The access to water and sanitation for the rural population and the population with low incomes continues to be a challenge. The access rate for rural households is two times lower than for urban households. The discrepancy is the widest in the case of access to appropriate sanitary conditions, where only 2.9% of the rural population and only 10% of the population with low incomes are connected to a public sewerage system, says a report compiled by the Center “Partnership for Development” (CPD), IPN reports.
CPD executive director Natalia Covrig explained that when the Republic of Moldova undertook to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particular intermediary targets for 2023 and final targets for 20230 were set. According to the targets, 80% of the population will have access to safe water supply systems and services, while 65% of the population will have access to sewerage systems and services until 2023, and everyone will have access until 2030. “We, the CPD, set the goal of seeing where we are today, in 2023, what progress the Government made in this regard. Data show that the least progress was made in ensuring access to sewerage services. In this report, we focused mainly on the public networks as these are managed by the authorities, are well laid and should meet the sanitary norms,” stated Natalia Covrig.
The CPD executive director noted that slightly over 30% of Moldova’s population in 2023 has access to public sewerage services. The persons from rural areas have the most reduced access to water supply and sewerage services. Slightly over 3% of the rural population has access to public sewerage services. The capacity to access particular services is directly related to the financial capacity of households. In rural areas, the services are less developed than in urban areas as the building of sewerage services implies very large costs,” said Natalia Covrig.
At regional level, Moldova detaches itself from the context of most of the European countries as regards the population’s access to water and sewerage. The access rate for water supply systems over the past four years grew by 5%, which is a significant growth given the country’s level of economic development.
The most serious inequalities with regard to access to water and sewerage are related to age and ethnicity. The number of young households connected to public sewerage systems is by 23% higher than that of older households due to the financial capacity to cover the related costs. The situation is similar in the case of Roma people. The number of non-Roma households connected to sewerage services is by 15% higher than that of Roma households, said the CPD executive director.
In September 2015, the Republic of Moldova undertook to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This way, by 2030 Moldova, alongside another 192 UN member states, is to mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, to fight inequalities and make sure that no one is left behind. Moldova’s commitment to implement the Agenda 2030 also results from the National Development Strategy “European Moldova 2030”, which stipulates the long-term development goals and directions of the country. By 2030, Moldova is to obtain tangible and sustainable improvements in the quality of life at all levels, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and with the aspirations set out in the Moldova – EU Association Agreement.
