The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) They wanted to highlight and raise awareness about the global water and sanitation crisis affecting the planet. It is a unique occasion to remind everybody that concrete efforts to provide clean drinking water and increase awareness world-wide of the problems and of the solutions, can help make the difference.
In many parts of the world, such as Europe and North America, people take it for granted to turn on a tap for safe and clean water to drink, to cook, to wash – yet, more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water.
Each year, March 22 – World Water Day– marks a permanent effort to promote access to safe drinking-water and sanitation. It is a springboard for raising awareness about water, stimulating debate and focusing on the dangers that derive from inadequate access to safe water and basic sanitation.
■ 2.6 billion (42% of the world population) lacked access to basic sanitation.
■ Of the 1.1 billion without access to improved water sources, nearly two thirds live in Asia.
■ 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera); 90% are children under 5, mostly in developing countries.
■ 80% of the population without access to drinking-water were rural dwellers, but future population growth will be mainly urban.
■ The security of household livelihoods rest on the health of its members; adults who are ill themselves or must care for sick children are less productive. ■ Illnesses caused by unsafe drinking-water and inadequate sanitation generate high health costs relative to income for the poor. ■ Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases, particularly helminth infections, which rob their hosts of calories. ■ The time lost because of long-distance water collection and poor health contributes to poverty and reduced food security. ■ Reduced time, health and care-giving burdens from improved water
services give women more time for productive endeavors, adult education and leisure. ■ Accessible sources of water reduce labour burdens and health
problems resulting from water portage, reducing maternal mortality risks. ■ Safe drinking-water and basic sanitation are needed in health care facilities to ensure basic hygiene practices following delivery. ■ Adequate treatment and disposal of wastewater contributes to
better ecosystem conservation and less pressure on scarce fresh water resources. Careful use of water resources prevents contamination of groundwater and helps minimize the cost of water treatment. |
■ Improved health and reduced water-carrying burdens improve
school attendance, especially among girls. ■ Having separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys in school increase girl’s attendance, especially after they enter adolescence. ■ Improved sanitation and drinking-water sources reduces infant and
child morbidity and mortality. ■ Safe drinking-water and basic sanitation help prevent water-related
disease, including diarrhoeal diseases, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trachoma and helminths. ■ The reliability of drinking-water supplies and improved water man agement in human settlement areas reduce transmission risks of malaria and dengue fever. ■ Development agendas and partnerships should recognize the fundamental role that safe drinking-water and basic sanitation play in economic and social development. |
■ Progress in sub-Saharan Africa was impressive, moving from 49% coverage in 1990 to 58% in 2002. But at this rate it will not be sufficient to
meet the MDG target by 2015.
■ More than half the world’s population use water piped to their homes, which frees them (mainly women and girls) from the drudgery of water
collection and protects their health.
■ Without a sharp acceleration in the rate of progress, the world will miss the sanitation target by half a billion people.
■ An estimated 2.6 billion people – half of the developing world – lack access to improved sanitation.
■ Despite major progress in South Asia, little more than a third of its population use improved sanitation; access to adequate sanitation in
sub-Saharan Africa is only 36%.
■ Global population growth is canceling many of the gains already made. Though more than a billion people gained improved sanitation between
1990 and 2002, the population without coverage declined by only 100 million.
■ From now until 2015, greater effort must be made to reach the poor and those in rural areas, whose deprivation is hidden behind national
averages.
