Ecopol Project - Portland State University

Water Aid.org

·         Statistics on the water crisis in America

·         768 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly 11% of the world's population. (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programmer (JMP) Report 2013 update)

·         2.5 billion People in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation, almost two fifths of the world's population. (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programmer (JMP) Report 2013 update)

·         Around 700,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – that's almost 2,000 children a day.
(Water Aid 2012/WHO 2008/The Lancet 2012)

·         Lack of safe water and sanitation costs sub-Saharan Africa around 5% of its Gross Domestic Product each year. (UNDP)

·         Just $25 can enable one person to access a lasting supply of safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation. (Water Aid)

·         Hand-washing with soap at critical times can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by up to 47%. (UN Water)

·         The integrated approach of providing water, sanitation and hygiene reduces the number of deaths caused by diarrheal diseases by an average of 65%. (WHO)

·         For every $1 invested in water and sanitation, an average of $4 is returned in increased productivity.
(Reference: Hutton, , WHO, Geneva, 2012: page 4)

·         The weight of water that women in Africa and Asia carry on their heads is commonly 40 pounds, the same as an airport luggage allowance.

·         Water and sanitation infrastructure helps people take the first essential step out of the cycle of poverty and disease. In the UK the expansion of sanitation infrastructure in the 1880s contributed to a 15 year increase in life expectancy in the following four decades. For more information:

http://www.wateraidamerica.org/statistics