A staggering 2.1 million children under the age of five had died from diarrhoea caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene since the last AfricaSan conference held three years ago in South Africa, WaterAid has stated.
In a statement released in Lusaka, WaterAid stated that AFRICA was facing increasing inequality in access to safe sanitation.
According to the statement, the inequity had dire consequences on the health, wealth and development of the continent.
WaterAid stated that as leaders gathered for the third African conference on sanitation and hygiene in Kigali from July 19 to 21, action needed to be taken urgently.
WaterAid stated that diarrhoea, linked to inadequate sanitation, was now recognised as the biggest killer of children in Africa.
WaterAid urged ministers meeting at the conference to keep their promises to prioritise and invest in sanitation, particularly ensuring that they reached Africa’s poorest and most marginalised people, and to work together to accelerate progress towards the Sanitation and Water for All global partnership.
WaterAid country representative Paul Kapotwe said with over 500 million of the continent’s people living without access to a toilet, the promises and resolutions already passed by the governments in Africa had clearly not been realised.
"Our research shows that it is the poorest of the poor who are missing out on these most basic human necessities, having a massive impact on the development of our country and indeed the whole of our continent. For Africa to truly flourish, leaders at AfricaSan must honour their commitments and now deliver on the promises they have made,” he said.
He said new research from WaterAid showed that the inequity was fuelled by poor targeting of aid by both donor countries and African governments.
“Furthermore, within African countries, investments in water and sanitation are not going to those with the greatest need, resulting in the poorest of the poor and the most marginalised groups missing out on sanitation,” said Kapotwe.
In a statement released in Lusaka, WaterAid stated that AFRICA was facing increasing inequality in access to safe sanitation.
According to the statement, the inequity had dire consequences on the health, wealth and development of the continent.
WaterAid stated that as leaders gathered for the third African conference on sanitation and hygiene in Kigali from July 19 to 21, action needed to be taken urgently.
WaterAid stated that diarrhoea, linked to inadequate sanitation, was now recognised as the biggest killer of children in Africa.
WaterAid urged ministers meeting at the conference to keep their promises to prioritise and invest in sanitation, particularly ensuring that they reached Africa’s poorest and most marginalised people, and to work together to accelerate progress towards the Sanitation and Water for All global partnership.
WaterAid country representative Paul Kapotwe said with over 500 million of the continent’s people living without access to a toilet, the promises and resolutions already passed by the governments in Africa had clearly not been realised.
"Our research shows that it is the poorest of the poor who are missing out on these most basic human necessities, having a massive impact on the development of our country and indeed the whole of our continent. For Africa to truly flourish, leaders at AfricaSan must honour their commitments and now deliver on the promises they have made,” he said.
He said new research from WaterAid showed that the inequity was fuelled by poor targeting of aid by both donor countries and African governments.
“Furthermore, within African countries, investments in water and sanitation are not going to those with the greatest need, resulting in the poorest of the poor and the most marginalised groups missing out on sanitation,” said Kapotwe.
No comments:
Post a Comment