Poverty
also makes lack of clean
water and sanitation
facilities why?
Answers
Answer:
Access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation are vital for health, especially among children.
Poor sanitation, water and hygiene have many serious consequences:
Children die from preventable illnesses like diarrhea;
Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities;
Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water;
Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness;
Health systems are overwhelmed and national economies suffer.
It's impossible to break the vicious cycle of poverty – and enable sustainable development – without first addressing these issues.
The global water and sanitation situation
The good news is that, according to the World Health Organisation, since 1990, around 2 billion people have gained access to an improved, sustainable source of water.
However, around 800 million people still live without safe drinking water.
What’s more, almost two-fifths of the world’s people lack access to sanitation. This means they live in unclean environments where there isn’t a proper waste disposal system in place – and disease is able to spread easily.