A UNICEF report on worldwide access to clean drinking water released today said that while sub-Saharan Africa — the region with the lowest drinking water accessibility in 1990, has been gaining access to drinking water at the rate of 50,000 people per day since the year 2000 — the region which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo (where The Peace Exchange works with women seamstresses) still accounts for more than 2 out of 5 of those without access globally.
That's 325 million people.
Most countries in the region are not on track to meet the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals' target, which expire this year.
"There are now only three countries; Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea where more than half the population do not have improved drinking water," according to UNICEF.
- Of the 748 million people globally still without access to clean drinking water, 90 percent
live in rural areas and are being left behind in their countries'
progress.
- On average, nearly 1,000 children 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.
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