Lack of Reliable Source of Water Causes Health Hazard to People – says Wateraid Nigeria
By Ahmed Ahmed
Dr Evelyn Mere, Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, said unless communities have access to a reliable source of water, people’s health will suffer.
She stated this to commemorate 2021 world water day in a statement made available to Journalists on Wednesday in Bauchi.
“Climate change is making it more difficult for vulnerable people to be able to rely on having clean water when they need it and it is a great injustice that the world’s poorest people, who’ve contributed the least to the crisis, are living with it’s most destructive impacts.
“Unless communities have access to a reliable source of water, people’s health will suffer, and they’ll be burdened with spending more and more time searching for water, taking away the opportunity to create a better life and escape poverty.
“The government needs to step up now, commit to reductions and recognise the critical role clean water has in helping communities cope with climate change and recovering quickly from related extreme weather events.” Mere said.
According to the Wateraid Boss, without easy access to clean water, people’s lives are blighted by sickness, poverty and the endless drudgery of collecting water.
“Women and girls around the world already collectively already spend an estimated 200 million hours a year – or around 23,000 years – walking to fetch water.
“For the 60 million people in Nigeria that do not have clean water close to home, the hours spent collecting water or the time needed to recover from waterborne illnesses caused by dirty water, robs entire communities of an opportunity to build a better future.
She pointed out that for the girls and women tasked with fetching water, having to walk further to find a clean water source takes time away from their education and disproportionately impacts on their lives.
Dr Mere noted that Climate change acts as a threat multiplier for water, exacerbating problems caused by poor management of water resources.
She reiterated that lack of political will and inadequate investment coupled with the current climate scenario, it is predicted that water scarcity will displace between 24 million and 700 million people, by 2030.
“Currently, only 5% of total global climate funding is spent on helping countries adapt to their changing climate and that money is not targeted at the communities most vulnerable to climate change.
“The investment in ensuring that everyone no matter where they live has a reliable and safe water source to help make communities become more resilient to climate change, is completely inadequate to the growing crisis,” she said