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Addis Ababa’s Sanitation & Water Issues To Be The Focal Point At U.N’s ‘Top Water Charity’



07/16/2015

United Nation brings together world leaders to concentrate on the pressing issue of safe water and proper sanitation problem that the citizens of Addis Ababa are facing.


Dailycsr.com – 15 July 2015 – Roger Hamilton-Martin reports to IPS that the United Nations calls for “a top water charity” meeting. The meeting will see all the leaders of the world come together, prior to the significant “International Financing for Development Conference” especially aimed at Addis Ababa’s situation, wherein the leaders are to “prioritise programmes for water” keeping in mind good hygiene and sanitation.
 
In order to promote financing for the programmes to provide hygiene, sanitation and water to remote corners of the world, the WaterAid’s has issued a new report, titled “Essential Elements”. The said report highlights forty five “high-priority countries” that are far behind the rest of the world concerning the issues of “water, sanitation and hygiene”. In fact, the director of WaterAid’s “Global Policy and Campaigns”, Margaret Batty states:
“As government representatives from around the world travel to Addis Ababa, they have a once-in-a-generation chance to tackle extreme poverty and help more children grow up to reach their full potential.
“Safe water and basic toilets create healthier communities, and spare women and girls their long and difficult journeys to fetch water and the indignity and insecurity of having to find a private place to relieve themselves when there is no toilet.”
 
The citizens of the “high-priority countries”, as pointed out by the report of WaterAid, are deprived of basic “safe place” for defecation. The lack of proper toilets pollutes water reservoirs and the environment in general. Consequently, they have to go through a daily risk of catching “waterborne diseases” along with “pandemic illnesses”. The report emphasizes the stark inequality that exists between countries regarding basic human rights, which may become a significant problem in the near future, especially in the midst of global climate changes, adding further stress “on water resources”. Eventually, the report urges the world leaders to:
“...look ahead at the challenges that will have a major impact on delivering universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene”.
 
The attempt of achieving “universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene” is dependent upon the “international” support of resources in many countries. In fact, the report of WaterAid demonstrates the same. The world leaders are scheduled to meet at the capital of Ethiopia, whereby they will focus on the immediate crisis of Addis Ababa. As per WaterAid, it is of “critical” importance that the meeting addresses strongly the issues “on equity and sustainability of services”. Moreover, the Business Wire states that even the charity believes that the meeting:
“...must incorporate action to address financial absorption and human resource constraints.”
 
The conference will be a five days event which will unite numerous policymakers, business representatives, lobbyist and politicians under the same roof. This event will also form part of the one of the first three “2015 summits” which will look into the details of the source of fund whereby the worldwide developmental processes can begin. Furthermore, the “Sustainable Development Goals” of the Unites Nations’ will be “finalised” in the month of September 2015, which will take place in New York.
 
Almost, “1,400 children die” every day all around the world being subject to various diseases the root cause of which can be traced to “dirty water and poor sanitation”. There are above “660 million people” out there in the world without having any access to “safe water”, while another “2.4 billion” remain “without adequate sanitation”. Statistically speaking, every one among three people in the world is deprived of proper sanitation system.




References:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/07/water-and-sanitation-urged-as-focal-points-at-addis-ababa/