A Review of Rural Water and Sanitation Services in Seven Countries of the Danube Region
Governments of countries of the Danube region face the double challenge of meeting their citizens demand for quality and sustainable water services, while catching up with the environmental requirements of the European Union. In general, the bulk o...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Vienna
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/929961526667935648/Beyond-utility-reach-How-to-close-the-Urban-rural-access-gap-a-review-of-rural-water-and-sanitation-services-in-seven-countries-of-the-Danube-Region http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30031 |
| Summary: | Governments of countries of the Danube
region face the double challenge of meeting their citizens
demand for quality and sustainable water services, while
catching up with the environmental requirements of the
European Union. In general, the bulk of public investments
have targeted urban areas, resulting in the improvement of
drinking water systems and the development of wastewater
collection and treatment infrastructure. This process is
largely driven by EU accession and compliance targets and in
several countries involves the regionalization of service
providers. However, rural areas are lagging and significant
service access gaps exist in comparison with urban areas.
Approximately 28.5 million people remain without access to
piped water supply and 22 million remain without flush
toilet access in the region, of which at least eight out of
10 reside in rural areas. Goal 6 of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) underlines the countries'
commitment to achieving universal access to safe and
affordable drinking water and safe sanitation and hygiene
for all by 2030. Understanding how to effectively reach the
rural population with "safely managed services" is
paramount from the social inclusion as well as the human
rights perspective. Given that the significant access gaps
are a major barrier to fulfilling the SDGs, this study was
launched to increase awareness and knowledge on how rural
service provision is organized, to understand whether and
how the aggregation through regional water utilities has
effectively reached rural areas, and to present lessons and
recommendations for expanding and improving the provision of
services for rural populations. Seven countries— Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania,
and Ukraine—were selected because they represent a wide
range of rural water outcomes, different challenges, and
sector reform contexts. |
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