Urban Livelihoods in Afghanistan - the Afghanistan Research and ...

Synthesis Paper Series4.2 Basic services: Water supply,sanitation and electricityAddressing the problem of tenure insecurityin urban Afghanistan must be in conjunctionwith infrastructure development. This isespecially needed in informal settlements,where shortfalls in basic service deliverycreate conditions hazardous to the healthand wellbeing of residents. Although the kindof exclusion from services and infrastructurevary from city to city and even acrosscommunities within a city, the lack of safewater and proper sanitation systems is acommon problem. In Kabul, only 29 percentof the population has access to safe water,with a huge majority relying on shallowgroundwater sources accessed through wellsand hand pumps. 30 To make matters worse,groundwater levels are steadily regressingdue to over-exploitation by a risingpopulation. In addition, improper waste andwaste-water disposal result in the tremendouspollution of such water sources, contributingto the high infant mortality rates in thecountry. 31 Situations in Jalalabad (50 percentaccess), and especially Herat (85 percentaccess), are better than in the Afghan capital,although the water supply system in theeastern city of Jalalabad had sustaineddamage over the years through drought, civilwar, and poor maintenance. 32Evidence from the household study revealsthe following patterns and urgent issues:• Supporting the findings of broader studies,private water access in the studypopulation is a luxury (see Figure 3).Consequently, poor urban households areforced to send members out to haul insupplies, a task often assigned to children.Fetching water is time consuming,especially when the residence is far fromthe nearest public well. If this is not anoption, availing of clean, private waterrequires substantial payments. For hillsideFigure 3. Access to basic services in the longitudinal study sites (40 households in each city)36332921252023141411103 465Have ownelectricity supplyElectricity throughsocial relationsPrivate waterWater throughsocial relationsHave private toilet(dry latrine)Kabul Herat Jalalabad30 GoA (2004), Securing Afghanistan’s Future, p. 54.31 Himmelsbach, T. et al. (2006), Urban Impacts on Groundwater Resources and Quality in the Kabul Basin, Afghanistan,Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 8.32 Banks, D. (2002), Water Assessment Mission to Afghanistan, January-February, Oslo.26Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit