In Effective Aid [PDF 1.94mb], the Australian Government signalled its intention to increase the share of the Australian aid program supporting multilateral organisations to deliver effective development results.
In May 2012, the Australian Government announced its intention to pursue membership of the African Development Bank Group to strengthen Australia's existing support to help African countries to overcome poverty. Whilst Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region requiring the most development assistance in reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Pursuing membership of the African Development Bank presents Australia with the opportunity to extend our reach in Africa and work more effectively in more development areas than would be possible when working alone or through bilateral mechanisms.
Australia has been developing a partnership with the African Development Bank predominantly in the water and sanitation sector at a project level. Whilst global access to safe drinking water has reached the MDG target, poorer people in Sub-Saharan Africa are at a disadvantage when accessing safe drinking water. Significantly, women bear the main burden for collecting water in Sub-Saharan Africa and despite improvements, access to safe sanitation remains out of reach for most poor women and men in Africa. Access to clean water and basic sanitation can have a catalytic effect on human development, it is essential for a healthy population and environmental sustainability.
Since 2010, Australia has contributed to the African Water Facility which is administered by the African Development Bank. The Facility aims to improve access to drinking water and through the use of innovative rainwater harvesting systems in rural Uganda, 720 households and 30 institutions benefited from this innovative rainwater harvesting system. In Kampala, Uganda, 14,000 urban poor benefitted from improved access to sanitation and water supply. These improvements utilised innovative ecological sanitation technologies and improved water distribution infrastructure.