Resolution n. 40/2018 approving the Water Sector Action Plan for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Objectives 2015-2030.

This Resolution approves the Water Sector Action Plan for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Objectives 2015-2030, is divided into two Volumes, focusing on the management of water resources as well as water supply and sanitation. Mozambique's Water Sector did not achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water supply and sanitation and many of the strategic actions of integrated water resources management for economic development, poverty reduction and vulnerability to natural disasters, have not yet been fully implemented. The United Nations has defined for Objective 6 of water sector four indicators related to the management of water resources: (6.3) relating to water quality; (6.4) on sustainable use and reduction of the number of people suffering from water scarcity; (6.5) on the implementation of integrated water resources management; and (6.6) on the need to protect aquatic ecosystems and aquifers (pag. 2721).
The objectives and priorities of the Water Sector Action Plan for 2015-2030 are the following. Central Objective of Water Supply: the Mozambican Government's long-term objectives for rural and urban water supply are articulated in the Water Law of 2007 (Law No. 16/91 of 3 August); Resolution No. 46/2007 of 21 August and in the Urban Water and Sanitation Strategy 2011-2025. Satisfying the basic needs of water for human consumption on the basis of a safe and reliable drinking water supply, and in the long term universal coverage and a better level of service in rural and urban areas is the main objective of the water supply sub-sector reflected in these sectoral strategic documents. This objective will be materialized through specific goals for urban, peri-urban and rural areas, and is in line with the 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Objectives, which in the country are to be achieved by 2029, which translate into: (i) achieving universal access to basic drinking water services (goal 2); (ii) reduce by half the proportion of the population without access to drinking water (goal 3); and (iii) progressively eliminate inequalities and inequities in access (goal 4). These objectives will be materialized through specific targets for urban, peri-urban and rural areas. The baseline to be used will be the results of the Family Budget Survey (IOF) 2014/2015 published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The government entity responsible for promoting the development of potable water supply and service infrastructures in rural areas will elaborate the strategic actions in pursuit of the objectives of universal access in these areas. These actions should take into account the four priorities above identified. Likewise, the actions of this sub-sector should be time-segmented to cover the three cycles of five-year government plans (2015-2019, 2020-2024; and 2025-2029).
The main challenges that Mozambique faces in the area of natural disasters are related to: urgency of disaster mitigation measures because disasters have already become more frequent and the resulting impacts are increasingly severe; poor hydro-meteorological network coverage in terms of density and data quality that is crucial to support the design and implementation of mitigation measures; success of programmes to prevent and mitigate the impacts of floods and droughts does not depend exclusively on Mozambique, so it is necessary the active participation of neighbouring countries. By 2030, it is the objective of the water resources area to ensure that all critical basins for the cyclical occurrence of floods and droughts have decision support systems to minimize the impacts of these disasters on the socioeconomic fabric and on the natural ecosystems and on the criticisms of these basins, infrastructures for flood protection. The Action Plan priorities for 2030 are to ensure that, in the country's 13 most critical basins, complete and comprehensive disaster prevention (flood and drought) systems are gradually established in coordination with the riparian countries (pag. 2644).