ABSTRACT
People who revel in statistics enjoy debating the success or failure of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, 1981–1990. Despite the acknowledged deficiencies in present water supply and sanitation services, most governments have not faced up to the implications of putting them right. UNICEF has calculated that it would be possible to provide basic services to the rural and peri-urban population, amounting to between 80 and 90 percent of all those needing service, for about $9 billion/year over the period 1990–2000. The other striking aspect of these population projections is that they predict massive urbanization. The United Nations Development Programme/World Bank Water and Sanitation Program is trying to enlist donor support to establish an urban environmental services network which will bring together practitioners in the sector, as well as a database on the Internet which will enable them to exchange useful information.
