Surroundings in Eritrea

Eritrea has no nationally uniform service system covering every part of the surroundings. Electricity access reached 55.3% in 2024. The reported interconnected electricity system had 157 MW of capacity, but only 37 MW was available, with load curtailment affecting supply. Urban and rural access differs substantially. Water and sanitation conditions also vary widely. Comparable UNICEF figures shown for 2016 recorded basic drinking-water access for 52% of the population, limited access for 18%, unimproved sources for 13% and surface water use for 17%. Basic sanitation covered 12%, limited sanitation 10%, and open defecation accounted for 67%; nationally comparable data for safely managed services was not available. Urban water services are managed through local administrations under the Ministry of Local Government. In rural areas, the Water Resources Department, or WRD, under the Ministry of Land, Water and Environment supports water committees. A Zoba is an administrative region. The Community Ownership and Management model, known as COM, relies on local participation and local duties for operating and maintaining water facilities. Private entrepreneurs also supply some low-income urban households that are not connected to formal services. The Ministry of Health and its Environmental Health Division handle sanitation and hygiene functions. The Ministry of Education and its General Education Department coordinate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools, known as WinS. Municipalities are responsible for solid-waste services, while donor- and UN-supported projects, community maintenance and Community-Led Total Sanitation, known as CLTS, provide additional non-formal arrangements. Eritrea has no documented uniform national application, complaint or service-response process covering all these services. The Environmental Protection, Management and Rehabilitation Framework and Legal Notice 2017, the Eritrean Water Resources Policy from 2004 and 2007, and the 2005 plastic-bag prohibition form part of the national framework. The available research did not confirm an individual nationwide entitlement to a particular water or sanitation service, nationally uniform tariffs, guaranteed response times or a universal accessibility standard. Utility and private-vendor costs depend on the locality, provider and service arrangement, and infrastructure expansion usually follows settlement-specific or project-based timing. Air quality and household energy affect living conditions. Eritrea’s annual mean PM2.5 concentration was reported as 23 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019, compared with the World Health Organization guideline of 5 micrograms. About 90% of the population lacked access to clean cooking fuels or technology. Reported municipal solid-waste collection and disposal covered 55%, while waste and chemical management capacity remained uneven. Asmara has a distinct public-space and heritage context. Its World Heritage urban area covers 481 hectares with a 1,203-hectare buffer zone, alongside a protected escarpment green belt, public squares, walking paths and Mai Jah Jah park. Consultation and management arrangements exist for Asmara’s heritage area, but they do not establish a nationwide entitlement to green space. Eritrea is arid to semi-arid and faces erratic rainfall, drought and land degradation. Rural water harvesting, dams, solar pumping and ecosystem or land-resilience projects address these pressures. A 34 MW solar mini-network was approved in 2026 for Tesseney, Berantu and Kerkebet, including clean-water pumping, but an approved or projected output does not prove that household access has already improved. Drought and water insecurity have countrywide relevance. Historical mine and unexploded-ordnance contamination has been documented, while current clearance information was not verified. There is no robust countrywide official noise dataset, noise standard or disability-access process in the available research, so local conditions require confirmation.