Laos joins other nations reviewing stance on sanitation, water

Laos joined other countries and development partners at the Sector Ministers’ Meeting (SMM) which was convened by the Sanitation and Water for All partnership in San Jose, Costa Rica on April 4-5.
Topics at the meeting centred on supporting the achievement of the water, sanitation and hygiene-related (WASH) targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Health Minister, Associate Prof. Dr Phouthone Moungpak, highlighted the importance of access to safely managed water supplies and sanitation facilities.
He said the Lao government was encouraging aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. According to the Lao Social Indicator Survey in 2018, the proportion of the population having a water supply was 83 percent.
“During the meeting, participants supported the achievement of the water, sanitation and hygiene-related targets of SDG 6 under the theme ‘Washing away inequalities’,” Dr Phouthone said.
The meeting brought together ministers responsible for water, sanitation and hygiene and senior government officials from different regions and development levels, as well as leaders from other stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, and donors.
In 2015, some 22 countries, mostly in the Northern Africa and Western Asia region and in the Central and Southern Asia region, recorded water stress levels at above 70 percent, indicating a strong probability of future water scarcity.
In 2017–2018, 157 countries reported an average implementation of integrated water resources management of 48 percent.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
(Latest Update April 12, 2019)