International Development: Sanitation and Water

Lord Judd Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Judd]

My Lords, I am sure we all want to put on record our appreciation to the right reverend Prelate for having introduced this debate tonight. I find it very appropriate that it comes after such a long day—indeed, many weeks—of concentrating on health in our own country. It is difficult to imagine any greater single contribution to the health, well-being and productivity of the British people than what was achieved, in the 19th century in particular, in terms of drains and potable water supplies, which were desperately essential if people were to survive the awful diseases we had here, such as cholera and all the rest.

I am glad that the right reverend Prelate also drew attention to the importance that, while being excited by what the Joint Monitoring Programme has told us about progress, we should not let those overall figures mask the very real challenges that still exist. It is clearly a very complex issue, because while it is true to say that 40 per cent of the global population without access to improved drinking water is in sub-Saharan Africa, most of the progress that has been made, proportionately, is in places such as China and India. But then, within China and India there are huge discrepancies. Indeed, according to the Joint Monitoring Programme, in India only 34 per cent of people have access to improved sanitation facilities, and it is estimated that 51 per cent of people still defecate in the open. Poor sanitation is costing India $54 billion every year, or 6 per cent of its gross domestic product. There is obviously an urgent need for investment in both hardware, such as latrines, and community-led total sanitation programmes that can impact on behaviour change.

When these matters have been raised with the Government, DfID has said that it is doing pioneer work in Bihar and that, according to the outcome of that work, it will see how such programmes can be rolled out more widely in countries such as India. It would be extremely helpful if, when the noble Baroness replies to the debate, she could tell us something about progress in Bihar.

I want to concentrate on something rather different. It has struck me that, in a world of increasing resource constraints and increasing food insecurity, access to water must also be of key geopolitical concern. Water, the lifeblood of agriculture, is already scarcer than land and is a driver of land investments. Nearly 3 billion people live in areas where the demand for water outstrips supply. In 2000, 500 million people lived in countries that were chronically short of water. By 2050, the number will have risen to more than 4 billion. By 2030 demand for water is expected to have increased by 30 per cent. Access to water is therefore a key consideration in the modern-day rush for land that has seen as many as 227 million hectares of land in developing countries—an area the size of western Europe—sold or leased since 2001, mostly to international investors. The bulk of these land acquisitions has taken place over the past two years, according to the excellent research that has been undertaken by the Land Matrix Partnership. Often these large land acquisitions can be termed as “land grabs”, taking place over the heads of communities which live or rely on the land without free or prior consent, and often constituting an abuse of human rights. Therefore, any discussion about access to water and sanitation must understand the practices and economic activities which are directly taking water away in many situations from those who most need it.

Clearly, water has great strategic significance, and clearly there is potential for greater conflict in the world as these problems become more and more acute. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Gaza. If we want peace in the Middle East we should consider the situation in Gaza at the moment. The Strategic Foresight Group pointed out in May 2011 that, at the current rate of depletion, the Gaza aquifer will become unusable by 2016 and damage will be irreversible by 2020. Against this, Israel has approved the entry of materials for only four water, sanitation and hygiene projects in Gaza, with a total value of $3.75 million. A further 13 projects, worth $74.5 million, which would benefit more than 1.4 million Palestinians, are still awaiting approval. How can we build peace and stability if people are facing injustices of this order? Surely this plays into the hands of extremists.

As the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, pointed out on 1 February, according to the latest report from the Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Group in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, residents of Gaza use an average of 91 litres of water a day. This is less than the World Health Organisation’s recommended minimum of 100 litres of water a day to meet all health needs.

I shall be grateful if, in her reply, the noble Baroness can tell the House what specifically the Government are doing to tackle the water problems of the Middle East and Gaza because I see them as central to an overall solution in the area.