Africa’s Water Crisis and the Impact it has on the Children
Growing statistics on the water crisis is alarming as 40% of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity. UNICEF says this includes 450 million children who are vulnerable due to an inadequate supply of safe water. A variety of factors are responsible including mismanagement of resources and climate change. Data shows since 2000, the frequency of droughts and their duration have increased by nearly a third as well as epic floods that have caused great damage and hardships.
In Africa, the most severely impacted by the water crisis are children. The Lancet Journal’s publication of Feb, 2023, reports, “Intensifying drought in the Horn of Africa throughout 2022 doubled the number of children facing severe thirst, hunger, and disease—from 10 million to 20·2 million—between July and December.” It states the drought has created a re-emergence of cholera and acute watery diarrhea in several countries including Ethiopia, with mortality rates for children at their highest peak in a decade. Current statistics find 7 million children under the age of 5 remain malnourished and in need of urgent nutrition support and over 1.9 million children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition.
Flooding can be especially catastrophic in areas with prolonged droughts. Ethiopia is one example where flooding in drought areas caused widespread destruction and displacement. Moreover the rise in the number of cases of cholera is now among one of the longest outbreaks recorded in the country’s history. UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mohamed Fall, explains the crisis in the Horn of Africa has been devastating for children. He states, “This crisis has deprived children of the essentials of childhood – having enough to eat, a home, safe water, and going to school.” Many children and their families must leave their homes in search of water after their livestock die and crops dry up.
Even though the rains have brought some relief in terms of water, it will still take time for communities to recover, and many will require help to get back on their feet. One of the biggest challenges is that too many of the countries involved do not have the financial and human resources to implement WASH (water and sanitation and hygiene) practices, and children continue to be at risk for preventable illnesses and deaths.
At Lifewater International, we are committed to providing for those most in need – especially the children. Our work includes Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Cambodia. All of these countries suffer from lack of safe drinking water and lack of access to sanitation and hygiene. Each of our projects includes not only providing safe water but serving schools, households, and villages with every aspect of WASH.
Help us bring safe water to families in need. Join us by making a one-time donation or become an Overflow member and make a monthly donation that will impact a child’s life each month with safe water, improved health, and the love of Christ
The Dire Consequences of the Global Water Crisis
Water is not only essential to human survival but core to sustainable development. It fuels socio-economic growth, energy and food production and healthy ecosystems. Sanitation and hygiene are as essential as safe water in reducing disease and improving health as well as increasing opportunities for education and economic productivity.
The latest figures published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water, finds 2 billion people (26% of the population) globally do not have safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion (46%) lack access to safely managed sanitation. They show between two and three billion people experiencewater shortagesfor at least one month per year, posing severe risks to livelihoods, food security and access to electricity. With the number of people in need growing and not enough help available, it is incumbent we all become part of the solution.
Contaminated water results in rampant and deadly waterborne diseases in far too many places. Areas without safe water mean families must drink water that is making them sick. Even more do not have access to a toilet or the ability to wash their hands. While the whole community suffers from unsafe water, women and children’s lives are often the most affected. Tragically a child dies every two minutes from a preventable waterborne illness caused by microscopic organisms, like viruses and bacteria ingested through the contaminated water. The fact is if every person had access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene; waterborne diseases would not exist.
In places without asafe water source, women and children are typically responsible for collecting it. It is estimated trips to obtain safe water can take 200 million hours each day globally. By spending a large amount of their day collecting safe water for their families, women are often prevented from working and planning for the future.
When children do not have access to safe water, it cannot only profoundly affect their health but also their educational opportunities. It is estimated 443 million school days are lost each year due to no water at the site. The toll is even worse for girls in schools without water as it means there are no facilities to manage menstrual hygiene.
Additionally almost a third of women globally do not have a safe place to go to the bathroom, which threatens their health and exposes them to shame, fear and in some cases, violence. This too affects productivity and livelihoods.
Lifewater is a Christian, clean water organization; which has been serving families in remote, rural villages with safe water and improved hygiene and sanitation for over 45 years. Our projects are much more than a well. With our help, parents are more productive and able to plan for the future, and children can stay healthy and pursue an education. Visit our website today to make a donation to help save lives one village at a time.
Source:
www.unesco.org/en/articles/imminent-risk-global-water-crisis-warns-un-world-water-development-report-2023#:~:text=Globally%2C%202%20billion%20people%20(26,Water%20Conference%20in%20New%20York.
