SAN FRANCISCO - A widely unnoticed bill that makes access to clean water a central aim of U.S. foreign assistance was approved by the House of Representatives and Senate earlier this month.

The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 "puts water as a top priority and a cornerstone for foreign aid," and will get clean water "to people in greatest need," said Camille Osborne, director of public affairs for Water Advocates, a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental organization (NGO).

Named after the late Senator Paul Simon (D-IL), a water safety trailblazer, the House overwhelmingly passed the Water for Poor Act in early November and the Senate unanimously followed suit on November 16.

Prioritizing water is something that bill supporters say is long overdue.

"Water-related illnesses and disease are the number one cause of death in the world," according to Osborne.

On average, about 3,900 children die every day because of water-borne illnesses, often after drinking from holes in the ground where water has been stagnant. That means that every 15 seconds, one child dies due to a lack of access to safe water and sanitation.

The Act expresses the need to make more money available for water and sanitation programs by amending the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, and charges the State Department with pinpointing high-need areas.

Under the bill, the Secretary of State must develop a strategy with specific timetables, benchmarks, and goals to bring together all federal water programs.

Water rights groups say the State Department's involvement will help government funding reach those who need it most, and not just those with political ties to the U.S.

While the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) put about $500 million into water projects around the world last year, much of that assistance went to Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank, and Gaza.

"States or countries where we have political alliances" tend to get the bulk of U.S. funding, said Osborne, whose group applauded the bill's passage.

"[USAID] may have spent significant amounts for water projects in Iraq last year, but this [Water for Poor Act] is a long term solution for those people who are constantly in need," she said.

Under the Act, the Congressional Budget Office expects U.S. government funding to Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America to double, with $50 million going to Africa.

Funding for new projects is allotted in the Foreign Affairs Authorization Act, which is expected to allocate about $250 million for new water programs worldwide, according to Water Advocates.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) came out in strong support of the bill.

"It is long past the time when public attention needs to refocus on the devastation cause by this silent tsunami of unclean water and unsafe sanitation," said Frist, who spent time in Africa as a doctor.

Other water groups also commended the bill, but warned that new money should be spent on small, on-the-ground projects that will truly reach the 1.2 billion people without access to clean water.

"We applaud any effort that is trying to bring more water to those in the world that have no access to clean water or appropriate sanitation and we hope direct programs are enacted," said John Sauer, communications manager at Action Against Hunger, a group that delivers international assistance.

"There will have to be thousands of little micro-projects around the world that are working with these impoverished communities. Thats what's going to start to make an impact on that 1 billion figure," Sauer told OneWorld.

Another concern for safe water advocates is that monies go to people and groups already working on the ground, and don't disappear into foreign bureaucracies.

"A lot of people do not trust government-to-government funds and where those funds really end up," said Peter Verbiscar-Brown, executive director of Global Partners for Development, a group that carries out projects in East Africa and elsewhere.

"A key part would be to have very highly structured accountability and use existing networks of people and resources in Africa that are already working in water development."

Brown argued that the people and the resources to run projects are already in place, "capital investment is what is needed."

One place the Water for Poor Act could be especially beneficial is in western Kenya, according to Brown.

Most residents in that part of the world either get water from Lake Victoria using filtration systems or from groundwater, which often carries contaminants and waterborne diseases.

There are various "simple" ways to protect groundwater, said Brown, like building shallow, closed-off wells.

For about $2,500--more than most communities can afford--locals can establish protected wells capable of providing clean water to some 1,000 people.

What follows is a domino effect of positive results, Brown said.

Local productivity goes up as people who are not ill return to work. Infant mortality goes down as incidences of common killers like diarrhea diminish. And women who walked miles a day to find clean water have more free time to focus on their children's education and on earning money to support their families.

This hints at one reason water is increasingly becoming a top priority in development work. Besides causing over 80 percent of illnesses in the developing world, unclean water is widely understood to impact education, economic development, poverty, women's empowerment, conflict, and environmental sustainability.

The Water for Poor Act shifts the United States closer to meeting its commitments to halve the percentage of people in the world without access to water and sanitation by 2015, a promise it made back in 2002 along with 184 other countries that agreed to pursue the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

Copyright © 2005 OneWorld.net.

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