Abuse and neglect of water exacerbates all other problems facing humanity. The UN presented a new strategy to combat water shortages and poor sanitation Climate and Environment
Only 0.05 percent of the water on earth is suitable and available for use. This was stated by the head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Alvaro Lario.
Together with the head of the UN Water Mechanism, Federico Properzi, he presented the first ever United Nations System-Wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation.
According to Lario, 2.2 billion people around the world still live without access to safe drinking water, and 3.5 billion live without adequate sanitation. “We need hundreds of millions more water taps and toilets, and we need to stop the dumping of untreated wastewater into the environment. The resulting diseases, such as cholera or typhoid, kill about 1,000 children under 5 every day,” he noted.
Lario also added that Around the world, water shortages are worsening, pressure on food systems is increasing, and water-related disasters are on the rise. Abuse and neglect of water exacerbates all other problems facing humanity, he continued. water and fivefold in sanitation.
For his part, Federico Properzi said that the new strategy will provide a comprehensive framework that all agencies and all country teams can use. He said joint programs at the country level would be the basis for implementing the strategy.
“For too long, action on water and sanitation has been too slow, too fragmented and too underfunded,” – said Properzi.
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