Today is world water day!

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro and focuses on a different water issue each year. The theme for 2011 is Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge.

This is a hugely important focus for World Water Day as, for the first time in human history, most of the world’s population live in cities: 3.3 billion people! Yet access to clean water, the essential for human life, is not a given. Furthermore, it is the poor who suffer the most and within that group, women are particularly vulnerable as the burden of feeding and caring for the family rests with her.

The pressures on water supplies to urban areas, especially in developing countries where the infrastructure required for an effective water and sanitation system is often insufficient,  will only increase:

• 5 million city residents are joining the urban population in the developing world each month
• 493 million people in cities share their sanitation facilities. In 1990, this number was 259 million.
• 95% of the urban population growth in the next decade will take place in the developing world
• 828 million people live in slums

Within two decades, nearly 60% of the world’s population will be urban dwellers. Urban growth is most rapid in the developing world, where cities gain an average of 5 million residents every month. In
Africa and
Asia, the urban population will double between 2000 and 2030.

Cities are growing because of a natural increase in urban population (50%), reclassification of rural areas as urban areas (25%) and rural-to-urban migration. The exploding urban population growth creates unprecedented challenges, among which provision for water and sanitation have been the most pressing and painfully felt when lacking. A lack of safe drinking water and sanitation results in fecal-oral diseases such as diarrhoea and outbreaks of malaria and cholera.141 million urban dwellers worldwide do not have access to improved drinking-water. The health implications should not be underestimated.

The urban dwellers suffering the most from these problems are the urban poor. They often live in slums or informal settlements following rapid urban growth, lacking many basic services such safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and durable housing. Ironically, the poor often pay far more for a litre of water than their richer neighbours, since they often lack access to the water supply system and rely on water provision from private vendors. A slum dweller in Nairobi pays 5-7 times more than the average North American citizen for a litre of water.

• 62% of the sub-Saharan
Africa urban population and 43% of the urban population of
South-Central Asia lives in slums.

• In

Accra,
Ghana, the urban poor pay up to 12 times more for a litre of water than their richer neighbours, since they often rely on private vendors.

There is growing evidence that water resources will be significantly affected by climate change, both in quantity and quality, particularly through the impact of floods, droughts, or extreme events. The effect of climate change will also mean more complex operations, disrupted services and increased cost for water and wastewater services. In addition, climate change and disasters will result in bigger migration to urban areas, increasing the demands on urban systems.

Although the problems are vast, their are also opportunities afforded by city living. Cities are complicated to manage: different approaches are needed for different types of urban environments. But cities also provide the best opportunity to improve livelihoods and infrastructure development, including water and waste services. Word Water Day argues that the main opportunity is increased recycling and reuse of water and wastes, and integrated urban management. Adopting more efficient water treatment technologies and capturing water and wastes within the city will also minimize environmental and downstream pollution. Effective solutions in cities have the potential to change the lives of millions of people unlike rural areas where population denstities are lower.

There is also a huge amount organisations like Soroptimist International can do to support local water initiatives. Read the next news story to hear about what Soroptimists in the European Federation are doing through their focus on water: safe water = safe life.

To find out more about world water day and to support event happening near you, visit the UN-Water site: http://www.worldwaterday2011.org/

Source: www.worldwaterday2011.org media briefing 2011