2006 UN Human Development Report on Water: women, children, and policies

Lack of access to clean water and good sanitation cause a host of problems throughout the globe. Deemed The Silent Crisis in the UN's young people summary of their 2006 Human Development Report, the issue is mostly hidden from the public eye, with most people unaware of the implications associated with lack of access to clean water and sanitation. From child mortality rates to health care costs to women's empowerment, it is evident that this issue affects women and children disproportionately.

Child Mortality & Lifelong Problems
Diarrhea is the number two cause of death during childhood. A high percentage of these deaths are associated with unclean water. 1.8 million children under five die from diarrhea each year. This is way higher than the amount who die from HIV/AIDS, a way more publicized issue. One problem with combatting diarrhea is that it easily develops resistance to antibiotics.

Children struggling with water-related illnesses are severely disadvantaged in school. According to the report, "Poor health directly reduces cognitive potential and indirectly undermines schooling through absenteeism, attention deficits and early drop-out." (p.45)  This will lead to higher levels of poverty, which will in turn negatively affect any country struggling with these issues.

Clean water and sanitation can improve the situation tremendously. Not only do they act as preventative medicines for children, but they also reduce health care costs, both of which always go hand in hand.

Girl's Education
Young girls are incredibly affected by lack of access to water and sanitation in the realm of education. "In Tanzania school attendance levels are 12% higher for girls in homes 15 minutes or less from a water source than in homes an hour or more away." In addition, when girls hit puberty they are much more likely to drop out of school. This is because of concerns about privacy and security in the bathrooms at school. I can't imagine the feeling of being prevented from getting an education purely because I can not deal with my period in a safe, healthy way. That is a tragedy that can and should be prevented. Girl's education is key for the future: "educated girls are more likely to have smaller, healthier families - and their children are less likely to die and more likely to receive an education than the children of less educated mothers." (p.47)

Women - Time-Poverty & Dignity
The following fact stunned me: "...40 billion hours a year are spent collecting water in Sub-Saharan Africa - a year's labour for the entire work-force in France." That is shocking. This type of time-poverty greatly affects women and lowers their agency and income. The less agency women have, the less dignity. Improved access to clean water and sanitation would be a huge step for the women of the world. "Underfinancing of sanitation provision in the allocation of household and government resources is thus partly a product of the weak voice of women in setting priorities." (p.48)

Policy
When combatting this issue of water, increased political will is a requirement. The problem here is that water is a crisis of marginalized groups. The issue needs to be dealt with as a societal problem, instead of just a problem facing women and children. "It will...require a stronger voice for poor people and women among policy-makers and water providers." (p.61)

This issue, as it applies to women and girls, really interests me. I hope to be able to study this in more depth in the future!

P.S. Here is the link to the Report: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR06-complete.pdf