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Talking Points for International Year of Sanitation Global Launch
Wednesday, 21 November 2007, United Nation Headquarters, New York
Room 6 Delegates Dining Room
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Mr. Secretary-General, Your Royal Highness, Distinguished Delegates, ladies and
gentlemen, good morning.
On behalf of the World Bank, I am honored to be here today to discuss why sanitation
is a smart economic investment. As we all know, sanitation contributes to the economy
through better health, greater household productivity, a cleaner environment. For the same
reasons, poor sanitation is a poverty trap for low-income families.
A series of World Bank studies and empirical evidence from our projects have shown
in recent years that the economic costs of poor sanitation are as high as 1% of GDP, both in
middle income countries like Colombia and in low income countries like Bangladesh. When
these economies grow 3-7%, we can see that the economic impacts of sanitation are
significant.
In East Asia, our recent work has shown that poor sanitation is responsible for
economic losses of at least 9 billion dollars per year in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines
and Vietnam.
Health costs account for more than 4.8 billion dollars of these losses. These numbers
should catch the attention of Ministers of Finance.
Sadly, these costs of poor sanitation are not evenly shared. A much greater burden
falls on poor people – in terms of their health, lost time for productive work, and lost income.
Poor people are those who suffer the most and pay the highest economic costs.
During the International Year of Sanitation we hope all will spread the message that
improving sanitation and providing access to more people is possible. The challenge is
enormous but we should not forget that during the past 14 years, more than 1 billion people
have gained access to sanitation. I know I find that number very encouraging – and
convincing. We at the World Bank are happy to contribute to these efforts, as one of the
largest financing agencies in the sector.
During 2008 I also hope we spread the word about the economic benefits of investing
in sanitation. I hope more Ministers of Finance and Economy, and government leaders hear
about numbers like 9 billion dollars lost annually in East Asia due to poor sanitation –
because without political will and the strong support of society, governments find it difficult
to mobilize and commit the necessary resources to tackle the huge sanitation challenges.
If we cannot convince the Ministries of Finance around the world that investment in
sanitation pays, they will not make the investments and will not set up the policies to mobilize
the funding from all segments of society needed to tackle this challenge.
Let us spread the word this International Year of Sanitation that sanitation is an
investment that makes good economic sense and should not only be a choice but a must.
Thank you.
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