Water for Africa

In Zambia, Uganda and Kenya, GIZ and JICA are raising the standards of water provision and sanitation.

Bonn/Eschborn, 7 February 2011. Two of the world's biggest state-owned development organisations are about to start collaborating more closely in Africa’s water and sanitation sector. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have just signed an agreement to this effect. Both these organisations are active in most of the countries of Africa on behalf of their respective governments. They will plan, implement and evaluate their projects collectively in future. In this way, the two organisations expect to deploy their funds more efficiently and use their know-how more effectively.

Working on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Zambia, GIZ has so far focused on advising the government and the urban water providers. The main area of JICA's work in this country has been infrastructure and technical assistance projects, in rural areas too. The focal areas of the two partners in cooperation thus complement each other ideally, and the range of their advisory services will now reach from the end users up to the minister responsible. No time limit has been set for the cooperation, but it will be evaluated biannually for its effectiveness.

In Zambia, for instance, GIZ has cooperated with the government to develop a new concept for supplying water to slum areas, which concentrates on ‘water kiosks’ – public sales points connected to the mains water supply. These have so far opened the way to clean drinking water for more than 600,000 people. Now, assisted by GIZ, JICA will use this approach for wider application in other parts of the country. At the same time, GIZ will help spread the use of a maintenance system for rural water supplies, which was developed with Japanese support, to other regions of Zambia. This will benefit about 500,000 people.

GIZ and JICA are also working together in Uganda to improve sanitation in schools and in urban poverty areas; and they are helping to adapt the water supply to the impacts of climate change. In Kenya, our joint activities are helping to reduce water losses from the distribution network, and are also contributing to more effective use of scarce water resources by the state. More instances of cooperation are being planned, in other countries too. Moreover, the two organisations will now coordinate their planning for any future new projects in the water sector from the very outset. 

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. It supports the German Government in international cooperation for sustainable development and in international education work. GIZ supports people and societies in shaping their own futures and improving living conditions.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the world’s largest bilateral development assistance agency, is in charge of administering Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) such as technical cooperation, ODA loans and grant aid in over 150 countries and regions by supporting the resolution of issues of developing countries to contribute to the peace and development of the international community. 

Contact:
Hans Stehling
Fon: 06196-79-1177
E-Mail: hans.stehling@giz.de