Water Poverty: The Political Connection

A young girl collects water from a tanker truck in an IDP camp in northwest Syria. Meanwhile, the UN commemorates the anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration to Water & Sanitation on July 28th. Credit: UNICEF/Khaled AkachaBy Catarina de AlbuquerqueLISBON, Portugal, Jul 28 2021 (IPS) The water we drink and the air we breathe are the basis of life. With universal access to clean water and sanitation, we will be healthier, our economies will be stronger, gender equality will be more achievable, and more children will stay in school. However, the many benefits of universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene are under threat from unfair political decisions that have often left the poorest in urban and rural areas paying more for off-grid water and sanitation than people with formal access to these services in their homes. Already two billion people, or 1 in 4, don’t have access to safely managed drinking water in their homes, nearly half the world’s population lack safely managed sanitation, and 2.3 billion people can’t wash their hands at home. Indeed, daily access to water and sanitation is a distant aspiration for much of the world population, especially for women, girls and the most marginalized and vulnerable families and communities. So how can we ensure everyone on the planet has access to water and sanitation by 2030? We must first address one of the most fundamental barriers to progress: poor governance that has blocked progress towards universal acces...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Climate Change Development & Aid Environment Global Headlines Health Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Water & Sanitation Source Type: news