Water:
a vital issue
Water is indispensable, to drink as well as to eat.
However, this resource, which is so precious that it is now
known as "blue gold", is unevenly distributed and
exploited, and frequently transmits deadly diseases.
It
is not by chance that the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed
the 2005-2015 decade "Water for Life" within the framework
of the Millenium Objectives, and declared March 22 a "World
Water Day". Indeed, in 100 years water consumption has
been multiplied tenfold and, in 2025, over 6 billion human beings
will face serious water shortages.
The global situation concerning
this crucial challenge:
- Saltwater represents 97.5% of the Earth's water, and fresh
water 2.5% (69% of which exist in a solid state in the polar
caps, 30% in ground water sources, and 1% in lakes, rivers and
streams.)
- 1.2 billion human beings – i.e., one person out of
five – have no access to drinking water
- 2.4 billion human beings – i.e, one person out of two
– have no access to water sanitation systems, while it
is an established fact that hygiene, drinking water and health
are inseparably linked.
- Waterborne diseases (cholera, typhoid, polio, meningitis,
hepatitis A et E, diarrhoea, dysentery, schistosomiasis, malaria,
etc.) are the first cause of mortality in the world; they kill
8 million people per year (half of whom are children), i.e.
22,000 per year, 15,000 every minute. Optimising this resource
is a prerequisite for food safety. Overexploitation threatens
this resource
- 70% of the world's freshwater is used in agriculture, 20%
in industry and 10% in direct human utilisation.
- On the average, an American consumes 600 litres of water
daily for domestic purposes, a European consumes 300 litres
(personal use, trade, urban craft and maintenance activities),
and an African less than 30 litres.
- In areas where water is lacking, women and children are often
in charge of fetching water and have to walk sometimes more
than 15 kilometres and several hours a day... to the detriment
of education.
