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Given the importance of water to poverty alleviation, human and ecosystem
health, the management of water resources becomes of central importance.
Currently, over 1 billion people lack access to water and over 2.4-billion
lack access to basic sanitation. Access to clean water is lowest in
Africa, while Asia has the largest number of people with no access to
basic sanitation. This water crisis is largely our own making. It has
resulted not from the natural limitations of the water supply or lack
of financing and appropriate technologies, even though these are important
factors but rather from profound failures in water governance. UNDP's
response to this water crisis has been to emphasize an integrated approach
to water resource management through effective
water governance. More... What's NewWorld Water Day 2008
Press Release | Facts | UNDP on sanitation | 20 March Exhibit Access to a clean and safe toilet and hygiene education could cut child deaths from diarrhoea by two thirds and could generate US$66 billion-worth of economic benefits, said the United Nations today ahead of World Water Day on 22 March, as it called for increased commitment to tackling the global sanitation crisis. The theme of World Water Day this year is sanitation in support of the International Year of Sanitation 2008, as the lack of decent toilets and the contamination this causes is a root cause of unsafe water. Over 2.6 billion people or 41 percent of the global population have no access to improved sanitation services. ‘No access’ is a polite way of saying that 5,000 children under five die every day from diarrhoea for lack of a decent toilet and hygiene, that girls are forced to stay home from school rather than risk indignity and sexual harassment without private latrines, and that raw sewage flows directly into streams, rivers and lakes, fouling the environment and exposing billions of people to disease. more... For more information:
In September 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the eight Millennium Development Goals that challenged the global community to reduce poverty and increase the health and well-being of all peoples. In September 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg reaffirmed these goals and added access to basic sanitation as a centerpiece of the poverty eradication commitments. The central objective of the International Year of Sanitation is to
put the global community on track to achieve the sanitation MDG. Sanitation
is the foundation of health, dignity, and development. Increased sanitation
access especially for poor people, is fundamental for reaching all the
Millennium Development Goals. |
Water Governance Topics
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UNDP-GEF
International Waters
