Water from a tap and somewhere to go to the toilet are things that we’ve long come to expect in the UK.
We just can’t imagine what it’s like to not have access to clean water and sanitation, but for billions around the world what we expect is an unimaginable luxury.
Clean water leads to clean body. Picture: Geoff Crawford/Tearfund
The figures are overwhelming, almost 900 million people without access to clean water, the majority of them women and children. While over 2.5 billion, a third of the world’s population, are without a clean and safe place to go to the loo.
Off Track
In 2000, world leaders signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targets that could transform the lives of millions around the world.
We’ve only got another 7 years to go until the targets are meant to be met, and progress on water and sanitation is the most off track, with experts predicting that the goal on sanitation is unlikely to be met until early in the 22nd century, more than 80 years too late.
Essential for life
But access to clean water and basic sanitation is essential for progress on other issues as well.
Every day 5,000 children under 5 die needlessly from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water.
The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 433 million school days are lost each year because of water-borne diseases, while girls often drop out of school when they’re expected to start to collect water or when safe and private toliets aren't available.
But despite this overwhelming evidence that more action on water and sanitation could lead to huge social and economic benefits in some of the world poorest countries, too little has been done.
We believe its time to put an end to this, which is why we’ve launched our campaign to challenge those with the power to prioritise water and sanitation.