Global Water Crisis - A Brief Note

 

Global  Water Crisis – A Brief Note

In this very Brief Discussion we shall try to highlight that  at this moment we are facing  severe water crisis globally and this will be clear from the following hard   facts –

·        Everyday more than 800 children under 5 die from diarrhea caused by polluted water, lack of proper sanitation and unsafe hygiene practices ;

·        785 million people lack access to clean water ;

·        Women and girls spend an estimated 200 million hours  bringing water  every day ;

·        The average woman in rural Africa walks 6 kilometers everyday to bring  40 pounds of water ;

·        200,00,00,000  people  on our planet live without access to adequate sanitation ;    

Special Sufferings of Women & Girls

In poor families of Asia, Africa and  South America which comprise the  vast majority  of  the global population of this section, the women & girls often bear the burden of  carrying water for their families ; They spend an estimated 200 million hours hauling water everyday ;

Besides, girls who attend schools until  adolescence  are more likely  to drop out when they start menstruating unless the school has clean water, separate latrine for female students, sanitary supplies and support for hygiene behavior change ;

World Water Day  and  World Toilet Day

 In 1993, the U.N. General Assembly designated March 22   as  ‘World Water Day’ ;

In 2013, the U.N. designated November 19  as  ‘World Toilet Day’ to highlight the global issue that billions of people still do not have access to proper sanitation ;

In 2000, the U.N. Member States  Set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for development progress, including a 2015 target to halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water ;

The United Nations recognizes the importance of addressing the global water      crisis each year on World Water Day, March, 22 ; 

However, it is a good news that  with continued emphasis by the UNO, the MDG’s clean water access target was achieved five years ahead of  the schedule ; But, still,   it is clear that a lot of works remains  to do ;

Some Solutions in Short

Apart from other various  ways for getting over  this water crisis  the most   important technologies are Water Recycling,  Energy-efficient Desalination Plants, Solar & UV Water Filtration including Nano-Filtration, Spreading Awareness for

Water preservation, Water Pricing and most importantly, the Rain-Water   Harvesting which should come first ;

                                                                         [Source : ‘World Vision’ and others]