UNICEF: World Water Day 2008: Hurry Up!

NEW YORK, USA, 19 March 2008 -- On World Water Day tomorrow, as on every other day, some 2.5 billion people will be 'doing their business' somewhere other than in a toilet or latrine. That is not a statistic many people want to examine too closely, but it is crucial data for efforts to reduce child mortality.

Lack of safe toilets leads to 200 million tonnes of untreated waste in our living environment every year. That waste is full of pathogens that cause diarrhoeal disease, the second leading cause of death for children under the age of five.

World Water Day is observed around the world, where unsafe water supplies contribute to 88 per cent of all diseases. In 2008, which is also the International Year of Sanitation, the message to governments around the world is that safe-water goals cannot be achieved without directly tackling the current sanitation crisis.

To underscore the urgency of the problem, a new WASH (water supply, sanitation and hygiene) publicity campaign highlights the ever-rising numbers of those affected. WASH campaign posters depict the universal signs for men and women's bathrooms, urging the public: "Hurry Up! 2.6 billion people are waiting to use the toilet."

Just a short time ago, that number was 2.4 billion. The time for action on global sanitation is now.

To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/wes/index_43205.html

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• UNICEF
• World
• Water
• Day
• 2008
• poop
• sanitation
• latrines
• toilet
• WASH

[Chinua3]

+ how do you transport it? You need to go from a desalination facility to the place which probably wouldn't even have roads to. Diesel fuel would be extremely expensive and ultimately, this wouldn't work out as fuel supplies go lower with demand booming.

[bobfenster]

It's extremely expensive.

[jigjag454]

Why is it that we have such problems with water when we have had the technology to convert sea water to fresh water for several decades.