Some 63% Ethiopian households have access to improved water sources: Ministry

Addis Ababa, March 19, 2021 (FBC) –Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Dr Seleshi Bekele said some 63% of Ethiopian households had access to improved drinking water sources.

He made the remarks yesterday at the High-Level meeting on the implementation of the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda hosted at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The Minister said significant progresses have been made in the sector over the past years with 63% of Ethiopian households having gained access to improved water sources.

He said Ethiopia is implementing several initiatives to achieve the sustainable development goal 6, which targets ensuring access to water and sanitation for all, within the coming 10 years.

Dr Seleshi concluded his remarks by stating the need to focus on demand side water management as it is essential to increase efficiency and reduce water loss.

In a related development, the Minister also today held a virtual discussion with his Moroccan counterpart on the formation of the coalition for sustainable energy access co-led by the two countries.

The discussions were part of the South-South cooperation framework and focused on details of general organization of the coalition.

The two countries co-leading these initiatives also discussed the various details on the formation of energy access coalition.

Ethiopia and Morocco enjoy warm and friendly ties and have various partnerships in several thematic areas, including as agriculture.

Energy access is an important issue for Ethiopia as 65 million Ethiopian citizens still remain in the dark, according to the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy.