01/07/2021
Welcome to the second half of the year!!!
Did you go through the recent UNICEF report on WASH? If not here's a few take home points.
Billions of people will lack access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in 2030 unless the rate of progress quadruples, WHO and UNICEF warns.
The report makes it clear that, if the current trends persist, billions of children and families will be left without critical, life-saving WASH services, stating that by 2030:
Only 81 per cent of the world’s population will have access to safe drinking water at home, leaving 1.6 billion without;
Only 67 per cent will have safe sanitation services, leaving 2.8 billion without;
And only 78 per cent will have basic handwashing facilities, leaving 1.9 billion without.
The report also notes vast inequalities with vulnerable children and families suffering the most. To achieve universal access to safely managed drinking water by 2030, the current rate of progress in the Least Developed Countries would need to increase ten-fold. In fragile contexts, where people were twice as likely to lack safe drinking water, it would need to accelerate by a factor of 23.
Other key findings from the report include:
Eight out of 10 people without basic water services live in rural areas. Meanwhile, safely managed sanitation services reached 62 per cent of the world’s urban population, but only 44 per cent of its rural population.
Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the slowest rate of progress in the world. Only 54 per cent of people used safe drinking water, and only 25 per cent in fragile contexts.
Emerging data on menstrual health showed that, in many countries, a significant proportion of women and girls are unable to meet menstrual health needs, with significant disparities in particular among vulnerable groups, such as the poor and those with disabilities.
We can not afford to stop talking about our water and climate issues.
