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Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

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Water-related challenges

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Water is at the core of sustainable development and is critical for socio-economic development, energy and food production, healthy ecosystems and for human survival itself. Water is also at the heart of adaptation to climate change, serving as the crucial link between the society and the environment.

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is an organization committed to ending the clean water crisis in developing countries. They share their progress and the change the earth has made.

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In 2010, the world met the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to have the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. This was 5 years ahead of schedule. More than 2 billion people gained access to improved water sources from 1990 to 2010.
However, 663 million people are still without an improved drinking water source. And sanitation has been slower to improve. 2.4 billion people still lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines.

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What is Global Goal 6?

In short, Global Goal 6 seeks to ensure that all people have access to an adequate amount of clean water and sanitation facilities so they can live healthy and productive lives.

Diarrhea i s an uncomfortable, yet passing condition for a lot of people. However, for millions of others living in developing countries, diarrhea can be deadly.

FACT: Pneumonia and diarrhea are the leading infectious causes of child mortality worldwide.

FACT: About 2 million children lose their lives to these preventable illnesses each year.

FACT: 88% of diarrheal disease infections are caused by poor hygiene, lack of access to sanitation facilities (e.g., toilets, sewage treatment systems), and unsafe drinking water.

Now, let's talk about water scarcity. Severe droughts, lack of water-related infrastructure (e.g., wells, irrigation systems), and the mismanagement of fresh water supplies all lead to water scarcity. This issue affects more than 40% of the global population, and that number is projected to rise.

When communities lack clean water sources, girls have to walk long distances to fetch water and regularly miss school. When rain stops falling and farmers lack access to proper irrigation systems, food production decreases and hunger begins to worsen. When hazardous chemicals and materials are dumped into rivers and lakes, the water becomes unusable.

None of these situations should happen.
Read More: Girls in Kenya Wrote This Stunning Poem About Water
Which countries are affected the most?

The answer: all of them. Given that water is essential for life, it's abundance is a high priority for every single country. However, the specific water-related challenges vary from one region to another.

In mostly developed regions like Europe and North America, the main challenges are increasing water use efficiency (primarily for agriculture), reducing waste and pollution, and influencing consumption patterns.

In the Asia and Pacific region, communities need improved access to safe water and sanitation. In India, around 590 million people defecate in the open because they do not have access to public sanitation. Additionally, the region must find ways to better meet water demands across multiple uses, improve groundwater management, and increase resilience following water-related disasters.

In the Arab region, water scarcity is the biggest challenge. Unsustainable consumption and over-extraction of surface and groundwater resources contribute to water shortages and threaten long-term sustainable development. Options that could enhance water supplies include water harvesting (collecting rainwater), reusing wastewater, and solar energy desalination.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, water is abundant. Brazil has the most renewable fresh water in the world! Therefore, a major priority for this region is to manage water resources in a way that lends itself to socio-economic development and poverty reduction. For instance, expand reservoirs, crack down on pollution and fairly allocate water.
Read More: 23 Best and Worst Countries for Water Supply
The fundamental aim for Africa is to develop its natural and human resources without repeating the negatives experienced by some other regions. Currently, only 5% of Africa's potential water resources are developed and only 5% of Africa's cultivated land is irrigated.

Has any progress been made?

Fortunately, yes. In 2010, the world met the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. This was 5 years ahead of schedule. More than 2 billion people gained access to improved water sources from 1990 to 2010.

However, 663 million people are still without an improved drinking water source. And sanitation has been slower to improve. 2.4 billion people still lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines.
Read More: What You Need to Know About Dehydration
What can you do?

First, you can start talking about poop. This topic has long been considered a "no no" in public forums. However, the first step in improving sanitation is acknowledging that open defecation is an issue. As awareness of this issue increases, the effort put into ending open defecation for good will also increase.

This brings me to my next point: support organizations that empower communities to improve their own sanitation and hygiene. Many times, building wells or installing toilets isn't enough. Long-ingrained cultural practices make it hard for some communities to shift their daily routines. My colleague wrote a great article about this. She also included a few examples of initiatives aimed at tackling sanitation issues.

Finally, treat water the way it should be treated, as a finite natural resource. Be more conscientious of how you use water, and support policies or organizations that increase efficiencies in water usage.

Did you know that about 70% of fresh water is used for agricultural purposes? Supporting policies that seek to improve how farmers and livestock holders use water is a good place to start.

