ne person on six worldwide – equivalent to 1.1-billion individuals – do not have access to 20
liters (5 gallons) of drinking water a day, the minimum quantity for survival. Over 2.6-billion lack proper sanitation facilities and 1.8-million children die each year die from
diarrhea and other diseases associated with lack of safe drinking water, equivalent to 4,900 deaths per day. The data provided by the United Nations in occasion of World Water Day, this year with the theme "Coping with Water Scarcity", is not comforting for the future of the so-called 'blue gold' and access has become "the challenge of the 21'st Century, according to the UN.
On a global level the level of water exploitation has doubled in a century in respect to demographic growth and never before such an elevated number of people – 40% of inhabitants of the planet – are directly affected by water shortage, which has become chronic in many regions of the world. The XV edition of World Water Day is marked in the international decade for action initiative: "Water for Life", promoted by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) in 2005 with the objective to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water, one of the so-called Millennium Development Goals set by the UN.
Last November, the 'Human Development Report 2006' drawn up by the UN Development
Program (UNDP) particularly emphasized the "the global water crisis": "The lack of drinking water, cause of death of nearly 2-million children each year, contributes to widening the disparity between wealthy and poor nations", underlined the report, indicating the urgency to accelerate universal access to water, ensuring policies able to reinforce the rights of the poorer nations.
But while the most arid nations of the world – inhabited by over 2-billion and half of the entire poor global population – are the worst affected by water scarcity, the World's North must maintain its water resources and seek new ones to produce energy and sustain urban and industrial growth. In face of a similar scenario, the FAO (UN Food and Agricultural
Organization) warned that by 2025, 1.8-billion people will live in nations or regions with serious water shortage and two-thirds of the world's population will live in countries affected by water scarcity.
Confronting water shortages means taking into consideration an ensemble of factors: global warming, environmental degradation, the intensive use of water sources for farming irrigation, industry and human consumption. Farming absorbs the highest quantity of water worldwide – 70% of drinking water – and for this reason the FAO urges the adoption of agricultural techniques that consent, for example, the collection of rain water, reduction of waste and modification of crops and food regimes of the most affected nations.
The lack of drinking water, cause of death of nearly 2-million children each year, contributes to widening the disparity between wealthy and poor nations
In other cases, intensive fishing, exponential industrial growth not respectful of the environment, energy consumption surplus, indiscriminate deforestation threaten the available natural resources, in terms of quality and quantity. The matter risks becoming more problematic due to climate change that provoke longer periods of drought. The UNDP and numerous other Non-Government
organizations that work in the water sector also denounce the higher cost of water in poorer nations: in the majority of Sub-Saharan Africa the population is forced to buy water from privates, generally paying 5-10 times more than those with access to distribution networks.
A problem that roots from bad administration of water services, the absence of adequate structures and lack of political will to impose a just price for water, often handled by private firms. Many observers have repeatedly explained that global water resources are in reality sufficient for the entire world population, but that the problem is political: "The water crisis, contrarily to war, is not news in the media and does not spark coordinated international action. It is a silent crisis suffered by the poor and tolerated by those that have the resources, technology and political power to end it", states the UN.
"Water scarcity can undermine development efforts, damage the environment and lead to tension, conflict and even war", warns the director-general of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura. The numerous initiatives
organized for today worldwide aim on one hand to raise global awareness on a more equilibrated use of water and on the other, to remind public institutions of the necessity to reinforce cooperation, both on an international and local level, to protect this vital resource and think of a long-term administration.
(From MISNA)