By Sahr Mattia Bendu
In November2002, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted General Comment No.1 on the right to water Article I.1 of which states that "The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights". Comment No. 15 also defined the right to water as the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use. This formally acknowledges water as a human right, and expresses the willingness to give content and effect to this right. It was a way of encouraging the international community and governments to improve their efforts to satisfy basic human needs and to meet the Millennium Development Goal.
In Sierra Leone despite the abundant natural water resource, access to safe drinking water has been a perennial problem because of unavailable or limited functional infrastructure for water supply. Currently, only about 32% of the rural population has access to reliable water supply. Due to poor operational and maintenance arrangements, most of the urban water supply schemes are not functioning properly. The water supply coverage for urban areas, in particular Freetown, is about 50%. The poor state of the water service in Freetown does not meet the needs of its ever-increasing population.
Sanitation is a human rights conundrum. The sewerage and sanitation situation in Sierra Leone is also very deplorable with its infrastructure only confined to Freetown were it is limited, old and inadequate to meet the ever increasing demand. Currently, the situation has been compounded by the damage of much of the limited infrastructure. Consequently human excreta run down on many main streets in central Freetown including around the main public hospital – Cannaught – and the famous Big Market toilet. The institutions responsible for provision of sewer have insufficient human and financial ability to carry out their responsibilities.
Sierra Leone is one of the African countries with the least improvement in accomplishing the MDG on sanitation by 2015, experts have said. This is a serious concern in view of the associated massive health burden as many people who lack basic sanitation engage in unsanitary activities like open defecation, solid waste and wastewater disposal. The practice of open defecation is the primary cause of faecal oral transmission of disease with children being the most vulnerable.
Today, the sanitation situation in Freetown is not served by the sewerage system, and the rest of the country is very poor. Authoritative sources have revealed that 3.43 million Sierra Leoneans do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. In the urban areas half a million people lack adequate sanitation facilities and diseases associated with the lack of safe drinking water, poor hygiene and sanitation are major causes of illness and death in Sierra Leone.
No wonder the lack of clean water, poor hygiene and sanitation are some of the key factors for the increase in child mortality in Sierra Leone. Little wonder the last cholera outbreak here killed a lot of people.
It is common for Freetown residents to be greeted by empty taps after work or to wake up to it. The problem was more confusing because the authorities at Guma Valley Water Company kept mute over the unavailability of water in the city. Water crisis in the city forced children, especially girls to do hard labour. They are expected to fetch water in homes very late. After long hours in the queue, they go to school weak and tried, which does put them in receptive mode for learning. Besides public taps have been transformed into abuse zones by unscrupulous men on innocents girls as they often fall prey to sexually lustful youths and men. Some become victims of early or unwanted pregnancy thus dropping out of school.
In the lead up to the 2012 general elections, WASH-Network, a civil society coalition in Sierra Leone launched a campaign for water, sanitation and hygiene to be prioritized in the manifestoes of all registered political parties. All except the incumbent APC party did. However, following his re-election the APC leader and president Ernest Bai Koroma separated the water sector for the energy and power sector which was a laudable venture as acclaimed by WASH-Network and many INGO’s and donor partners working around water. Many Sierra Leoneans are adding their voices to the CSO’s and NGO’s and donor partners for the government to prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene. Because it is a fundamental human right.
