World Water Day is celebrated every year on March 22. This annual event offers an opportunity to highlight the necessity to do more to bring access to clean water and appropriate sanitation to more than a billion people who still lack access to basic water supply. We asked Uli Jaspers, Head of the Water and Sanitation Unit at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva to explain why bringing better water and sanitation facilities is so essential.
Question: 2008 has been made the "Year of Sanitation" by the United Nations. Why is it so crucial to mobilize the international community and promote better access to sanitation?
Answer: Poor sanitation, hygiene and unsafe water claim the lives of an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five every year.
It is estimated that improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrhoea-related morbidity in young children by more than one-third. If hygiene promotion is added, such as promoting proper hand washing at critical times, it could be reduced by two thirds. It would also help accelerate economic and social development in countries where poor sanitation is a major cause for loss of work and school days because of illnesses.
Question: More than one billion people throughout the world have little choice but to drink from potentially harmful sources of water. What are the main consequences?
Answer: The consumption of unsafe water continue to result in diarrhoea, worm infestation and other water and sanitation-related diseases, which can lead to death and disability. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its partners have focused their interventions in rural and remote communities where the access to safe water is very low. These efforts include installation and repair of water sources to provide a safe water supply. Those activities are not undertaken in solitude, but integrated in a broader action where access to appropriate sanitation facilities and promotion of safe hygiene practices are improved.
Question: The International Federation has made hygiene promotion a major component of most of its water and sanitation programmes. Does it mean that access to clean water without involving people is just like having a computer with no software or operating system?
Answer: The terms ‘Software’ and ‘Hardware’ are frequently used to refer to different components of a water and sanitation programme. These terms have been created in a parallel way to those terms developed for the computer science. When we buy a computer ('hardware') it is easily understood that we need programs, procedures and rules to operate that computer system and this is widely known as 'software'.
In the Water and Sanitation sector, 'hardware' also refers to the physical assets (wells, pumps, latrines, etc.) while 'hygiene promotion' might be understood as 'software' since it refers to the community aspects of the intervention, the 'program' that will enable the community to manage, operate and maintain the water and sanitation systems.
The International Federation has adopted hygiene promotion as the 'software' component of its water and sanitation projects. By implementing hygiene promotion activities, we help the community members to organize and decide by themselves how to manage the facilities (e.g. who will pay the repairs); we train the community in how to operate and maintain the facilities (e.g. how to use, clean and undertake basic repairs in toilet facilities) and we promote sustainable hygiene behaviour change (e.g. promoting handwashing among the family members).
Question: In 2005, the International Federation launched a ten-year Global Water and Sanitation Initiative to bring water and sanitation to 5 million people by 2015. Where do we stand now?
Answer: The number of long-term Water and Sanitation projects that have been identified since the launch of the GWSI in 2005 and especially in 2007, has increased, now reaching 27 in total in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
GWSI is on target in relation to the 10 year time scale (2005-2015), where it was expected to mobilize CHF 150 million. As to date, CHF 60 million have been raised.
Most projects are still in the early stages of implementation, resulting in a decreased expenditure in relation to the funding received. As projects become more established (most projects have a three to four year project time span), the rate of expenditure and the impact of the project is expected to increase.
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Uli Jaspers, Head of the Water and Sanitation Unit at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva explains why bringing better water and sanitation facilities is so essential. (p17410)
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