Water&Envronmental Sanitation

Overview - Water & Environmental Sanitation

© UNICEF/IDSA/020/Estey

A young boy enjoys the water from a spring at Teluk Dalam, Nias, several days after an earthquake devastated the island in February this year.

Water and sanitation conditions remain very poor in most areas of Indonesia, resulting in high rates of susceptibility to water-related diseases, especially among children. In 2004, only 53.4% of Indonesia’s population obtained its water from sources further than 10 metres from excreta disposal sites – a universal standard for water safety. In Jakarta, for instance, 84% of samples from shallow wells were contaminated by faecal coliform.Since communities are not always aware of the importance of good hygiene, hygiene practices are often not conducive to good health, and latrines are not maintained or used appropriately. High occurrences of diarrhoea, skin disease, intestinal and other waterborne disease in low-income communities therefore remain a frequent obstacle to improving child health more generally.

Besides poor access to safe water, a failure to aggressively promote behavioural change - particularly among low-income families and slum dwellers – has further worsened Indonesia’s water and sanitation situation. The provision of clean drinking water has unfortunately not yet been taken up as a serious development priority in Indonesia, particularly at the provincial government level.

(Read about UNICEF's response for Water & Environmental Sanitation in Indonesia)