About one in eight people worldwide - 894 million people – do not have access to safe-drinking water, and 2,6 billion lack basic sanitation services. Almost two million people die every year from diarrhoea, 90% of them being children under the age of five.
Our planet has enough water for everyone if well used, and yet this finite resource is not equally distributed. Only 3% of total resources are fresh water and less than a third of that is accessible. Overuse and pollution from domestic, industrial and agricultural activities affect the quality of drinking water and functioning of ecosystems. Climate change is having a profound impact on rainfall distribution and many regions of the world are experiencing unprecedented extreme droughts, floods and storms, with severe economic and social consequences. With fast growing human population, water use is growing even faster. In the 20th century, water consumption grew twice as fast as the world population. As a result, a third of the world's population lives in water-stressed countries now. By 2025, this is expected to rise to two-thirds.
Water shortages and pollution are causing widespread public health problems, limiting economic and agricultural development, and harming a wide range of ecosystems. The global water crisis is a threat to development, to the environment and to security. Integrated management of water resources is key to sustainable development. Solving water problems by ensuring adequate quality and quantity of water for everyone, shared responsibility and benefits between nations and competing stakeholders will lead to progress across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
Conflicts over water, especially the hundreds of transboundary watercourses and aquifers, may intensify as resources become increasingly scarce and contaminated in developed and developing countries alike.
Water is a natural resource for which we are all responsible. Access to water is a universal Human Right.
Green Cross International addresses both the lack of access and unequal distribution of water through advocacy efforts, educational programmes and practical initiatives like the Smart Water for Green Schools’ project, which provides children and their communities with access to safe drinking water and sanitation.Water for Peace
There are 276 recognised international watercourses and about the same number of transboundary aquifers[1]. Today we use more than half of the world’s accessible freshwater runoff, and yet, it is estimated that in 2050, 45% of the world’s population will experience severe hydric stress. Another 200 million people will flee their countries and regions because of climate change by 2050. Many of these refugees will leave their homes to escape water scarcity.
Sources of instability related to water resources are numerous. Water impacts all aspects of life: human development, ecosystems and the economy, to quote just a few. Seeing peace and sustainability as intrinsically connected, Green Cross works to promote cooperation among States and stakeholders. When it comes to international action, Green Cross is promoting ratification of the UN Watercourses Convention, to ensure global watercourses are fairly managed and shared.
Right to Water and Sanitation
Water, the basic ingredient of life, is among the world’s most prolific killers. 4,000 children die each day due to a lack of access to safe water and proper sanitation. If water means life, it should be recognised as a Human Right. Our campaign on the Right to water and sanitation works to ensure that access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation is recognised as a human right, which is clearly defined and enshrined through national legislation.
Access to Water and Sanitation
Smart Water for Green Schools is part of Green Cross' Water for Life and Peace Programme, which places the fulfillment of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation at the center of sustainable development. By equipping schools with rainwater harvesting systems, providing ecological sanitation facilities and securing other systems for the extended community, Smart Water for Green Schools represents a concrete solution to improve the lives of the populations living in water poverty.
[1] Underground water
