Today is World Water Day, and while I have already written about the issue of clean water in Ethiopia, I thought in honor of today, I would share some facts about water and sanitation issues around the world. They’re pretty mind-blowing.
“Worldwide, 1.3 billion people cannot access electricity, 768 million people lack access to improved water sources and 2.5 billion people have no improved sanitation. Water and energy have crucial impacts on poverty alleviation.” –unwater.org
“It’s hard to believe that globally, 4 out of 10 people lack access to something as basic as a clean toilet. It’s hard to believe that diarrhoea caused by dirty water, poor sanitation and bad hygiene kills more children than malaria, measles and HIV/AIDS combined.” –wash-united.org
“Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. 90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are in children under five years old. The WHO reports that over 3.6% of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene.” –charitywater.org
Lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation issues are simple, but huge problems. There is not a day here that I am not faced with these issues, whether it is visiting a newly built well, seeing someone use an open field as a toilet because they have no other choice, or making sure I am always carrying bottled water because the alternative is not safe. Yet in the US, these were never issues I thought about, as is probably the case with most people.
There are many organizations who are implementing wonderful projects to deal with these crises, and I urge you to look into one of them today and consider doing something, even if it is just spreading awareness, to help solve this problem. Or you can take the UNICEF Tap Project Challenge and can help support the project just by not checking your phone for ten minutes. Whatever it is, give water a second thought today.
Women pumping clean water at a well near Debark, Ethiopia. Unfortunately there are many communities without access to wells and clean water.
A Ferenji in Gonder 
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