To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the ability of the population of Zimbabwe to access clean water; and if he will make a statement. (260276)

A recent household survey conducted by UNICEF in Zimbabwe showed that 77 per cent. of households across rural areas relied on a safe water source. A large number, therefore, do not have good enough water to prevent exposure to diseases such as cholera. In urban areas, where most people rely on piped municipal water, a breakdown in infrastructure and a lack of chemicals has placed an increasingly large number of households at risk.