{"id":196,"date":"2011-03-23T21:19:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T04:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humanium.org\/en\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T06:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T06:16:21","slug":"right-to-water","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/world\/right-to-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Right to Water around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Right to Water Around the World<\/h1>\n

Children’s right to water today<\/h2>\n

Today, more than 885 million people worldwide are forced to drink water which is unsafe for drinking. More than 2.5 billion people, which is close to 42% of the world’s population, do not receive water treatment services.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Water and children’s health around the world<\/h3>\n

The situation<\/h4>\n

\"\"The lack of safe drinking water is a tragic reality for millions of children in developing countries. Their health and quality of life are seriously affected.<\/p>\n

Each year, 1.8 million children under the age of five die because of illnesses related to unsafe water. One child dies every 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

The most affected regions are subsaharian Africa and south-east Asia where 40% of the children must drink water which is not safe for consumption. 65% of them do not use proper toilets. More than one out of five people is obligated to defecate outside. This creates water and land pollution and leads to serious illnesses.<\/p>\n

The impact on children’s health<\/h4>\n

These children’s health is at great risk because of water-related illnesses<\/p>\n

\u2022 Every three minutes, one child dies of diarrhea-related illnesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Tuberculosis, which was once considered obliterated, still exists. 120,000 children die of tuberculosis each year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 88 million children under fifteen get schistosomiasis each year. This is caused by parasitic worms which develop in stagnant water.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2022 Educational campaigns about hygiene could reduce the number of diarrhea-related illnesses by up to 45%!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Access to safe drinking water could reduce the number of children’s deaths by 50%!<\/span><\/p>\n

The impact on children’s education<\/h3>\n

The lack of drinking water and proper sanitation facilities have additional consequences; in some developing countries more than half of all primary schools do not have the facilities to provide drinking water. Two-thirds of schools are not equipped with sinks or toilets. Also, millions of children, especially girls, cannot go to school on a regular basis due to the lack of hygiene.<\/p>\n

\"\"Each year, 443 million schooldays are missed because of insufficient facilities, illnesses and lack of hygiene. The school attendance rate is lowest in subsaharian Africa and south-east Asia. These places also have the highest number of uneducated girls because schools lack suitable girls-only washrooms.<\/p>\n

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