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Everything to Know About Global Goal 6: Clean Water & Sanitation

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What is Global Goal 6? In short, Global Goal 6 seeks to ensure that all people have access to an adequate amount of clean water and sanitation facilities so they can live healthy and productive lives. Diarrhea i s an uncomfortable, yet passing condition for a lot of people.

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71% of earth is covered by oceans, lakes, and rivers, more than 10% of people lack clean water.
A single walnut needs 5 gallons, or 19 liters, of water to produce it, while one tomato demands just over 3 gallons. Meat takes water consumption into a whole new stratosphere – 1,000 gallons to create a single steak.

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How can we ensure clean water for everyone?

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This article is published in collaboration with SAP Community Network. 17 weeks to Davos. 17 global goals to achieve a sustainable future. 17 blog posts exploring the UN's vision for huma...

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ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization of more than nine million people around the world taking action to help solve the issue of clean water, sanitation and extreme poverty. This source has statistics about regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. This source also has information on the effect this issue has with children. It also has a section on the opportunity this organization sees when it comes to helping solve this problem. -Katie

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The links between a lack of water and sanitation access and development goals are clear, and the solutions to the problem are known and cost-effective.

The Challenge

Unclean water and a lack of basic sanitation are undermining efforts to end extreme poverty and disease in the world's poorest countries. Sub-Saharan Africa faces some of the biggest challenges: only 68% of individuals living in the region have access to an improved water source and only 30% of individuals have access to improved sanitation services; nearly half of all people using unimproved sources live in sub-Saharan Africa (while one-fifth live in South Asia).

Together, unclean water and poor sanitation are a leading cause of child mortality. An estimated 800 children die every day from diarrhea, spread through poor sanitation and hygiene. Research suggests that in sub-Saharan Africa women and girls in low-income countries spend 40 billion hours per year collecting water. Furthermore, time spent gathering water around the world translates to $24 billion in lost economic benefits each year. On average, women and girls in developing countries walk six kilometers each day to collect water - time which could be spent in school or at work.

Goal six of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals sets the target to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all; and to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

The Opportunity

The links between a lack of water and sanitation access and development goals are clear, and the solutions
to the problem are known and cost-effective. It is estimated that every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates $4 in increased productivity. Universal access to water and sanitation would result in an estimated $32 billion in economic benefits per year globally from reductions in health care costs and increased productivity from reduced illness.

In Kenya alone, the cost of poor sanitation totals $324 million per year. This trend exists across Africa, improving water and sanitation across the continent would free up billions of dollars for countries to spend on other important development priorities. In addition, adequate water and sanitation facilities will increase the number of children, particularly girls, who are able to stay in school. It will reduce the amount of time women in the developing world have to spend collecting water, and free them up to participate in other income generating activities.

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The Issues Affecting Global Poverty: Water & Sanitation

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The links between a lack of water and sanitation access and development goals are clear, and the solutions to the problem are known and cost-effective. Unclean water and a lack of basic sanitation are undermining efforts to end extreme poverty and disease in the world's poorest countries.

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6.1 SAFE AND AFFORDABLE DRINKING WATER
6.3 IMPROVE WATER QUALITY, WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND SAFE REUSE
6.6 PROTECT AND RESTORE WATER-RELATED ECOSYSTEMS

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Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation - The Global Goals

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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

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This source states one of the many goals of #6 (clean water and sanitation) . The specific goal it states is "By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all ."The rest of the article is the plan for how they are going to achieve this goal. It also mentions all the companies that have supported these efforts. -Katie

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The Business for 2030 site showcases business' past and continuing contributions to sustainable development through the prism of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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This article is about the progress that has been made regarding clean water and sanitation in the past 25 years. In this article, it is mentioned that there has been better access to water throughout the world; however, there has been a failure to meet the global target for improved sanitation. This lack in sanitation effects the prevention of tropical diseases and it plays a large part in child survival rates. There are statistics in the article that support their claim that the progress in recent years hasn’t been fast enough with sanitation.
-Katie

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Millions of additional people now have access to safe drinking water, but the resulting health gains could be undermined by a failure to meet a global target for improved sanitation, a new report shows.

The report was published Tuesday by the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization. It relates to the Millennium Development Goals, or MDG, a blueprint agreed to by the world's countries to mainly meet crucial needs of the world's poorest people, such as providing universal primary education and improving access to safe drinking water. The target date for all the Millennium Development Goals is September 2015.

Clean water, better sanitation and improved hygiene are crucial for the prevention of various tropical diseases and play a big role in child survival rates.

The MDG target for drinking water was met in 2010, ahead of schedule. In the last 25 years, 2.6 billion more people gained access to an improved drinking water source, which means that more than 90% of the global population now has access.

