CONEVAL’s estimations based on the National Household Income and Expense Survey (ENIGH) corresponding to years 1992, 2000 and 2006; report that the percentage of households in homes without a bathroom, according to the situation of food poverty, has decreased. Nonetheless, the gap in matters of sanitary services, that affects the world environment, is still high.
In Mexico, according to the CONEVAL 2005 Social Gap Index, in 2005, 9.90 percent of privately-owned homes do not count with a shower or toilet, that is, out of the 24.7 million homes existing in the country, 2.4 million do not count with a bathroom.
Likewise, the CONEVAL 2005 Social Gap Index estimates that 11.67 percent of inhabited privately-owned homes do not count with drainage, that is, 2.8 million homes.
Social program external evaluation
The Mexican Government has under its responsibility programs and actions to contribute to the conservation of the environment; among them is the Clean Water Program, directed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (SEMARNAT), whose objective is to disinfect water and sanitary prevention to improve public health.
With this, Mexico aims to reduce the incidence of diseases among marginalized populations or indigenous groups in areas of high levels of morbidity and mortality due to the consumption of contaminated water.
As a result of the 2006 external evaluation, the strengths of the Clean Water Program are the following: the federal budget is earmarked to states with lack of infrastructure and with health problems derived from contaminated water; and federative entities are co-responsible for funding the program and, usually, their contributions are higher than the established minimum.
However, it still has challenges to face such as achieving a greater coordination with health authorities, and generating operation rules that establish mandatory considering the level of marginalization of populations for the assignment of resources.
The external evaluation details that only the municipalities that are current in the payment of national water use and exploitation duties are eligible to receive the aid; however, said analysis considers that the program requires to benefit rural populations in need of the support.
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