Water

A source of life, development, economy and education, water is unfortunately all too often a cause of poverty, disease and death. 2.6 million people, including 361,000 children under the age of five, die each year of diseases relating to water and an unsanitary environment. That’s 5 deaths every minute.

In 2020, 4.2 billion people still lacked adequate sanitation. Of these, 673 million still defecating in the open air. “Tons of fecal matter are deposited in the natural environment. A single gram contains up to 10,000 viruses, including poliomyelitis and one million bacteria responsible for dysentery, diarrhea and cholera. Dying from these diseases today should be unthinkable.” It is estimated that access to toilets and routine handwashing could save hundreds of thousands of lives deaths every year.

STATE WATER POVERTY INDEX

Map : l’Atlas mondial de l’eau, David Blanchon, cartography : Aurélie Boissière (Editions Autrement).

A fight led at the highest level

Access to water and sanitation is a major element when it comes to boosting the resilience of populations faced with the effects of crises and natural disasters, as well as the impacts of climate change. That’s why, as well as conducting humanitarian missions in some of the world’s most volatile areas for more than 15 years, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has also made it its duty to influence public policies. This is a long-term exercise in conjunction with our French Water Partnership partners, which aims to ensure that the right top-level decisions are made when it comes to combatting the scourge of unsanitary water, in France, Europe and at the United Nations.

Our information and awareness-raising campaigns run every year to mark “World Water Day” on 22 March, including our drinking water petition signed by 200,000 of our fellow citizens, have actively helped to ensure that a water/sanitation objective finally becomes a priority. This became a reality in September 2015 when the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Goals (SDGs), the sixth objective of which aims to provide universal access to water and sanitation by 2030.

2030: less than 10 years to reach the goal !

Faced with this very ambitious challenge, we remain vigilant and continue to ensure that those without access to drinking water have their voices heard by authorities, bodies, networks and national and international summits, such as the World Water Forum, the French Water Partnership, the UN Climate Change Conference, World Water Week, and regular monitoring of 2015 – 2030 SDGs.

With our day to day observations illustrating that the efforts of the international community will doubtless fall short when it comes to achieving this objective, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is more determined than ever to challenge both national and international influences – private and public – so that everyone assumes their responsibilities.

The United Nations Water Conference – scheduled in March, in New York – is an opportunity, in this point, to rally governments and stakeholders. Thus, collaborative and practical proposals can be taken in order to speed up the implementation of actions to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the 6^th goal in particular, which ensures clean water and sanitation for all and all over the world by 2030.
The achievement of these ambitious but essential aspirations is jeopardized because of a noticed lack of contribution, particularly in crisis and tenuous contexts that often affect people who are already vulnerable.
However, if we want to “leave no one behind” and because we think that “it is only by the inclusion of the most vulnerable people that we can hope to achieve the SDGs”, we have to lay stress on where our mandate requires us to act: within humanitarian crises.

By the end of the Conference, global water crisis must be admitted, and a strong political governance established to follow the 6^th Goal.

First and foremost, previous commitments must be fulfilled (2030 Agenda, Blue Deal, etc.), and means and political intention for their implementation asserted, to meet people’s vital needs in water and sanitation. At last, this Conference mustn’t be a conclusion but a starting point for a renewal of commitments by all, driven by a common vision of the future of water and sanitation.

There are less than 10 years to achieve universal access to drinking water, despite the fact that it has been considered a human right by the United Nations since July 2010! The world is thirsty, it is no longer time to wait and no one should be abandoned!”
Alain Boinet, founder of SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL