Today, more than one out of six people in the world lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation (Estimation for 2002, by the WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2004). 3900 children die every day from water borne diseases (WHO 2004). One must know that these figures represent only people with very poor conditions. In reality, these figures should be much higher.
Dirty water and a lack of basic sanitation are undermining efforts to end extreme poverty and disease in the world's poorest countries. 4,100 children die every day from poor sanitation and hygiene. Women and girls in developing countries spend most of their days gathering water for their families, walking 3.5 miles on average each day to collect water. Girls often drop out of primary school because their schools lack separate toilets and easy access to safe water.
Access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation facilities could transform the lives of millions in the world's poorest countries. Universal access to water and sanitation could prevent thousands of child deaths and free up hours each day for women and children to go to work or school. This is especially true for girls -- studies show that girls are 12% more likely to go to school if water is available within a 15 minute walk rather than a one hour's walk.
In the United Nations World Water Development Report, it is clear that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid a global water crisis. Despite the vital importance of water to all aspects of human life, the sector has been plagued by a chronic lack of political support, poor governance and underinvestment. As a result, hundreds of millions of people around the world remain trapped in poverty and ill health and exposed to the risks of water-related disasters, environmental degradation and even political instability and conflict. Population growth, increasing consumption and climate change are among the factors that threaten to exacerbate these problems, with grave implications for human security and development.
Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, remains mired in poverty. Its progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals lags behind that of other regions. The percentage of the population living in absolute poverty is essentially the same as it was 25 years ago. About 340 million Africans lack access to safe drinking water, and almost 500 million lack access to adequate sanitation. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa store only about 4% of their annual renewable flows, compared with 70%-90% in many developed countries, yet water storage is essential to ensure reliable sources of water for irrigation, water supply and hydropower and to provide a buffer for flood management.
