Access to clean, safe water is vital for people to stay healthy and to flourish. Yet over 1 billion people worldwide still do not have access to the safe water they need to drink.Lack of clean water leads to children becoming ill, or dying, from preventable water-related diseases like cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea.
In rural areas, women and children, usually girls, miss out on opportunities to earn a living or go to school because they spend hours each day walking miles to fetch water.
In towns and cities, existing water and sanitation facilities are struggling to cope with the rapidly increasing urban growth rate. Many households only have access to very basic latrines - or to none at all. Private vendors sell water at high prices to those unable to fetch their own.
Water worldwide
- Diarrhoea causes 2.2 million deaths per year, mostly among children under five.
- 64% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to improved sanitation.
- 6,000 children die each day as a result of water-related diseases.
- In 2000, world leaders agreed, as part of the Millennium Development Goals, to work towards halving the proportion of people worldwide without access to safe drinking water.
- Between 1990 and 2002, 1.1 billion people gained access to improved water sources - but there's still much more to do. (Sources: UNICEF, World Water Commission, Water Aid)
What RFDP will be doing
RFDP protect water sources and will forge ahead to build new wells in rural areas of Lundazi District.
RFDP will also sensitize the communities to form village water committees that will be responsible for the welfare of the wells in villages. Volunteers will also be identified to spearhead the work at the village wells. RFDP will train committees of local volunteers to look after the new wells and keep them in good working order. Volunteers are trained in good hygiene and sanitation and are encouraged to pass their knowledge onto others to improve the health of their whole village.
Water is vital for crops and livestock, as well as for drinking.
