On the eve of World Water Day, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is highlighting the lack of basic water and sanitation facilities in the Americas.
According to the Pan American Health Organization, 77 million people do not have access to safe water in the Americas. Some 103 million do not have appropriate sanitation facilities. Worldwide, more than 2.6 billion people face similar conditions, while over one billion still use unsafe drinking water sources. “The impact of this intolerable situation cannot be allowed to continue”, says Mr Olegario Vazquez Rana, president of the Mexican Red Cross Society who is heading the International Federation delegation at the Fourth World Water Forum which is taking place in Mexico City until 22 March.
2005 will go down in history as one of the most active and destructive hurricane seasons the Americas has ever known. The International Federation provided support to the American Red Cross in their efforts to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It also assisted National Societies in Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Cuba in helping 171,000 affected people. In Guatemala alone, 6,000 families have been provided with access to safe water since Hurricane Stan hit the country last October.
In addition to those urgent needs, the International Federation is also scaling up its water and sanitation development programs. “A year ago, we launched a Global Water & Sanitation Initiative. The main goal is to better address chronic water and sanitation needs. Eleven projects have already been identified and funded to serve 1.5 million beneficiaries,” says Uli Jaspers, Head of the Water and Sanitation Unit at the International Federation.
These projects have been launched in the Americas, Africa and Asia. They reflect the fact that any humanitarian response after a disaster should incorporate planning to ensure that access to basic services such as clean water and adequate sanitation are continued and brought into the recovery phase.
Over the last ten years, the International Federation has provided 6 million people with basic water and sanitation needs in times of crisis and disasters and 2.5 million have been supplied with sustainable water and sanitation facilities. The aim is to increase this number to 5 million by 2015. Such initiatives reduce the number of deaths, illnesses related to unsafe water and lack of adequate sanitation such as cholera, dengue and diarrhoea. This is a key goal set out in the International Federation’s Global Agenda which aims to contribute to the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals.