“Accessibility to clean and safe water for every household has been seen for decades as a core element of basic needs and human rights. The Government of Tanzania (GoT) has endorsed the UN Millennium Development Goals, including the pledge to reduce by half by the year 2015 the proportion of people who do not have sustainable access to safe drinking water. The GoTs national strategy documents have included more ambitious targets. In 1971 the GoT established a 20 year water supply programme with the aim of securing access for every household to safe and adequate water within a walking distance of 400 metres. By 1986
this had only been achieved for 42 % of the rural population and 65 % of urban households. The GoT formulated a new National Water Policy by 2002, and the targets from 1971 were incorporated in the Tanzania 2025 Development Vision. By 2003 water access as defined above was only achieved for 53 % of the rural and 73 % of the urban populations. In addition, there
are concerns with the sustainability of current services as it is alleged that about 30 % of rural schemes are not fully functional.”
