Liberia can make water and sanitation for all a reality by 2030 says WaterAid
- WaterAid calls on the Liberian Government to support bold development target of all Africans having access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030;
- Achieving universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene could help save over 4,000 lives in Liberia per year.
- WaterAid report ‘Everyone Everywhere’ states that for the first time in history this longstanding goal is within reach for African governments.
Today, on the 20th anniversary of World Water Day, WaterAid Liberia is calling on the Government to support an ambitious target for providing access to water, sanitation and hygiene to all by 2030.
To mark this, WaterAid’s has released a new report ‘Everyone Everywhere that sets out a vision for making safe water and sanitation available to all and reviews the progress that has been made to date in tackling water and sanitation poverty.
The report finds that, lack of progress in improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene is acting as a brake on progress in economic and human development particularly in child health, nutrition and education.
Apollos Nwafor, WaterAid Liberia’s Country Representative said:
“Getting access to water and sanitation to everyone in our country would be one of the most important achievements our country has secured. It would signal the start of a new period in our nation’s history, one that showed that the promise of progress and development was truly being attained for us all.”
“Progress is happening on increasing access to water and sanitation, but people are rightly asking from their Governments that their human right to these services be addressed more quickly. With a lack of water and sanitation impacting on our health, economic wellbeing and our children’s education, amongst many other areas, it is not difficult to understand why such services are so important to our development as a nation.”
“We are calling on the Government to back a simple but effective poverty reduction target as part of a new international framework, everyone everywhere – including all our countrymen and women – should have access to water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. With the political will and right resources, this is a realistic goal that we should make every effort to reach.”
The benefits for Liberia in lives saved from everyone having access to water and sanitation are significant. Over 4,000 deaths could be avoided every year from diarrhoea alone if everyone had access to these essential services.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, that figure rises to 480,000 lives per year, with Africa also gaining $33 billion every year from everyone having access to water and sanitation.
Writing in a new report published by WaterAid today, President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia said:
“Addressing the global water and sanitation crisis is not about charity, but opportunity. According to the World Health Organisation, every $1 invested in water and sanitation produces an average of $4 in increased productivity. It enables sustainable and equitable economic growth. In short, it will not be possible to make progress in eradicating poverty, reducing inequality and securing sustainable economic development in the future without improving access.”
Currently in Liberia, over 1 million (27% of the population) lack access to clean drinking water, while over 3.2 million (82%) lack access to sanitation(5).
To tackle this problem now, WaterAid is calling on international leaders to:
- Recognise the need for the framework that replaces the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 to reflect the contribution of water, sanitation and hygiene to other areas of poverty reduction, including health, education, gender equality, economic growth and sustainability.
- For the UN to set a new global target to achieve universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030.
- Identify ways of accelerating future rates of progress on sanitation if the goal of universal access is to be met by 2030.
The call from WaterAid come as over 50,000 Africans are taking part in over 30 mass-mobilisation walking events across Africa to call on their own politicians to keep their promises on ensuring access to clean water and safe sanitation.
Today in Liberia, WaterAid is joining partners and sector players to recall the promises made and discuss ways to support government in living up to its promise. Stakeholders will be walking for water today as a mark of how access to water is critical for human development.
They are joining more than 350,000 people worldwide who are participating in World Walks for Water and Sanitation taking place from Saturday 16 March to Saturday 23 March.
