Tanzania economic update - clean water, bright future : the transformative impact of investing in WASH
This eighteenth edition of the Tanzania Economic Update includes a special focus section on improving the quality of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services that could have a transformative impact on Tanzania’s social and economic development. While such investments can be expensive to undertake, their costs are dwarfed by the enormous toll of inadequate WASH services. Without access to clean drinking water, sanitary facilities, and waste-management systems, preventable diseases spread unchecked. WASH-related illnesses consume the working hours of adults, lessen the educational attainment of students, impair the cognitive development of children, and end the lives of young and old alike. Despite significant progress in recent years, much of Tanzania’s population lacks access to adequate WASH services. In 2006, Tanzania launched its ambitious Water Sector Development Program (WSDP) for 2006–2025, which it has operationalized in three phases. The current phase, WSDP-3 (2022–2026), is by far the most ambitious, and its financing requirements are estimated at 6.5 billion. Implementing the WSDP-3 strategy and later achieving universal WASH for all, will require a combination of policy measures, institutional capacity building, and new financial arrangements at the national, subnational, and community levels. Universal WASH access will be crucial to achieve Tanzania’s objectives for education, economic growth, social development, gender equality, poverty reduction, and environmental resilience.