The Latest News on the Global Water Crisis
The United Nation’s General Assembly President recently stated, “Access to water is not just about ‘liquid in a bottle’ but instead touches on universal issues such as dignity, opportunity and equality.” Unfortunately due to a number of reasons such as an increase in flooding and droughts, the global water crisis is expected to grow. During the UN 2023 Water Conference, UNESCO reported globally, 2 billion people (26% of the population) do not have safe drinking water and 3.6 billion (46%) lack access to safely managed sanitation. They warn in order to accelerate real change; there is a need for more action.
Lifewater International is a non-profit Christian water charity who understands how vital it is to eradicate the global water crisis as the quality of life for millions depends on it and many countries are simply unable to address these challenges on their own. Access to clean, safe water not only affects us all; but ensuring water and sanitation is available to everyone, requires global solutions and a commitment from all of us.
The reason Lifewater is concentrating its efforts in rural areas in Cambodia, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania includes statistics like the following: half of the people in Ethiopia are drinking unsafe water, and its children are getting sick. Almost 1 in 5 people do not have access to a toilet, which adds to the health crisis. Diarrheal disease is a leading cause of death for Ethiopian children under five years old; yet it is nearly eliminated when people have access to safe, clean drinking water and can practice proper sanitation and hygiene.
Constructing custom water access and sanitation solutions to the world’s hardest to reach communities has allowed us to serve remote places like the Mayuge region in Uganda, which lies within a country where 20 million lack access to safe water. Statistics are just as bad in Cambodia where 28 percent of the people lack basic access to safe water, and 26 percent have no reliable source for hand washing with soap and water. In Tanzania our work is focused in the Shinyanga region, which too is in great need of safe water.
As with most things Lifewater recognizes real transformation can only come from within a community, which is why we make sure each of our projects have full buy-in from the people the water will serve. Moreover Lifewater’s projects include more than just a new well. Please visit our website to learn about the extensive process we undertake to ensure our projects are sustainable and provide lasting solutions for the community.
Please help us eradicate this serious, life-threatening problem by joining us in making a donation as well as joining us in pray. Lifewater International is a top-rated charity in the United States and is endorsed by independent reporting organizations, including Guidestar, ECFA, and Charity Navigator.
Source:unesco.org/en/articles/imminent-risk-global-water-crisis-warns-un-world-water-development-report-2023
Why Clean Water Must Include “WASH”
Providing communities with clean, safe water is only a part of the process. In order to ensure a community’s water source remains safe and people are healthy, there needs to be sanitation solutions. This includes access to toilets and the ability to properly wash hands.
When Lifewater International designs water solutions for remote villages, we follow the WHO’s international guidelines that state a village’s water source must be within 1 km from homes and have a 30 minute waiting time or less. If travel is involved, it must be doable for every community member, from the very young to the elderly and disabled. In schools the water must be on the school grounds.
Lifewater also follows the United Nations’ Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiative, which virtually eliminates waterborne disease. It states the three goals of water access, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) all play a foundational role in improving life for the rural poor and must be implemented together to be successful. While clean, safe water improves health and enables people to prosper; it also requires hygiene and sanitation practices to be sustainable. Lacking WASH’s critical healthy habits, a community’s new water source will likely become contaminated, thereby subjecting families to the same hardships they experienced before they had safe water.
To ensure lasting transformation, every Lifewater project includes our staff working together with local community health promoters to share the importance of our Healthy Homes program and the way it allows villagers to take charge of their health. Part of the program includes teaching people how hand washing stops the spread of disease as well as showing them how to construct simple devices to properly wash.
Under WASH, the village learns the danger of openly using the toilet and how the practice is directly linked to increased illness and even death among the community. The UN states 12% of the world’s population still practices open defecation, and at least 2 billion people still drink from a water source contaminated with feces, which can contain dangerous pathogens that make people sick.
While waterborne disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five, once people get access to safe water and learn how to improve health; waterborne illness is virtually eradicated. Families spend less money on medical care, have more time to invest in their futures, and their children spend more time getting educated.
We know safe water is critical but maintaining that water point and taking ownership of it for generations is how the solution of the water crisis becomes a reality. Lifewater believes water, sanitation, and hygiene practices all serve to help communities realize greater health and a more complete understanding of their God-given dignity and the ability to thrive. Join us in helping to eradicate waterborne diseases and save lives. Please make a one-time donation or become a monthly donor.