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Water alone is not enough

Tuesday, 14 March 2000: Arguing that things as simple as regular hand-washing and access to a toilet can significantly reduce child mortality and improve children’s health and development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today urged leaders and experts attending the World Water Forum to provide all children with access to adequate sanitation facilities and hand-washing materials and facilities.

UNICEF said that inadequate sanitation facilities and poor hygiene are global problems that directly contribute to the spread of preventable diseases. The children’s agency also noted that a lack of separate facilities for boys and girls often contributes to girls dropping out of school.

"Some 2.4 billion people – nearly half of humanity – are consigned to life in almost medieval conditions because of unclean or non-existent sanitation facilities," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "Children have a right to the highest quality health, as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Access to clean, functioning and safe sanitation facilities is integral to that right because good sanitation safeguards not only our health but our human dignity."

As a participant in the second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference in The Hague, UNICEF noted that children, as a group, are most vulnerable to the health hazards associated with poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation systems, especially the lack of accessible basic latrines. Diarrhoea – a disease that spreads most readily in environments of poor sanitation – claims the lives of approximately 2 million children each year, making it one of the top three fatal diseases in developing countries today.

Girls are doubly impacted. Not only do girls face the same health hazards as boys, but a lack of separate facilities in primary school often forces girls to drop out completely. A lack of educational opportunity early in life all too often consigns girls to poverty or dependence later in life, and can negatively impact their health choices as adults. Moreover, in many cultures the lack of adequate latrines forces girls and women to wait till dark to use a field. The long wait causes discomfort and can lead to serious diseases. The nightly walk to the field also places women and girls at risk of sexual harassment and assault.

UNICEF also argued that poor sanitation can carry a significant economic toll. "When people miss school or cannot work, when rivers and shorelines become so polluted with waste that agriculture and tourism are affected, and when highly infectious diseases such as cholera sweep through communities, sanitation-related illnesses can significantly impact national economies," Bellamy said.

"Lack of sanitation is simply a public health disaster and an affront to human dignity," she added. "The health and lives of more than half the world’s children are at risk due to poor sanitation systems. It confronts them everywhere – in their homes, in their schools, in the outdoor places where they play. It’s vital that local and national decision-makers take this into account."

"We are very concerned about the plight of young and adolescent girls, since they are often the hardest hit by inadequate sanitation facilities," said Gourisankar Ghosh, chief of Water, Environment and Sanitation at UNICEF. "Poor sanitation affects girls’ health, directly impacts their access to school, and places them at greater risk of sexual assault and even rape. That is completely unacceptable in today’s world."

Ghosh added that instead of approaching the problem with a sectoral or hardware-oriented strategy alone, UNICEF is promoting fundamental behavioural changes from the very beginning, putting emphasis on school health and hygiene education as part of healthy school programme.

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