David Parry/PA Wire/WaterAid
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To mark World Water Week, UK-based WaterAid is running a campaign to bring attention to the health problems around the world caused by lack of sanitation alone.
Here's what WaterAid has to say about the Millennium Development Goals and the progress toward sanitation for all:
The hope embodied in the declaration of 2000 is mired in excrement.
To illustrate, the organization erected 167 shovels from the grass of London's Trafalgar Square to symbolize the number of children who die every hour in the developing world from diarrhea.
If the current rate of progress keeps up, according to WaterAid, the UN will not meet its goal to bring sanitation to the places that need it most, primarily sub-Saharan Africa, until the 23rd century—200 years late.
Sanitation is probably the least-sexy of the goals to talk about—or to fundraise for—but it is among the most important: maternal and newborn health are affected, immune systems are compromised, diarrhea is associated with half of the world's childhood malnutrition cases, and treating diseases related to poor sanitation takes away from other health services in countries with limited resources.
WaterAid is calling on leaders at the upcoming Millennium Development Goals Summit to:
- Ensure that the MDG action plan recognizes sanitation as a critical sector in human development efforts, and in the achievement of development outcomes.
- Reform the aid system, ensuring that action is integrated and coordinated.
- Evidence must inform political priorities and the necessary financial allocations for achieving the MDGs.
- Endorse the Sanitation and Water for All Partnership to raise international commitments from governments and champion pro-poor change.
Check out WaterAid and the Dig Toilets campaign to learn more or to get involved.
More about water and sanitation in the developing world:
Texts or Toilets? More People In India Have Access to Cell Phones than Bathrooms
Balancing the Weights of Poverty and Population
Redefining Poverty: From Financial to Rights-Based Measures
Is Water a 'Right' or a 'Need'?: Day 7 at the World Water Forum
Water is a Human Right Now. What Does That Mean for Water-Scarce Regions Around the World?
