One billion of the world's people have only dirty water to drink, and a third lack sanitation, a recent report from the Department for International Development has said, supporting the provision of clean water as a fundamental right for all.
Its strategy paper Addressing the Water Crisis is Britain's response to the United Nations' development targets of halving by the year 2015 the proportion of people who have no access to clean water or hygienic sanitation.
The paper has spelt out the health risks from dirty water. Water related diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, dysentry, bilharzia, and trachoma, are the single largest cause of human sickness in the world, and they disproportionately affect poor people, it said.
In her foreword, Clare Short, secretary of state for international development, called for regular assessment of how countries were performing. She said: “The political debate in Britain was strongly influenced by 19th and early 20th century surveys documenting the reality of grinding poverty in our own society. A similar effort of political will is needed in many developing and transition countries if they are to give sufficient emphasis to the needs of their own poor people.”
But she added: “Neither Britain nor any other individual donor country can achieve the targets alone. Each developing country should lead the effort if the international targets are to be achieved. The international community, in turn, must provide support for these governments committed to the reforms which are necessary to achieve them.”
The department spent £82m ($123m) on water related projects during 1999-2000 and said that this figure is scheduled to increase “substantially” over the next few years. But rather than directly funding construction of an infrastructure, it is moving towards funding strategic and policy level work.
The department said that its goal is to “enable poor people to lead healthier and more productive lives through improved management of water resources and increased sustainable access to safe drinking water supply and appropriate sanitation.”
To do this, it has drafted a range of proposals, including encouraging strong leadership at all levels; supporting a range of activities and programmes; encouraging research; and disseminating what has been learnt.
The report coincides with a recent initiative (Water for Health) of the World Health Organization, launched by its director general, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, on 22 March, World Water Day.
“Clearly, a problem of this magnitude cannot be solved overnight,” said Dr Brundtland. “But simple inexpensive measures are available that will provide clean water for millions and millions of people in developing countries—now, not in 10 or 20 years. It is high time to recognise that safe water supply and adequate sanitation to protect health are among the basic human rights.”
Addressing the Water Crisis is available from the Department for International Development (tel 0845 300 4100). Water for Health is available at www.who.int/ or www.worldwaterday.org 