We have all seen the appeals on the TV for help with victims of famine, war or drought – but how much notice do we actually take of those figures? The thought of one child dying close to home fills us with fear and concern for our own families, so what makes us so oblivious to the plight of others? What if that one child died from simply drinking contaminated water, would there not be an outcry? One of the biggest challenges is that not enough people know about the water crisis. For most of us, instant access to clean water is the norm. Many of our friends and family are not aware of the fact that 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to water like we do. So help spread the word. Share information about the water crisis with your friends and family. Tweet about it. Share on Facebook. Start conversations. The more people that know, the more people will help. Quoted from: www.watertothrive.org 9 million people will die this year from lack of access to clean water. We simply cannot be complacent about this issue any more! Please take a moment to digest these figures:

  • 6 to 8 million people die annually from the consequences of disasters and water-related diseases.
  • Up to 90% of wastewater in developing countries flows untreated into rivers, lakes and highly productive coastal zones, threatening health, food security and access to safe drinking and bathing water. (www.unwater.org)
  • 1 in 8 people worldwide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water.
  • 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases.
  • In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.
  • Half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease
  • Girls under the age of 15 are twice as likely as boys to be the family member responsible for fetching water.
  • The average container for water collection in Africa, the jerry can, weighs over 40 lbs when full.
  • Globally we use 70% of our water sources for agriculture and irrigation, and only 10% on domestic uses.
  • Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease. (thewaterproject.org)
  • Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
  • 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.
  • In Africa alone, people (mainly women) spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water. (www.charitywater.org)
  • 70% of the earth is water – but less than 1% is drinkable.
  • Around 500,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – that’s over 1,400 children a day. ((Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimate (IGME) 2014, led by UNICEF and WHO).
  • Diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children under five years old worldwide.

For every $1 invested in water and sanitation, an average of at least $4 is returned in increased productivity, it is worth caring! (Hutton, Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage, WHO, Geneva, 2012: page 4)