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"We would have to walk two to three kilometres to the next village and spend up to 10 hours a day getting water." Life got better for Aahir when a new well was dug in her village, but the same drudgery continues for millions of women around the world, symbol of a worsening water crisis that an international water conference in Japan has dedicated itself to fight. Delegates to a meeting of the World Water Forum in Kyoto said that providing safe drinking water -- taken for granted in the developed world -- was a simple but vital step for improving the lives of poor people in many nations. "Improvements in access to water and sanitation should form the cornerstone of any poverty reduction strategy," said Tadao Chino, head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Others were blunter. "Water means life, water means health," said Jan Pronk, a former top UN official and ex-Netherlands foreign minister. "Water means income." Teeming with people
By 2050, water shortages brought on by booming populations, pollution and global warming, will affect between two billion and seven billion people around the world out of a projected population then of about 9.3 billion. The lack of safe water affects all aspects of life. Experts note that hours spent getting water keep children, especially girls, out of school and are a constant drain on the energy of women who could otherwise gain additional income. "I wish to go to school like other children," said Zarina, a 14-year-old Pakistani girl, in an ADB film clip. "I too want to read books." But Zarina's grandmother said this was impossible. "We have no time because of fetching water." One ADB case study of a water project that brought safe water to 800,000 people in rural Pakistan found a 90 per cent reduction in water-borne diseases, increased income in 24 per cent of the households, and up to an 80 per cent rise in school enrolments. For women especially, the benefits are substantial. "Women whose job was only to fetch water now feel they are human beings," said Nadia Sayeed, a Pakistani woman involved in mobilising village water projects. Flood of money needed
To that end, the ADB signed an agreement with the UN Habitat on Water, which will provide $500 million in loans over five years, and the Cities Alliance Programme, which will provide an initial $500,000 in grants for urban water supply. "This all seems commonsense, but it is surprising that so many governments do not place priority on water provision," said Ravi Narayanan, director of Water Aid, a non-governmental organisation. "Provision of water and sanitation is the first magic step on the ladder out of poverty." Source: Reuters
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Not so long ago, Kamlaben Aahir's days revolved around water. "It took 10 to 15 minutes just to fill one pail," the grey-haired woman from a rural Indian village said. "But after four years of poor rain, the pond had completely dried up.
More than 2.2 million people die each year from diseases related to contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation. That includes one child about every 10 seconds, experts say.
Many governments, though, are not getting the message. A report issued by the World Bank this week said investment in water in developing countries needs to double to $180 billion per year.
