SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation

Protecting water reserves

Gathering water from wells or contaminated streams a considerable distance away and defecating outdoors are still the norm for many people. More than 2 billion people worldwide still do not have access to safe drinking water.

That said, there have already been clear signs of progress towards achieving this UN Sustainable Development Goal: UNICEF and WHO figures indicate that, between 2015 and 2022, the percentage of the world’s population with access to a safe water supply increased from 69% to 73%. Further progress is expected; however, at the current rate of progress, some 1.6 billion people are still expected to be without safe drinking water supplies in 2030. To achieve the 2030 Agenda target for drinking water, the pace of progress would have to increase sixfold.

In SDG 6, the UN has undertaken to “ensure access to water and sanitation for all”. This is because there is still also a lack of adequate sanitation: access to safe sanitation grew from 49% to 57% in the aforementioned time period (2015 – 2022), and a further 18% of the world’s population has access to basic sanitation. However, over 400 million people (as at 2022) still had to defecate outdoors. This not only increases the risk of infectious diseases; it also leads to water resources becoming polluted.

In addition, increasing water scarcity in large parts of the world is a problem that is exacerbated by climate change and conflicts. According to estimates, around 2.4 billion people (2020) live in so-called "water-stressed countries", countries with (in some cases considerable) water shortages. The fight for a fair distribution of water resources can also lead to social unrest and riots in these regions.

For many years, KfW has been helping to ensure that people in developing countries and emerging economies have a safe supply of drinking water and access to good, safe sanitation. This includes funding potabilization and drinking water distribution, programmes to reduce water loss and improve water use efficiency, measures to ensure safe sanitation and the treatment of sewage, integrated water resource management projects, or funding sector reform programmes.

Clean drinking water is a basic requirement for sustainable development and healthy human existence. When there is no access to clean water and drinking water is contaminated, this facilitates the emergence and spread of diseases. Globally, as many children die as a result of unclean water as from malaria. If there is no water supply to villages in some, often rural, areas, it is usually the women and girls who have to walk to the wells to provide for their families, sometimes over long distances. This means that they have neither the time nor the energy to attend school or participate in economic activities.

Demand for water will continue to increase going forward, while the available freshwater resources are limited. Population growth, increased demand for water from irrigation farming, climate change, violent conflicts and migration may lead to further water crises. Against this background, providing more and more people with clean drinking water presents a major challenge. KfW is supporting its partners to protect water as a resource, reduce water waste in the long term and (re)use treated waste water where it is reasonable to do so.

In Georgia, for example, KfW is promoting an integrated approach to renovating, modernising and building municipal infrastructure. This includes drinking water supply systems and waste water removal systems in areas of Georgia that see a lot of tourism. This helps to facilitate the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism. By doing so, the project is also contributing to regional economic development and aiding adaptation to the impacts of climate change. The supply of clean water is also one of the most important prerequisites for the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes. KfW is therefore supporting the comprehensive rehabilitation of the water infrastructure in provinces liberated from IS in Iraq, among other things.

A lack of access to clean sanitation creates risks for hygiene and health. However, there are currently 3.5 billion people without this “safe access” (2022). They use communal toilets or latrines that are often in bad condition and are not connected to the sewerage system. The regular removal of faeces is also not guaranteed in many cases. In some areas, such as Southern Asia, even basic facilities are not available as a matter of course. Diarrhoea and cholera result – and kill more than 1,500 children under the age of five every day worldwide. If sewage is not treated adequately, it pollutes rivers and lakes, which in turn makes it harder to access clean drinking water. This is why KfW is campaigning for safe sanitation and for sewage to be collected, drained and treated in partner countries, e.g. in Serbia.

In Kenya, growing peri-urban areas of the capital Nairobi (“satellite towns”) are facing the major challenge of providing a sufficient level of public infrastructure and services, especially in relation to water supply and sanitation. KfW is helping these areas to provide the people in the satellite towns with adequate access that is also socially and economically viable. To enable this, a participative bottom-up approach has been used, the first of its kind in Kenya. The local water utilities are themselves proposing investments focusing on poorer population groups in the target areas.

At present, around 2.4 billion people live in countries where water is scarce and there are long-term problems with demand for water exceeding the amounts that are available. Population growth, urbanisation and climate change are likely to further exacerbate the situation in many countries. Extreme weather events, which will most likely occur more often going forward due to climate change, may cause enormous damage due to flooding. Droughts, falling water tables and soil salinity also limit the availability of water as a resource. KfW therefore promotes approaches such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which comprises various interlinked measures to make water available, reduce water losses, increase storage capacities and manage water, soil and coasts sustainably, for example in Tunisia.

Another way to make more water available and increase people’s resilience to the consequences of climate change is through rain water management. KfW is responding to increasing interest from partners in this topic, which is also highly relevant in the context of climate change adaptation. For a long time now, KfW has been supporting measures to protect poor districts and infrastructure in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, against landslides and flooding. An integrative program is also being implemented in Uganda, comprising measures from the areas of water and sanitation, surface drainage, waste disposal and the development of a land use plan.

The water sector has long been a high priority within KfW Development Bank and represents one of the largest sectors. In 2023, more than EUR 540 million were committed to projects that contribute to the achievement of SDG 6. KfW is thus reaffirming its commitment to helping people in developing countries and emerging economies to improve their drinking water and sanitation and to counter the effects of climate change through the management of water resources.

“A crisis in slow motion”

Interview with Dr Christian Lütke Wöstmann, Director of KfW’s Centre of Competence for Infrastructure, Water and Natural Resources, on global water shortages and why we underestimate the risks associated with them.