Water crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Although the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has Africa's largest freshwater resources, it is suffering from an acute drinking water supply crisis. The DRC has one of the lowest rates of access to clean drinking water in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world. Only 46 percent of the population had access to an improved drinking water source in 2012.[1] Furthermore, the sanitation coverage was estimated at only 31 percent in 2012.[2] Up to date and accurate information on water supply and sanitation services in the DRC is scarce. As a result of inadequate water supply and sanitation services, many inhabitants are suffering from waterborne diseases, including diarrhoea, typhoid, and cholera.[3][4]
The current water crisis is a result of the deteriorated state of the water infrastructure due to underinvestment in the water sector and conflict-related destruction as well as the rapid growth of the population, which was estimated at 4 percent in urban areas and 2.5 percent in rural areas by the World Bank in 2009.[5][6] Overall, the DRC's water supply and sanitation sector is characterized by several overlapping and conflicting institutional jurisdictions.[6] Therefore, the water crisis in the DRC can be categorized as an economic water scarcity problem, hindering development in the country.[5] Article 48 of the 2006 Constitution of the DRC recognizes the human right to water.[7] The rehabilitation and development of the water sector is a priority to which the national government committed itself in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategies and to which it agreed as part of the international framework of the UN Millennium Development Goals.[8]