The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report 2006, which focuses on water and sanitation, says that a deepening global water crisis threatens prospects for human development in the 21st century. Some 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water and 2.6 billion people are without decent sanitation. These are poor people living in the developing world. The UNDP calls on developed countries to take the initiative in creating a Global Action Plan. This is where Japan can make a meaningful contribution.
The U.N. has adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of halving the number of people suffering from poverty and hunger by 2015. But the situation reported by the UNDP is bleak. One of every five people in the developing world lacks access to clean water -- a suggested minimum being 20 liters per day per person, which is no more than 10 percent of average per capita water use in developed countries.
About one-third of people without access to a clean water source live on less than $1 a day. Some 1.8 million children die each year from diarrhea that could be prevented with access to clean water and a toilet. Millions of women must spend hours each day collecting and carrying water. Illnesses related to unsanitary water cause 443 million lost school days each year. Many girls do not go to school because separate and decent sanitation facilities are not available, UNICEF reports.