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A
Global Crisis
It’s been called one of the world’s most lethal and least
reported humanitarian disasters.
Around the world, 1.1 billion people lack access to clean
drinking water. Another 2.6 billion people lack access to
basic sanitation like toilets or safe latrines – nearly half
of the developing world!
Just how serious is the global water and
sanitation crisis?
- Each
year, water and sanitation-related diseases like diarrhoea claim
the lives of 1.8 million children – that’s
one child death every 15 seconds, nearly 5000 deaths
each day (UN/WHO)
- Diarrhoeal
diseases
like cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, and malaria – which in
90 per cent of cases are caused by poor water and sanitation
conditions– are the second biggest killer of children
under five, after acute respiratory infections (WHO)
- At
any one time, half of the world’s hospital beds are filled
with patients suffering from water and sanitation-related diseases
(UN)
- The
global water and sanitation crisis claims significantly more
lives than wars and other violent conflicts; diarrhoea alone
has killed more children in the past ten years than all of the
lives lost to armed conflict since 1945 (UNICEF)
- Experts
believe that we will not defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria,
or any of the other diseases that plague the developing world
until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water
and basic sanitation (UN)
Water, Sanitation and Global Poverty:
Not
only is the global water and sanitation crisis a major source of
death and disease around the world, it also holds back progress
in other key areas of development:
Education
- In
areas where water and sanitation conditions are poor, disease
is everywhere and high absentee and drop-out rates at schools
are all too common. And because most schools in these areas
aren’t able to provide students with safe latrines that
offer privacy and dignity, many female students choose to just
stay home
Equality for Women & Girls
- Without
a reliable water source, women and girls are forced to spend
much of their days walking five miles or more in search of water,
taking time away from studying, going to school, earning a livelihood,
or otherwise participating in society
- Without
toilets or safe, private latrines, many women and girls are
forced to wait all day until after dark before they can go outside
to relieve themselves, which can not only lead to serious discomfort
and illness, but can also expose them to harassment and violence
The Environment
- Without
basic sanitation, raw sewage is everywhere – in homes,
streets, schoolyards, and fields, polluting water sources, contaminating
the food chain, and providing breeding grounds for flies and
other insects that spread disease
Economic Growth
- With
so much sickness and disease, developing countries are faced
with soaring healthcare costs and a workforce that isn’t
at full strength; in Africa, around five per cent of GDP
is lost each year to illnesses and deaths caused by poor water
and sanitation conditions; in some cases, the lost amount can
be greater than what the country receives in international humanitarian
aid (UNDP)
In the fight against global poverty, we face many complex challenges
and don’t always have all the answers. But ensuring that people
have access to clean water and basic sanitation is something we
CAN do – and each of us can make a difference.
Help us end poverty at the source – enter the contest today!
Want to know more?
Download our complete Water
& Sanitation Factsheet here.
Other resources:
World Water Day 2008 – www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/
International Year of Sanitation 2008 - http://esa.un.org/iys/
Water for Life Decade: 2005-2015 - www.un.org/waterforlifedecade
End Water Poverty – www.endwaterpoverty.org
UNICEF: Water, Environment & Sanitation - www.unicef.org/wes/
Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council – www.wsscc.org
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