Deliver on Global Goal on water and sanitation to
transform our world, says WaterAid
On the verge of an unprecedented world commitment to end extreme poverty and
create a fairer, more sustainable planet, WaterAid India urges leaders to deliver
on the new UN Global Goals and leave no one behind.
Global Goal 6 commits UN member-states to delivering basic access to water,
sanitation and hygiene to everyone, everywhere by 2030. The inclusion of this goal is a
victory for more than 650 million people in the world today without access to clean water
and 2.3 billion people without access to safe, private toilets.
Neeraj Jain, Country Representative of WaterAid India said:
“Sustainable Development Goals are the next steps after Millennium
Development Goals for addressing the critical issues of extreme poverty, basic
rights and environmental sustainability. The fact that they are time bound and
ambitious in their targets with clear goals, will help governments develop a clear
road map to achieve them.
It is also heartening to see water and sanitation being included as Goal 6, which
is crucial to achieve all other indicators related to health and nutrition.”
The 17 Global Goals on sustainable development aim to tackle extreme poverty,
inequalities and climate change, including the water and sanitation crisis which kills half
a million young children each year from preventable diarrhoeal diseases.
This crisis compromises the ability of children to attend school and adults to engage in
income-generating work. And it affects women and girls most, as they are most often
tasked with collecting water, at higher risk of illness or infection in the absence of safe
water, basic toilets and good hygiene, and are made more vulnerable to attack if they
must relieve themselves in the open.
In India, 5.9 per cent of households do not have access to clean water and 60.4 per
cent do not have access to sanitation.
A recent report by WaterAid, Essential Element, has found that 45 low-income countries
are chronically underfunded in water, sanitation and hygiene financing, and will not
meet the UN goal without new political and financial prioritisation.
India is among these 45 countries.
In each of these countries, half or more of the population do not have a basic, safe
place to relieve themselves. This pollutes their water supply and general environment
and leaves people at high risk of illness.
This ambitious goal to deliver water and sanitation to all is achievable, but requires
political will and financing. Specifically WaterAid is calling on governments to:
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deliver on their promises to achieve the new global goal on water, sanitation and
hygiene to ensure everyone everywhere has these essentials by 2030;
ensure that there are indicators to monitor progress for access to drinking water,
sanitation and hygiene in homes, schools and healthcare facilities;
ensure donor countries are meeting their commitments on foreign aid and giving
sufficient priority to water, sanitation and hygiene programming; and
ensure developing countries are prioritising water, sanitation and hygiene
programmes at home and finding new and effective ways of mobilising domestic
resources.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors:
WaterAid
WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and
sanitation. The international organisation works in 37 countries across Africa, Asia,
Central America and the Pacific Region to transform lives by improving access to
safe water, hygiene and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest
communities. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 23 million people with safe water
and, since 2004, 21 million people with sanitation. For more information, visit
www.wateraid.org/India, follow @WaterAidIndia or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or
visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WaterAidIndia.
 Around 1,400 children die every day from diseases caused by dirty water and
poor sanitation. That’s one child every minute.
 Over 650 million people (around one in ten) are without safe water
 Over 2.3 billion people (around one in three) live without improved sanitation
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For every £1 invested in water and sanitation, an average of £4 is returned in
increased productivity.
Just £15 can help provide one person with access to safe water.