“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” -Benjamin Franklin
March 22 is World Water Day, a day intended to raise our awareness of the global water crisis, and hopefully motivate us to do something about it. I hope you’ll take notice. It’s an issue that needs your attention. Now.
The developing world is overwhelmed with seemingly insurmountable problems that deserve our immediate aid and attention: political instability, deep-seated poverty, water shortages, hunger, gender inequality, and the devastating AIDS epidemic. All of these humanitarian crises are threatening the very lives of millions of the world’s poorest people, undermining any hope of future development.
But none of these are as urgent as the water crisis. If we are going to overcome any of the problems facing the developing world, water must come first.
Today, in 2008, there are an estimated 1.1 billion people who still do not have access to safe drinking water-one in six worldwide. Another 2.6 billion lack any form of sanitation-almost 40% of humanity.
The result of these shortfalls is devastating. Every day, more than 6,000 people who share our planet die from water-related illnesses-nearly 2 million each year-and most of them are young children. In fact, water-related diarrheal illnesses are the third leading killer of children worldwide, second only to neonatal causes and acute respiratory infections.
Epidemics of cholera, dysentery and hepatitis are common in the developing world, preventable diseases that can be traced directly to inadequate water and/or sanitation. Unsafe water and poor sanitation arguably comprise the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time.
What is most troubling is that all of this suffering and death is entirely preventable. We have knowledge, technology, and yes, even the resources to fix it. We just need the will.
We know how to source water from the most arid deserts and how to treat the dirtiest water to make it safe to drink. In most cases, we can do all of this relatively inexpensively.
We’ve been doing it in the industrialized world for more than a hundred years and have enjoyed tremendous benefits.
One could argue that our own access to safe drinking water paved the way to our ultimate economic success. The introduction of a chlorinated safe water system in America in the first decade of the 1900s directly resulted in the rapid decline and virtual elimination of infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery, which had been prevalent in the U.S. for centuries.
Solving the water crisis must be our first development priority. Water is the foundation of life and absolutely essential to human existence. Without it, no other development goals can be met.
The time and physical energy spent collecting water-and the poor health and short life expectancy caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation-limit the life opportunities available to people in the developing world. Water-related diseases force families to focus on basic survival and prevent them from moving forward economically, locking them in an endless cycle of poverty.
Water can make all the difference. I’ve seen firsthand the life-changing difference that access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation can make in countless communities where Water For People has supported projects. Life is better. People are more productive, more prosperous, and healthier. Moreover, because they have been involved in their own water and sanitation solutions, they are empowered to create other changes to improve their quality of life.
The developing world has its share of problems, and as a civil society, we need to work on addressing all of them. But water, so essential to life, must come first.
Colleen Stiles is CEO of Water For People, a Denver-based nonprofit organization that helps people in the developing world improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs. More information at .
