Five thousand children are dying every day as a direct result of living without safe, clean water and adequate sanitation. With access to these basic rights, diseases are drastically reduced and children can go to school while adults can earn a living.
Water Aid is urging people to send an email postcard to Prime Minister Gordon Brown to demand that he talks ‘taps and toilets’ with world leaders throughout 2009 – at the G8 in July and the Annual Meeting for Sanitation and Water in October. To join in this action (you don’t have to be living in the UK) see wateraid.org.
For every £1 spent on water and sanitation, an economy gains an estimated £8 through reduced health costs, better education and increased productivity. Yet 40% of the world’s population lives without access to a safe toilet and almost a billion are waiting for clean water. While this global scandal continues, many countries will fail to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. That’s millions of children dying before they reach their fifth birthday.
WaterAid is an international charity working in 17 countries providing water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world’s poorest people.