 persons will benefit from improved water supplies and 220,000 persons from improved sanitation and solid waste management. Like so many urban centres in Africa, the Lake Victoria Towns reveal all of the worst features of unplanned and haphazard development resulting from the absence of effective urban planning controls. Through LVWATSAN, UN-HABITAT is also assisting the towns in preparing urban plans to guide their future development. As a model-setting initiative, the ultimate success of LVWATSAN will also be measured by the extent to which the model programme is scaled up. With implementation at the half way stage, the African Development Bank (through the African Water Facility) has already approved funding for a project formulation study to expand the Programme to another 15 towns, including towns in Burundi and Rwanda. (authors abstract)