Introduction: Water & Sanitation
Access to water and clean water is defined by the UN, 2014 as an essential human right - water is indispensable to our human health, dignity and prosperity.
In the UK the idea of acquiring water and the access to clean water is overlooked. There are no challenges or necessities to preserve our water due to the great piped water system that we are fortunate to have. This ease of access to drinking water, bathing water and water for food can be shown by the differences in domestic water usage in the UK, which is 334 litres per person per day compared to Africa where average usage is 47 litres per person per day (UNFPA, 2002)
Globally, 2.4 billion people in the world lack access to basic sanitation services, this includes the use of toilets and water for hygiene purposes (WHO, 2015). It is also estimated that an overwhelming 844 million people cannot access clean water and diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water quality and poor toilet hygiene kills a child under 5 every 2 minutes (Water Aid, 2017).
My blog will concentrate specifically on water and sanitation in Africa. The UN has set out a sustainable development goal to achieve universal equitable access to safe water and sanitation for all by 2030. Following the UN Millennium development goals in 2015 the WHO and UNICEF progress report indicated Africa achieving clean water services was considerably lower than the rest of the world as illustrated in the diagram below:
Proportion of the population using basic drinking water services in 2015.
Source: The WHO/UNICEF JMP
The map above indicates a clear distinction between North and South Africa’s progress versus Sub Saharan Africa’s progress in achieving clean drinkable water. Explanations for this trend in Africa is argued as not only a water shortage issue, but by considerably other factors like poor water management and lack of facilities (Kauffman,2007).The need for these basic facilities to improve water and sanitation is a major barrier to Africa's sustainability in access to clean water and due to lack of knowledge, research illustrates how a simple process such as hand-washing with soap can reduce diarrhoea transmission in Sub Saharan Africa greatly (Roche et al, 2017).
To conclude this series of weekly blogs will look to cover a range of topics such as the relationship between the use of basic hygienic facilities; the link between water scarcity and water sanitation; the role of technological innovation; education and effects of diarrhoeal diseases. The blog will also engage with key case studies and current articles discussing Africa's progress towards sustainable access to clean safe water.
In the UK the idea of acquiring water and the access to clean water is overlooked. There are no challenges or necessities to preserve our water due to the great piped water system that we are fortunate to have. This ease of access to drinking water, bathing water and water for food can be shown by the differences in domestic water usage in the UK, which is 334 litres per person per day compared to Africa where average usage is 47 litres per person per day (UNFPA, 2002)
Globally, 2.4 billion people in the world lack access to basic sanitation services, this includes the use of toilets and water for hygiene purposes (WHO, 2015). It is also estimated that an overwhelming 844 million people cannot access clean water and diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water quality and poor toilet hygiene kills a child under 5 every 2 minutes (Water Aid, 2017).
My blog will concentrate specifically on water and sanitation in Africa. The UN has set out a sustainable development goal to achieve universal equitable access to safe water and sanitation for all by 2030. Following the UN Millennium development goals in 2015 the WHO and UNICEF progress report indicated Africa achieving clean water services was considerably lower than the rest of the world as illustrated in the diagram below:
Proportion of the population using basic drinking water services in 2015.
Source: The WHO/UNICEF JMP
The map above indicates a clear distinction between North and South Africa’s progress versus Sub Saharan Africa’s progress in achieving clean drinkable water. Explanations for this trend in Africa is argued as not only a water shortage issue, but by considerably other factors like poor water management and lack of facilities (Kauffman,2007).The need for these basic facilities to improve water and sanitation is a major barrier to Africa's sustainability in access to clean water and due to lack of knowledge, research illustrates how a simple process such as hand-washing with soap can reduce diarrhoea transmission in Sub Saharan Africa greatly (Roche et al, 2017).
To conclude this series of weekly blogs will look to cover a range of topics such as the relationship between the use of basic hygienic facilities; the link between water scarcity and water sanitation; the role of technological innovation; education and effects of diarrhoeal diseases. The blog will also engage with key case studies and current articles discussing Africa's progress towards sustainable access to clean safe water.
This opening blogpost sets out well your blog's area of focus. Very fluent and informative.
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