WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo

WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is among the five poorest countries in the world, whether measured by poverty rate or number of poor. Political instability and rapid demographic growth—the second highest in Africa—have driven an increase in...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Report
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
WATER AND SANITATION
HYGIENE
POVERTY MEASUREMENT
ACCESS TO SERVICES
MALNUTRITION
URBAN WATER SUPPLY
URBAN SANITATION
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/651601498206668610/WASH-poor-in-a-water-rich-country-a-diagnostic-of-water-sanitation-hygiene-and-poverty-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27320
id okr-10986-27320
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-273202021-05-25T09:00:55Z WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo World Bank WATER AND SANITATION HYGIENE POVERTY MEASUREMENT ACCESS TO SERVICES MALNUTRITION URBAN WATER SUPPLY URBAN SANITATION The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is among the five poorest countries in the world, whether measured by poverty rate or number of poor. Political instability and rapid demographic growth—the second highest in Africa—have driven an increase in the total number of poor that puts extreme pressure on the country’s derelict infrastructure. Access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is low, with particularly dramatic shortfalls among the poorest and rural dwellers, but a pervasive lack of truly safe services even among wealthier and urban households. Water contamination is common even among households with access to piped water in major urban areas, and nearly universal in the rural areas surveyed by this diagnostic. This contamination is making WASH a key contributing factor to a silent emergency that is placing DRC’s poor and rapidly growing population at risk of permanent disconnect: widespread malnutrition. Malnutrition is especially common among DRC’s children (43 percent in 2014) and has been shown to have irreversible negative effects on physical and cognitive development. This diagnostic analyses these trends and links them to institutional weaknesses in the WASH sector, in particular institutional fragmentation, weak capacity, and a bias toward specific institutions and services. Opportunities for improvement are analyzed and condensed into six clear messages that provide guidance on the way forward for the WASH sector in the DRC. 2017-06-26T15:48:26Z 2017-06-26T15:48:26Z 2017-06 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/651601498206668610/WASH-poor-in-a-water-rich-country-a-diagnostic-of-water-sanitation-hygiene-and-poverty-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27320 English en_US WASH Poverty Diagnostic Series; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Other Poverty Study Economic & Sector Work Africa Congo, Democratic Republic of
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic WATER AND SANITATION
HYGIENE
POVERTY MEASUREMENT
ACCESS TO SERVICES
MALNUTRITION
URBAN WATER SUPPLY
URBAN SANITATION
spellingShingle WATER AND SANITATION
HYGIENE
POVERTY MEASUREMENT
ACCESS TO SERVICES
MALNUTRITION
URBAN WATER SUPPLY
URBAN SANITATION
World Bank
WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
geographic_facet Africa
Congo, Democratic Republic of
relation WASH Poverty Diagnostic Series;
description The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is among the five poorest countries in the world, whether measured by poverty rate or number of poor. Political instability and rapid demographic growth—the second highest in Africa—have driven an increase in the total number of poor that puts extreme pressure on the country’s derelict infrastructure. Access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is low, with particularly dramatic shortfalls among the poorest and rural dwellers, but a pervasive lack of truly safe services even among wealthier and urban households. Water contamination is common even among households with access to piped water in major urban areas, and nearly universal in the rural areas surveyed by this diagnostic. This contamination is making WASH a key contributing factor to a silent emergency that is placing DRC’s poor and rapidly growing population at risk of permanent disconnect: widespread malnutrition. Malnutrition is especially common among DRC’s children (43 percent in 2014) and has been shown to have irreversible negative effects on physical and cognitive development. This diagnostic analyses these trends and links them to institutional weaknesses in the WASH sector, in particular institutional fragmentation, weak capacity, and a bias toward specific institutions and services. Opportunities for improvement are analyzed and condensed into six clear messages that provide guidance on the way forward for the WASH sector in the DRC.
format Report
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_short WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_fullStr WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full_unstemmed WASH Poor in a Water-Rich Country : A Diagnostic of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_sort wash poor in a water-rich country : a diagnostic of water, sanitation, hygiene, and poverty in the democratic republic of congo
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/651601498206668610/WASH-poor-in-a-water-rich-country-a-diagnostic-of-water-sanitation-hygiene-and-poverty-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27320
_version_ 1764464291454386176

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