Sustainable Development Goals SeriesAfrica and the Sustainable Development GoalsWater and Sanitation Inequality in Africa: Challenges for SDG 6

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which focuses on sustainable access to clean water and sanitation, pledges to ensure the ‘availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’ people. Achieving this goal goes beyond the task of making water and sanitation services available to all communities; it entails measures that ensure that there is sustainable use and management of water resources. In this chapter, we examine water and sanitation services in Africa, highlighting the challenges of achieving the two dimensions of SDG 6. Using examples from South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, we identify some of the enduring challenges around providing sustainable access to water and sanitation in Africa. We illustrate that, although different African countries face different challenges in this regard, there is a common challenge around the huge disparities between rural and urban communities.