WUNRN
UN MAKES THE RIGHT TO WATER &
SANITATION LEGALLY BINDING
GENEVA (1 October 2010) – In a historic meeting of the Human Rights Council,
the UN affirmed by consensus that the right to water and sanitation is
derived from the right to an adequate standard of living, which is contained in
several international human rights treaties. While experts working with the UN
human rights system have long acknowledged this, it was the first time that the
Human Rights Council has declared itself on the issue.........
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Direct Link to Full 64-Page UNICEF
& WHO Report:
DRINKING WATER - EQUITY, SAFETY
& SUSTAINABILITY
Women and girls shoulder the largest
burden in collecting water.
In considering equity in access to drinking water it is important to consider its gender dimensions. In almost three-quarters of households without access to drinking water on premises, women and girls have the primary responsibility for collecting water. In some countries the proportion is more than 90%. This creates significant burden, especially when the time taken to collect water is considerable. It may also result in girls missing school.
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UN News Centre
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40799&Cr=mdgs&Cr1=
UN REPORTS IMPROVED ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER,
BUT POOREST STILL LAGGING - GENDER
20 December 2011 – The internationally stated goal of improving access to safe
drinking water across the globe is likely to be achieved well ahead of the 2015
deadline, but large numbers of people in the world’s least developed regions
will still not benefit, according to a United Nations report released today.
Reducing
by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation by 2015 is one of the global targets under the
internationally-agreed poverty and social development vision known as
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
which have a 2015 achievement deadline.
The
new study by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
and UN World Health Organization (WHO),
entitled Drinking
Water Equity, Safety and Sustainability, shows that between 1990 and
2008, the proportion of the world’s population with access to improved drinking
water sources increased from 77 per cent to 87 per cent.
“The
good news is that almost 1.8 billion more people now have access to drinking
water compared to the start of the 1990s,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF’s
associate director and water and sanitation chief. “The bad news is that the
poorest and most marginalized are being left behind.”
However,
the report stresses, even though significant progress has been made, at the
current rate, 672 million people will still not be using improved drinking
water sources in 2015. There are still many countries in sub-Saharan Africa,
Southern Asia, Eastern Asia and South-East Asia that are not on track to meet
the target, according to the report.
In
sub-Saharan Africa, for example, total access has significantly increased since
1990, jumping from 49 per cent to 60 per cent, and reaching an additional 126
million people in urban and 111 million in rural areas. However, population
growth has outstripped the progress to the extent that the actual number of
people without access was greater in 2008 than it was in 1990, according to the
report.
The
study also found that the richest 20 per cent in sub-Saharan African countries
are more than twice as likely to use an improved drinking water source as the
poorest 20 per cent. In addition, poor people in rural areas have the lowest
access to safe drinking water, with the greatest burden in collecting water
falling to women and girls.
Globally,
more than eight in 10 people without improved drinking water sources live in
rural areas. However, the proportion of the rural population in developing
regions using piped drinking water on premises was still only 31 per cent in
2008, up from 21 per cent in 1990. In urban areas it went from 71 per cent to
73 per cent during the same period.
Investment
in water and sanitation is not being optimized, with almost two thirds of total
official development assistance for drinking water and sanitation going to the
development of large urban systems, the report points out.
Water
quality surveys showed that many improved drinking water sources such as piped
supplies, boreholes and protected wells, do not conform to WHO guidelines. On
average, half of all protected dug wells may be contaminated, along with a
third of protected springs and boreholes.