More than 1 billion people live without access to safe water and 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. While we in developing nations take each sip of life saving water for granted, each sip to a child in the developing world could be the drop that kills. Water for as simple as it seems is a complex and global fight, that has yet to see the finish line in sight. While many wonderful and sustainable water initiatives and programs are out there, the increasing population continues to strain the already burdened effort, and water and sanitation issue while have risen to
Clean water often affects the youngest victims hardest, and it can be a battle just providing adequate nutrition alone, however all of a parents efforts and a child’s care can be erased in one fail swoop with dirty and unfiltered water. For all children this can be life threatening, as diarrhea is killer, especially of infants who are often formula fed with contaminated water, as seen in the post Fighting For Infant Health in Indonesia.
Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater for which to focus on. This year, UN-Water chose the theme Water and Urbanization, with the following slogan; Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge. This year World Water Day seeks to focus global attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems.
One in two people worldwide live in a city, and the rate that urbanization is expanding is only increasing. The increase of city dwelling is largely due to the natural expansion of the urban population, but is also caused by rural-to-urban migration and reclassification of rural areas to urban areas. 93% of global urbanization occurs in poor or developing countries, and nearly 40% of the world’s urban expansion is found in the growth of slums. Between 1990-2001 the world’s slums increased at a rate of 18 million people a year, and is projected to increase to 27 million new slum citizens per year between 2005-2020.
The reality is that is that one in eight people across the globe are without access to safe water, leaving millions of women and children to toil for hours each day just to collect water, most of which is from polluted sources. The lack of sanitation also 2.5 billion people live without access to a toilet further increasing the problems of accessing clean and viable water sources. While thus today is a day with much needed global awareness it must become a global effort to ensure that clean and safe drinking water is a global norm in the near future if we are to see global progress in all aspects of health and development.
Related Links:
Global Sanitation Fund
Global WASH Campaign
UN-Water
World Health Organization (WHO)
Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council
International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’
World Water Day site 2007
Water Aid
Children pay the price for lack of safe water and sanitation
UNICEF calls for children to be at centre of regional action on hygiene
UNICEF highlights water scarcity on World Water Day
PlayPumps International– uses the PlayPump water system,a merry-go-round attached to a water pump, and aims to install 4,000 PlayPump water systems in 10 African countries by 2010, bringing clean water to up to 10 million people.
Tap Project – UNICEF- Dine at Tap Project participating restaurants around the US during World Water Week, from March 16 – March 22, and donate a dollar for your free tap water.
The Water Project
El Porvenir supports self,help, community,initiated water, sanitation and reforestation projects in Nicaragua.
Water Advocates