STOCKHOLM, AUGUST 22, 2011   According to a new report released today by
the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) at the World Bank,African countries
that transition to taking a leadership role in safe water and sanitation
service delivery to the millions of people without access have an
unprecedented opportunity to drastically reduce these numbers by 2015.

The report, _Pathways to Progress: Transitioning to Country-Led Service
Delivery Pathways to Meet Africa s Water Supply and Sanitation Targets_,
says economic growth, debt relief, and increasing political stability have
opened up new opportunities for many African countries to take charge of
their water supply and sanitation sectors and to develop sustainable
service delivery pathways.

 _Political stability has heavily influenced progress in improving access
to water and sanitation_,  said the report s author and SENIOR FINANCIAL
SPECIALIST DOMINICK DE WAAL. _Stable countries have outperformed the
fragile ones by making greater increases in water supply coverage and in
reducing open defecation in rural areas more markedly. They have also been
more successful in keeping coverage levels up with population growth in
urban water supply, and achieving more equitable access to water supply and
sanitation services._

_The frontrunners have robust 'service delivery pathways' that use country
systems and institutions to translate funding (donor and domestic) into
actual higher numbers of people with access to services, the report says._

_The report - a collection of 32 country status overview reports and a
regional synthesis report - found that in these countries, access to water
is up by 13 percentage points since 1990 to 58 percent of the population in
the 32 countries studied, with sanitation up by 11 percentage points to 36
percent of the population.�_

_Reaching national goals for these 32 nations will require 42 million
people per year to gain access to safe water, and 61 million people to
access sanitation._

_The report notes that accelerating progress across the countries analyzed
requires increasing current funding levels by at least $6 billion a year by
raising both domestic and donor financing flows to the sector.�The gap is
the difference between total needs to meet these countries  targets of $15
billion, and the anticipated finance from governments, donors, civil
society organizations, and households of around $9.5 billion per year._

_ With development aid funds unlikely to meet the gap, countries will need
to engage their ministries of finance,  said PRINCIPAL REGIONAL TEAM LEADER
FOR AFRICA WAMBUI GICHURI.  Analysis suggests a share of 5 percent of
domestic revenues is an appropriate benchmark and advocacy target for
domestic spending on water supply and sanitation. _

_The opportunity to accelerate progress, the report says, lies in
completing the transition to country-led service delivery that:_

_-draws on all available capacity - civil society, private, public and
consumers - to implement and sustain services; and_

-_harmonizes and aligns aid flows with domestic and user finance, routed
through country systems and institutions._

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_"Countries in Africa are at different stages of being able to deliver
progress towards the 2015 water and sanitation goals for improved water and
sanitation access,  said WORLD BANK DIRECTOR FOR TRANSPORT, WATER, AND
INFORMATION  FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">__

_The report offers action steps to closing the gap.�Water-related
ministries can put in place and strengthen country-led, nationwide service
delivery and use appropriate analyses and studies as evidence in advocating
for needed financing._

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_Development partners can respond to needs and reward efforts by tailoring
technical assistance and aid modalities to the various stages of
development outlined in the report._

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_Ministries of finance can incrementally increase the sector s share of
the domestic budget to 5 percent of domestic revenue and collaborate with
water and sanitation ministries to link sector processes with
core-government systems like budget and expenditure management._

_Finally the African Ministers Council on Water can advocate for enhanced
external support for water supply and sanitation and foster regional
learning among peers._

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_The report was commissioned by the African Ministers  Council on Water.
Development was led by WSP in collaboration with the African Development
Bank, the United Nations Children s Fund, the World Bank and the World
Health Organization.�The report was prepared in consultation with the
governments of the countries studied and other stakeholders._

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_The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) is a multi-donor partnership
administered by the World Bank to support poor people in obtaining
affordable, safe, and sustainable access to water and sanitation
services.�WSP s donors include Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark,
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