Water is a necessity. It is no wonder that the greatest
civilisations on Earth have been based around or near water, which would not
only provide drink and irrigation to maintain a population, but also
transportation links. Today, water continues to form a central element of countless
human activities, such as irrigation, and industrial and domestic uses. Domestic
water usage includes drinking, food preparation, bathing and washing, and it is
here that the relationship between water and sanitation becomes most obvious.
Sanitation relates to the provision of clean water, sewage infrastructure and prevention of disease. About 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water
and over 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation. The United Nations
64th General Assembly adopted safe drinking water and sanitation as
a right, since it is ‘indispensable for leading a life in human dignity’. The
Assembly recognises that equitable access to safe water and sanitation is a
necessary prerequisite for achieving other human rights (UN 2010: 2). Quality,
access and distribution are essential factors that must be taken into account
when analysing the issues of water “shortages”; global water quantity in itself is not the issue at
stake. In the 21st century, water shortages will connect some of the
most pressing problems on our planet, from poverty reduction and public health to
energy production and ecosystem conservation (Vorosmarty et al. 2005).
In this blog, I will discuss multiple issues and literature within
the broad topic of water and sanitation, looking specifically at the African
continent. According to Tucker et al. (2014),
not enough is known about water access, availability and sources, or how these
vary over time and space for many households in Africa. Yet, these matters are
key to answering health and livelihood questions, not just in Africa but
worldwide.
