International Development Committee – Call for Evidence - 09.12.2024 

WaterAid call for inquiry into delivery of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) by the FCDO.

Requested Answers:

Have you ever engaged with Parliament before? Yes

Do you have personal or field experience related to international development issues? Yes

If you are invited to pitch your idea to the Committee, would you be able to travel to London and back within the same day? Yes

Why should the International Development Committee examine this area? Why does the Government need to act in this area? 

Access to safe and clean water is a fundamental human right. But 703 million people in the world – almost one in ten – don't have clean water close to home.  

The situation is critical. According to the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, within the next 25 years more than half the world’s food production is projected to be at risk of failure unless urgent action is taken.  

The importance of this issue was recognised in the previous Parliament where the International Development Committee (IDC) recommended in its report on the FCDO’s approach to sexual and reproductive health that: “Access to clean water and the provision of adequate sanitation and hygiene reduces the risk of maternal and newborn mortality. In complementarity to its approach on SRHR spending, the FCDO should calculate and justify a minimum bilateral ODA percentage that it must spend on WASH to reach its development targets. This target should be no lower than 2% per annum”. 

Improving access to WASH has benefits for all aspects of development - clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene are vital to climate resilience as well as underpinning broader human security – including food, energy, health and national security. The alarming lack of progress on water security places the fulfillment of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at risk.  

No-one can adapt to a world without water - the climate crisis is a water crisis. A staggering 90% of natural disasters are water related, and increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather events are putting clean water sources under threat. Universal access to climate-resilient WASH is vital to allow communities on the front lines of the climate cris to adapt and bounce back after disaster.  

Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) – the emerging global health threat - by 2035, it could cost $412 billion every year to treat antibiotic resistant infections.  Lower income countries (LICs) face the highest burden of resistant infections. In LICs over half of healthcare facilities lack basic water services, meaning infectious diseases spread rapidly and health workers have little choice but to routinely prescribe antibiotics to prevent and treat infections that could be prevented with clean water and good hygiene practices. 

Women's Health - every woman has the right to a safe and dignified birth; and every child should have a healthy start in life. Yet every two seconds a woman is forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions due to a lack of WASH in healthcare facilities. When healthcare workers don’t have clean water and soap to clean their hands and wards, mothers and babies are exposed to an even greater risk of life-threatening infections. Every year, more than a million mothers and newborn babies die from preventable infections linked to unsafe births.  

Why is it the right time for the Committee to examine the area? Why would this area benefit from parliamentary scrutiny? 

Since 2018, the UK’s annual budget for WASH has been cut by more than 77%, from £206.5m down to a critical low of just £46m in 2022. This is despite the fact that polling in advance of the UK general election by WaterAid and YouGov found that 25% of the UK public think that WASH is the most important issue for the next government to spend overseas aid on, with 53% ranking it in their top three – most popular response. 

How could Government policy in this area be developed or improved? 

WaterAid believe that the Government should deliver on its global WASH responsibilities through greater investment, leadership and empowerment.  

Investment: Increase investment in WASH by calculating a bilateral ODA % that the UK Government must spend on WASH. This budget should have a minimum floor of 10% per Annum and prioritise delivery through grant financing for the poorest and countries most off-track in achieving SDG6.  

Leadership: Be a global champion for WASH using its position within the UN, international financial institutions, G20, multi-lateral forums and G7, and its leverage with the UK financial sector to accelerate financing, global cooperation and action in delivery of SDG6. 

Empowerment: Ringfence investment in the provision of WASH facilities that meet the specific needs of women and girls and ensure that they are included in decision-making forums about planning, delivery and monitoring of development programming including WASH services.