Vietnam WASH Sector Brief

Rates of access to improved water and sanitation in Vietnam are better than neighbouring countries, however with 87 million people Vietnam is the thirteenth most populous nation in the world and there remain enormous numbers, particularly the poor, without access.   Vietnam is experiencing rapid economic and population growth. In this context the challenge is to keep pace with growth, extend WASH coverage and critically to ensure that WASH services are sustainable. This is particularly the case for sanitation, which is lagging behind water coverage. The general absence of wastewater treatment and sludge management is a significant gap given population density and the volume of wastewater produced, and this represents a severe environmental and public health hazard. Further challenges are presented by climate change and threats to water resources. Vietnam has been identified as one of five countries globally most vulnerable to sea‐level rise. Freshwater availability is threatened by increasingly problematic water quality, compounded by significant seasonal variability. Recent years have seen promising developments in institutional arrangements. Implementation of central policies, sector coordination and sustaining services will be important over coming years. Central control can sometimes inhibit the institution of locally appropriate solutions, and similarly gaps in financial and human capacity of local service providers are barriers to sustainable services.