非洲城市供水面临的挑战

Infrastructure and basic services have a crucial role to play in alleviating urban poverty, especially in A frica. Alack of or inadequate access to water, sanitation and energy denies individual rights to dignity and health. It also has major repercussions on education, gender equality, nutrition and income-earning capacity. With 72 percentor 187 million people- of its urban population living in slums, infrastructure and basic services are a major challenge for Africa. As part of its strategy to reduce urban poverty, UN-Habitat launched its Water for African Cities programme in 1999. This article gives a brief account of the programme.