Kinshasa/Nairobi, 22
March 2011-The Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) possesses over half of Africa's
water reserves, yet 74 percent of its population
- or approximately 51 million people - lack
access to safe drinking water according
to a new study by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
The country's troubled
legacy of conflict, environmental degradation,
rapid urbanization and under-investment
in water infrastructure has seriously affected
the availability of drinking water in DRC,
although there are positive signs of recovery.
The findings of UNEP's
technical report into the DRC's acute drinking
water crisis and recommended solutions were
presented at a World Water Day event in
the country's capital, Kinshasa.
UNEP was among several
participants in the event staged by the
National Water and Sanitation Committee,
which brought together government representatives,
development partners, financial institutions,
NGOs and researchers to discuss steps to
address the DRC's water challenges.
Speaking at the forum,
UNEP's DRC Programme Manager Hassan Partow
said the new UNEP study confirmed that despite
recent progress, including water sector
reforms, the scale of the challenge meant
the DRC simply could not meet its water
targets under the United Nations-set Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) of reducing by half
the proportion of people without access
to safe drinking water by 2015. Moreover,
to meet national development goals, which
are significantly below the MDG water target,
the country faces the enormous challenge
of supplying an additional 20.3 million
people with safe drinking water by 2015.
"Since peace was
brokered in 2003, the government has gradually
managed to reverse the negative trend in
water coverage that has plagued the DRC
since its period of conflict and turmoil,"
said Mr Partow. "This represents an
important achievement which should be applauded."
"However, the stark
reality is that the DRC has one of the fastest
urbanisation growth rates in the world and
this is not being matched with adequate
water and sanitation service delivery,"
he added.
Based on extensive fieldwork
and stakeholder consultations across the
country, the UNEP study found that inadequate
water and sanitation delivery in DRC's rapidly
expanding urban centres is due to insufficient,
aging and overloaded networks, combined
with the degradation of critical water sources
and watersheds, such as the Lukunga and
N'Djili catchments, which provide millions
of people with drinking water in Kinshasa.
These critical peri-urban
forested watersheds are being cleared through
uncontrolled expansion for housing construction,
making home gardens, cultivating crops and
producing firewood. Such land development
also impacts on water availability in rural
areas, where over 90 percent of the population
depends on springs located in dense forests.
According to the UNEP
study, entitled Water Issues in the Democratic
Republic of Congo - Challenges and Opportunities,
in addition to major infrastructure improvements,
an investment of approximately US$70 million
over a five-year period is required to help
strengthen the water sector. Such investment
should focus on the development of policy
and regulatory instruments, data collection,
capacity-building, as well as micro-level
technological solutions.
UNEP recommends that
innovative strategies such as community-managed
water supply systems in peri-urban areas
and low-cost technical solutions, including
communal tap areas and rainwater harvesting,
should be promoted and scaled up.
"These steps should
enable the water sector to fulfil its critical
role in speeding up the DRC's economic recovery
and support the country's long-term sustainable
development," said Mr Partow.
The water study is part
of an ongoing post-conflict environmental
assessment of DRC being conducted by UNEP
at the request of the national government.
Due to be completed later this year, the
comprehensive assessment is being carried
out in conjunction with the DRC's Ministry
of Environment, Nature Conservation and
Tourism, and various national and international
partners.
The UNEP National Programme
Coordinator, Professor Dieudonné
Musibono, was also among the speakers at
the World Water Day event entitled 'Anarchic
urban expansion in Congolese cities and
the challenges of supplying drinking water
and sanitation services'.
+ More
Sochi 2014 Olympic partners
commit to Mzymta River Basin restoration
Environmental Action
Plans from Zero Waste to Climate Neutrality
to Help Stage Greener Olympics
Sochi / Nairobi, 23 March 2011 - Leading
partners involved in the construction of
the Olympic venues and infrastructure in
the Russian city of Sochi, host of the 2014
Winter Olympics, signed a Declaration, Wednesday,
that commits them to develop and implement
a restoration plan for the Mzymta River
Basin, based on a recommendation by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
In March 2010, UNEP
submitted a report to the Russian Government
outlining the impact of construction work
on the environment and called for collective
action to safeguard the unique ecosystem
of the region, recommending the development
of a restoration and biodiversity preservation
and management programme for the Mzymta
River Basin.
The report also recommended
a Comprehensive Impact Assessment of Olympic
and tourism projects on the ecosystem.
The Declaration of Commitments,
facilitated by UNEP and witnessed by the
Government of the Russian Federation, was
signed today by representatives of Olympstroy,
Russian Railways, Krasnaya Poluana, Gazprom,
the Federal Grid Company, Rosa Khutor and
the administration of the Krasnodar region.
Also attending were Dimitri Kosak, Deputy
Prime Minister of Russia in charge of planning
the games and Alexander Zhukuov, also Deputy
Prime Minister and President of the Russian
Olympic Committee.
Dmitry Chernyshenko,
Sochi 2014 President and CEO, said, "International
expertise in ecology is a unique asset to
the Sochi 2014 Games legacy. In Russia where
the 'green standards' practice has recently
been introduced, the analysis and evolving
of this into a reality of the leading international
experience in restoring the complicated
ecosystems is incredibly important. The
recommendations of these independent ecologists
are extremely important for creation a unique
ecological legacy of Sochi 2014 Games which
will continue to be maintained long after
the Games are complete."
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"The Olympics are a source of national
pride but also an opportunity for showcasing
innovation and catalyzing action towards
a more sustainable future nationally and
internationally-one reason why UNEP is involved
in the Olympic movement and a partner with
the International Olympic Committee".
"Winter games such
as Torino 2006 and summer games such as
Beijing 2008 have underlined the power and
the potential of the Olympics to motivate
millions and assist countries see a cleaner
and greener development path. Sochi 2014
has that opportunity too and UNEP welcomes
today's commitments, including the plan
to restore the Mzymta river basin, as one
of many positive steps towards that goal,"
he added.
In the context of its
support of the Sochi 2014 Ecological Programme,
UNEP has submitted to the Organizing Committee
environmental action plans that cover key
areas including Zero Waste and Climate Neutrality.
The action plans will form a portfolio of
seventeen environmental projects to be carried
out under the Sochi 2014 Ecological Programme.
The objective of the
Zero Waste programme is to develop a sound
plan for waste management that focuses on
sustainable consumption, recycling and safe
disposal.
Key deliverables under
the action plan include the provision of
new waste collection and processing facilities
at identified venues and the procurement
of environmentally friendly products, manufactured
from low impact, recycled, and recyclable
materials.
The Zero Emissions action
plan outlines a detailed strategy for carbon
management around the games to measure,
reduce and offset carbon emissions.
Key deliverables under
the action plan include an auditing framework
for Green House Gas emissions and the development
of measurement methodologies appropriate
to Russia and Sochi; a GHG reduction plan;
and the development of a voluntary carbon
offset programmes for Russia.
UNEP was invited by
the Russian Government and the Organizing
Committee of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games
in 2008 to provide guidance on the integration
of environmental considerations in the preparation
and staging of the Games.
UNEP has a longstanding
collaboration with the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) in the greening of the Games
that spans Athens 2004, Torino 2006, Beijing
2008 and Vancouver 2010.
