This week’s topic pin pointed one of the major challenges that many countries are dealing with. Approximately more than 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation facilities and over one billion people still use unsafe drinking water sources.
Women and Children are denied their right to education because they are busy fetching water!!!
All of us have seen videos like the assigned ones for last week; pipes funnel through loads of human’s dirt and the poor down the way drinking from these filthy channels.
As a result, thousands of children die every day from diarrhea and other water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases and many more suffer and are weakened by illness.
Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, and national economies suffer. Without safe water and sanitation, sustainable development is impossible.
According to UNICEF report on water, sanitation and environment:
Meeting the MDG targets on water and sanitation would cost approximately an additional US$11.3 billion each year. A cost-benefit analysis undertaken by the World Health Organization found that every $1 invested in achieving the Millennium Development targets on water and sanitation would yield returns between $3-$34 depending on the region.
Since we know this issue is relevant in growing countries, what ideas would you offer to minimize the cost and maximize the outcome for cleaning water? Whose responsibility is this issue?
4 comments:
That's an amazing picture Liyan! I agree that clean water is everyone's right, and I wonder about those cost-benefit analyses and how they are computing the numbers with what methods in mind? It would interesting to investigate that further since perhaps they aren't using the most efficient methods...
I agree that access to water should be a basic right. In response to your question...
I am not sure I would go as far as to say it is completely the government's responsibility, but if unregulated private organizations are the only players, access to all peoples is extraordinarily unlikely. As such, I think that the government MUST play at least some role... what that role should be is a complicated issue.
hi liyan,
i like your picture too :)
i think it is the government's responsibility to ensure clean water. if the government of a particular country doesn't prioritize clean water for it's people then an international governing organization should hold them accountable through sanctions until it happens. access to safe water is a human right, not something that should only be afforded to some. you've offered an interesting question and hopefully someone will come up with an idea.
hi liyan, i agree, that is an amazing picture! interesting thoughts on water--i agree with david's comments, public-private partnerships have awesome potential but unfortunately we don't seem to be very good at regulating them for public good.
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