International aid money for water goes too often to middle income countries rather than the poorest who need it most. This is the demand of relief and development agency Tearfund following the announcement by DFID that the UK will double its funding for water and sanitation in Africa.

A Tearfund report, Making Every Drop Count, reaffirms the demands of the Make Poverty History campaign for more and better aid. It calls for more aid to be targeted at the poorest countries, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. This, the repost says, would better address the fact that more than two million children die each year from preventable diseases due to lack of safe water and sanitation.

The report finds that Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, receives nearly 10 times less aid for water than Egypt, a middle-income country. This highlights the claim that much aid is given on the basis of national self-interest, rather than the needs of the poor.

None of the 15 countries identified by Tearfund as suffering from chronic water and sanitation problems feature among the 10 countries currently receiving most help from donors.

The report says that middle-income countries received almost half of all grant aid to water and sanitation programmes between 1998-2002. The top 10 highest recipients of aid received £279 for every person not served by water and sanitation services. While the countries most in need received just £10 per person.

Speaking on World Water Day, Hilary Benn, Secretary of State of International Development announced that funding to Africa would increase from £47.5m this year to £95m in 2007/8 and that the UK would take immediate action to help 11 African countries with greatest needs.

“Hilary Benn has acted upon the concerns of poor women, children and men who consistently rate access to water as one of their top priorities,” said Joanne Green, Tearfund Water Policy Officer. “And we call upon the UK government to put pressure on other G8 countries to follow its good example by increasing aid and focusing it on the countries that need it most.”

“Our research shows that aid is not being delivered to the poorest people most in need of safe water and sanitation. Africa will currently miss by 35 years and 95 years respectively the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without access to water and sanitation by 2015.

Aid needs to be re-doubled, but also refocused on the poorest countries to get us back on track.”

The report acknowledges that donor governments’ worries about poor governance in some countries often determines funding priorities, leading to middle income countries receiving most water and sanitation aid. But despite this, it says greater international consensus and co-operation would help to ensure that “aid is more evenly targeted on those countries which need most help.”

Making Every Drop Count is also critical of the amount of aid to very poor countries given is in the form of loans rather than grants, raising the spectre of mounting international debt.

Ethiopia receives more than one third of its international aid for water and sanitation in the form of loans to be repaid. Disagreement among water experts over the amount of money required to meet this Millennium Development Goal – ranging from £5.6 billion to £19 billion per year – is further evidence of the need for better international co-operation, says the report.

“Without access to water and sanitation poverty eradication will not happen,” concludes Andy Atkins, Tearfund Advocacy Director.” It is central to health, nutrition, education and the ability to work.