Safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are crucial for poverty reduction, crucial for sustainable development and crucial for achieving any and every one of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, January 2016
It was only in 2010 that the United Nations General Assembly finally declared that safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right, essential to the enjoyment of life and all other human rights. This was further affirmed in the creation of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, which focus on ending poverty, fighting inequality and justice, and addressing climate change. SDG No 6 is aimed at “Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” by 2030, which, like the other SDGs, carefully balances the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable development.
But this acknowledgement by the UN may well be a case of ‘too little, too late’. It is undeniable that human development and poverty eradication is dependent on easy access to safe water, good sanitation and hygiene (WASH), as it is essential for improving education, health, employment, gender equality and environmental sustainability. The majority of the 16 other SDGs, therefore, cannot be achieved without WASH.
Although there has been progress in the last few decades –2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources since 1990 (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Project 2015 Report) – diminishing supplies of safe drinking water is a serious crisis that impacts every continent. UNICEF estimates that 663 million individuals around the world do not have access to improved drinking water; of these, 319 million (nearly half) are in Sub-Saharan Africa. By 2050, it is projected that at least one in four people are likely to be affected by recurring water shortages.
In addition to the problems brought about by climate change, water efforts by governments and aid agencies are simply not keeping up with the rapid pace of global urbanisation. Africa’s population, which currently stands at around 1.2 billion, is expected to double by 2050. This means that, in three and a half decades, around a quarter of the world’s population will be African. Nigeria’s population of 186 million, which is at present the seventh largest in the world, is projected to pass that of the United States in 2050, making it the third largest country in the world.
Much of this global population growth will take place in urban slums and informal settlements, which are particularly vulnerable to limited water access and poor sanitation. As the population increases, so urban facilities become overloaded and remote communities are further cut off.
Lack of access to clean water is the cause of multiple problems in the developing world. The UNDP Human Development 2006 Report noted that a lack of water, sanitation and hygiene costs Sub-Saharan African countries more money than the entire continent receives in development aid. It is easy to see why. Water-related diseases, such as typhoid, bilharzia and cholera, affect countless African communities. Additionally, stagnant water is a breeding site for mosquitos, which spread malaria, yellow fever and dengue. WHO has also estimated that 50% of malnutrition is associated with water-related diseases. This puts considerable pressure on Africa’s limited healthcare systems, as around half of people in hospitals on the continent are patients because of water-related causes.
Children are particularly affected by this scourge. Diarrhoeal disease, usually caused by poor water quality, insufficient hygiene, or inadequate sanitation, is the third leading cause of death among children under five. Almost 1,000 children die daily from these diseases (WHO/UNICEF JMP 2015 Report). Nigeria alone accounts for 11% of these deaths. For those who survive, their school attendance is inevitably affected by these diseases, which jeopardises their future.
But poor school attendance is also a result of the fact that young girls, along with women, bear the primary responsibility for water collection, spending up to six hours a day walking to and from water sources (UN Water). Not only does this take away time that they could use more productively, it also makes them more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence.
Nigeria’s water crisis
In Nigeria, 31.5% of the population do not have access to safe drinking water; however, this situation has improved since 1990 when 60% of Nigerians were affected by these circumstances (WHO/UNICEF JMP 2015 Report). This still means that 60 million Nigerians do not have clean drinking water and 130 million have limited sanitation. Unsurprisingly, the effects of poor sanitation and inadequate water supply are also costing the country economically. The Nigerian Water and Sanitation Programme (2012) estimates that poor sanitation costs the country at least three billion U.S. dollars each year in lost productivity and healthcare expenditures.
Pollution of water is a significant issue in Nigeria. Oil contamination and large-scale lead poisoning is common, such as in Zamfara state in 2010 when at least 400 children died and thousands more became ill from these toxins. More recently in 2015, 28 children under the age of five died from lead poisoning in Abuja. In addition, Nigeria ranks as the fifth highest country for open defecation – 34 million Nigerians have no choice, as they have no access to toilets (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Report 2012).
Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme
In 2004, Procter & Gamble (P&G) decided to address the global issue of poor access to clean water sources by developing a low-cost, point-of-use product that could purify heavily contaminated water within 30 minutes. This powdered technology comes in portable sachets that weigh a mere four grams, with one sachet purifying ten litres of water. In the past 12 years, P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme has helped people from over 75 countries purify almost 10 billion litres of water from a variety of sources, saving the lives of tens of thousands of people.
The initiative came to Nigeria in 2007, and since then more than 175 million litres of unsafe water have been purified, giving approximately one million Nigerians access to clean water. Working with its partners, P&G uses existing programmes, such as those at health clinics and schools, to reach communities.
P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme is currently focused on a WASH in Schools Project with Rotary Clubs and PIND in the Niger Delta and has also partnered with Action Against Hunger in their emergency relief efforts in the north. UNICEF has reported that the packets have been an excellent health intervention product during cholera outbreaks and in season flooding. In addition, in Abuja, the Society for Family Health (SFH) makes the packets available for communities faced with turbid water and uses interpersonal communication interventions to foster health and behaviour change.
P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme partners with over 150 non-profit organisations around the world to share this innovation with individuals who need it most. In order to target places where the water purifying packets will have the most impact, P&G adapts its distribution plan according to the needs of each community. Building awareness of the importance of clean water, good hygiene and adequate sanitation is also critical to their efforts. In terms of future plans, the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme has pledged to deliver 15 billion litres of clean water by 2020.
The benefits of increased access to safe and clean water
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2016 revealed that an emerging water crisis is the third biggest threat to human existence, after terrorism and climate change. The reasons for this predicament are threefold: pollution of the source, lack of access and scarcity of supply. Programmes like CSDW can help to address the first two and assist in halting the cycle of poverty and inequality in developing communities. Promoting clean water, sanitation and hygiene is the most cost-effective health intervention, as it maintains the well-being of those with chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS and prevents water-related diseases, malnutrition, stunted growth and death.
Clean water does not only quench thirst and promote health, however. Improved access to WASH means more people can work and it enhances productivity at individual, household, community and national workforce levels. Moreover, nearly all jobs, regardless of the sector, depend directly on water (WaterAid, 2013).
The WHO (2012) has estimated that every $1 invested in clean water, sanitation and hygiene generates $4 in increased productivity, which enables sustainable and equitable economic growth. For countries like Nigeria, universal access to water could result in a 15% increase in GDP, as risks and costs to key economic sectors are reduced, which helps to attract investment (WaterAid, 2015). It is fitting, then, that the theme for World Water Day (22 March) for 2016 is ‘Better water, better jobs’.
Water, sanitation and hygiene are particularly important for environmental sustainability, too, as they reduce contamination of freshwater sources, protect marine ecosystems and strengthen water resource management. WASH also ensures that cities are more sustainable and assists communities in becoming more resilient to climate change (WaterAid, 2013).
It is clear, therefore, that water not only sustains life, and it transforms life. To assist developing countries in achieving their full potential, whether it be socially, environmentally or economically, P&G’s CSDW has pledged to deliver 15 billion litres of clean water by 2020. In this way, we hope to spur progress in developing countries like Nigeria, around the world.
Khululiwe Mabaso
