Media Room
We are pleased to respond to requests from members of the media for interviews, photos, videos, water and sanitation resources, and more. Feel free to contact us if we can be of assistance.
Media Contact:
Andrea Helfer
Tel: (613) 230-5182 x.229
Toll-Free: 1-800-370-5658
Fax: (613) 230-0712
E-mail: ahelfer@watercan.com
Quick Facts – Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education
- Nearly 1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean water (WHO/UNICEF)
- 2.5 billion people – 42 per cent of the global population – lack access to basic sanitation like toilets or safe latrines (WHO/UNICEF)
- Each year, approximately 1.5 million children die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation – an estimated 4,100 children each day (UNICEF)
- At any one time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water and sanitation-related diseases (UN)
- Hygiene education and promotion of hand-washing can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by up to 45 per cent (WHO)
- One of United Nations Millennium Development Goals (goal 7) is to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by the year 2015. At present, the world is on course for the drinking water target. However, the world is unlikely to reach the sanitation target at present rates of progress (UN)
- With sustained funding from the international community, sanitation for the entire world could be achieved within one to two decades. In relative terms, the cost of such investment (approx. $10 billion globally per year) is less than one per cent of annual world military spending, or about one-third of yearly spending on bottled water (UN)
Quotes about Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Global Poverty
- “We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.” -Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General
- "Water and Sanitation is one of the primary drivers of public health. I often refer to it as ‘Health 101’, which means that once we can secure access to clean water and to adequate sanitation facilities for all people, irrespective of the difference in their living conditions, a huge battle against all kinds of diseases will be won." -Dr. Lee Jong-wook, Director-General, World Health Organization
- “Access to sanitation is deeply connected to virtually all the Millennium Development Goals, in particular those involving the environment, education, gender equality and the reduction of child mortality and poverty. An estimated 42,000 people die every week from diseases related to low water quality and an absence of adequate sanitation. This situation is unacceptable.” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
- “Sanitation is a key building block for health, the environment, education and gender equality. Improved sanitation offers a clear route to poverty reduction and the [African] population's improved health status." -Mr. Kordje Bedoumra, African Water Facility Director, African Development Bank
Margaret Trudeau and WaterCan
Margaret Trudeau has been involved with WaterCan for over a decade and has served as WaterCan’s Honorary President since 2002.
For more information on Ms. Trudeau and her service to WaterCan, click here.
If you are a member of the media and would like to request an interview with Ms. Trudeau about her involvement with WaterCan, please call (613) 230-5182.
Banner photo credit: Peter Bregg