That has contributed to key improvements in health: today, fewer than 1,000 children under five die each day from water-related diarrheal disease, compared with over 2,000 a day just 15 years ago.

The sanitation picture is mixed, however. Today, one in three people lack improved sanitation, down from nearly half in 1990, but progress in recent years hasn't been fast enough, the report says.

The MDG target was to halve the proportion of people who lacked access to basic sanitation between 1990 and 2015. However, the MDG goal has been missed by nearly 700 million people, or 9 percentage points below the MDG target of 77%, the report says. In all, 2.4 billion people lack proper sanitation facilities.

"It's quite a significant shortfall," said Tom Slaymaker, water and sanitation monitoring expert at Unicef. "Sanitation is generally less interesting to politicians and attracts less investment."

Of those lacking improved sanitation, 40% live in southern Asia.

Hakan Tropp, of the Stockholm International Water Institute, a nonprofit group that works on sustainable water development, says that studies have shown improved sanitation delivers bigger health benefits than improved access to clean water.

"That's why it's critical to target sanitation and hygiene," said Dr. Tropp. "Combining improvements in both sanitation and drinking water will give you the best effect."

Representatives of U.N. member states are currently debating a new set of similar development goals to cover the period from 2015 to 2030. The new targets are expected to be formally adopted at the U.N. General Assembly in September.

Write to Gautam Naik at gautam.naik@wsj.com

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Millions Have Gained Access to Safe Drinking Water in Last 25 Years

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Millions of additional people now have access to safe drinking water, but the resulting health gains could be undermined by a failure to meet a global target for improved sanitation, a new report shows. The report was published Tuesday by the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization.

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USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help people progress beyond assistance. In there section about clean water and sanitation, they have a water and development plan, where they share strategic objectives. There is also a section about the progress they have made since 2016, which includes statistics. -Katie

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USAID's Vision for Water Security

Reliable access to safe water and sanitation saves lives, improves livelihoods, and makes communities more resilient. Investments in water security, sanitation and hygiene are critical for progress in nearly all aspects of global development. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have access to safe drinking water, safely managed sanitation services, and basic hygiene services than ever before.

Global Progress and Possibility

Three in four people have access to safe drinking water in their homes

One in two people has access to safely managed sanitation services

Two in three people have basic hygiene services (including soap and water at home)

USAID works with governments, other local stakeholders, and partners to make it possible to achieve universal access by 2030.

Statistics based on JMP/WHO 2020 WASH data and World Bank's 2020 world population data.

USAID helps partner countries plan, finance, and deliver safe water and sanitation services for the neediest, while sustainably managing water resources. In support of the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy (link is external) and USAID's Water and Development Plan under the strategy, USAID will program, monitor, and report activities and outcomes across four development results:

1. Strengthen sector governance and financing (link is external)

2. Increase sustainable access and use of sanitation and practice of key hygiene behaviors (link is external)

3. Increase Sustainable Access to Safe Drinking Water (link is external)

4. Improve Management of Water Resources (link is external)

Delivering results

In FY 2020, USAID provided $450 million to support water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities in 41 countries. As a result:

USAID mobilized more than $216 million outside of U.S. taxpayer funding.

USAID strengthened 289 water and sanitation institutions.

3.9 million people gained access to sustainable water service, with 68 percent of those gaining access for the first time.

4.1 million people gained access to sustainable sanitation service, with 90 percent of those gaining access for the first time.

Women and girls made up 51 percent of those who gained access to sustainable water and sanitation services.

Since 2008, USAID has helped 59.5 million people gain sustainable access to water services, and 44.6 million people gain sustainable access to sanitation services.

Learn more about how USAID is achieving its development goals in the 2020 Global Water and Development Report of Water and Sanitation Activities (link is external) and explore how USAID is delivering results around the world in an interactive map.

Learn More

To better serve USAID partners, staff, and members of the broader WASH and development community, the USAID Water Team supports GlobalWaters.org, an online knowledge-sharing platform for disseminating best practices, lessons learned, and the latest research on USAID's water and sanitation programs.

On GlobalWaters.org (all links are external) users can find:

Connect with us

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Water and Sanitation | U.S. Agency for International Development

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Reliable access to safe water and sanitation saves lives, improves livelihoods, and makes communities more resilient. Investments in water security, sanitation and hygiene are critical for progress in nearly all aspects of global development. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have access to safe drinking water, safely managed sanitation services, and basic hygiene services than ever before.