About 32 per cent of the population is drinking contaminated water from unimproved water sources.
The majority of these water sources are mainly surface water while some are groundwater sources (open wells and contaminated groundwater aquifers).
Sudan suffers a clear shortage of pure water in its rural districts.
Sudan’s sanitation sector is also facing some serious challenges.
Due to these challenges strategic objectives; raising the number of persons with access to clean and safe drinking water to 82 percent and access to hygiene services to 67 percent by the end of 2016 could not be achieved.
About 50 per cent of the country’s primary schools, in rural areas in particular, neither have sources of clean drinking water nor sewage systems.
Scarcity of water has adverse effects on education in rural areas, because children have to spend a lot of time to bring water to their homes.
Diarrhea in North Sudan is a major problem for the children.
The Sudanese Government and the United Nations had announced the allocation of $1 billion for water funding.
In 2015 the Government of Sudan (GoS) has received financing from the African Development Fund (AfDB) toward the cost of the Water Sector Reforms & Institutional Capacity Development Program.