Water Governance Contribution to Water and Sanitation Access Equality in Developing Countries

Access to basic water service and basic sanitation service has been acknowledged as fundamental human rights. It also has been mentioned in UN Sustainable Development Goals 6 to ensure that all people will have equal access to both water and sanitation service, as well as embedded in Goal 10 that aims to reduce inequality and promoting inclusiveness. However, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2017 reported that 844 million people are still living without basic access to water, and 2.3 billion are still excluded from basic sanitation service. In this study, we present quantitative global-scale analysis of inequality of accessing the water and sanitation services from different wealth groups in 82 developing countries. We found that access inequality is rampant among developing countries particularly in terms of accessing basic sanitation service which the poor populations tend to be excluded in accessing the basic service. Based on combined multiple global data sets, we further identify which components of water governance are the key contributors to access inequality in water and sanitation services. We conclude that social and political dimension of water governance, such as government effectiveness, are influencing the occurrence of inequality of access to sanitation service in developing countries, while the inequality of access to basic water service was strongly influenced by the economic aspect of water governance, such as absorption of aid funds. Plain Language Summary Access to basic water service and basic sanitation service has been acknowledged as fundamental human rights, and all people should have equal access to both water and sanitation service. Despite being placed in such important goals, a considerable number of people still facing difficulties from accessing to basic service. We present first analysis of inequality of accessing the water and sanitation services from different wealth groups in developing countries. We found that inequality is rampant among developing countries particularly in term of accessing basic sanitation service which the poor populations tend to be excluded in accessing the basic service. Water governance is the management system that control how water resources are allocated, including basic water and basic sanitation service provision. We conclude that social and political dimension of water governance are influencing the occurrence of inequality of access to sanitation service in developing countries, while the inequality of access to basic water service was strongly influenced by the economic aspect of water governance. These results can help government to understand how different the inequality of access of water and sanitation is, and to help making informed decision to address the issue of access inequality in more suitable approach. Key Points Inequality of access to basic water and sanitation services are quantified using UNESCO-WHO JMP data sets Water governance factors are identified quantitatively using World Bank-WGI and UN Water GLAAS data sets Unequal prioritization of providing access to water and sanitation on the water governance agenda is identified