Some 2.3 billion people have gained access to improved sources of drinking water since 1990, but obtaining this essential service still remains a challenge for 748 million people around the world, says UNICEF.
On the occasion of World Water Day, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in a statement on Saturday said access to drinking water has been one of the biggest successes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which could be achieved by halving the percentage of the global population without access ahead of the 2015 MDG deadline.
In Bangladesh, UNICEF has used an exciting new approach to collect rainwater and then pump it into shallow aquifers, achieving water security for approximately one million people whose groundwater had become salinised, it added.
Despite this progress, the UN organisation found significant disparities as 748 million people globally still live without access, 90 per cent live in rural areas, and are being left behind in their countries' progress.
There are now only three countries - Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea - where more than half the population don't have access to improved drinking water.
For children, lack of access to safe water can be tragic. On average, nearly 1,000 of them die every day from diarrhoeal diseases linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation or poor hygiene.
For women and girls, collecting water cuts into time they can spend caring for families and studying. In insecure areas, it also puts them at risk of violence and attack. UNICEF estimates that in Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking to collect water.
Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the lowest coverage in 1990, has been gaining access to drinking water at the rate of 50,000 people per day since the year 2000. Nevertheless, the region still accounts for more than 2 out of 5 of those without access globally - or 325 million people.
Working with governments and partners, UNICEF is pushing for innovative and cost-effective methods to make progress.
smunima@yahoo.com
