Access
Running water is available in many parts of the country, but most villages remain without it. Women in remote areas typically draw water from the nearest well, sometimes walking up to two hours each way twice a day. They may carry the water in pots on their heads or load them onto donkeys.
Statistics on access to water supply and sanitation in Yemen are contradictory. For example, the data from the latest census, carried out in 1997, are very different from data in a Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) carried out in the same year. For example, according to the census, 61% or urban households had access to water connections in their home, while according to the DHS the same figure was 70%. For rural areas the order is reversed. The census gives higher figures for access to house connections (25%) than the DHS (19%). The latest data used by the United Nation are from the 2004 Family and Health Survey and the 2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Estimates for 2008 are made based on an extrapolation of trends from previous years.
In 2008, the United Nation’s Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation estimated that only 62% of the Yemeni population had access to improved water source – including 28% from house connections and 34% from other improved water sources such as standpipes. Only 52% had access to improved sanitation. Access to improved water supply, using a broad definition of access, is estimated to be somewhat higher in urban areas than in rural areas (72% vs. 57%). The urban-rural gap is, however, much higher for improved sanitation (94% vs. 33%). Due to rapid population growth, access to water supply actually declined in relative terms from 67% in 1995 to 62% in 2008 despite a substantial increase in absolute access. However, access to improved sanitation increased from 28% to 52% during the same period, according to the estimates.
Read more about this topic: Water Supply And Sanitation In Yemen
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