I was thinking about this blog over the weekend. I wanted to write something about World Water Week but also share TPR Group's Well Water Project in association with World Vision where we give $20 for every water related product installed in offices around Australia to to build Wells and Sanitation projects in Asia. However somehow our modest and genuine efforts (we're a national franchise organisation comprising of some 35 owner operated small businesses) seemed to nowhere convey the urgency of the need for clean drinking water to many of the world's population, including children. And I felt if I didn't convey the urgency of the need we wouldn't be able to encourage our clients' to contribute either. We're just starting out with our 'little' Well Water project but our plans are big. Eventually we'd like to be able to demonstrate with case studies of how Australian businesses have contributed to building wells and even an overseas delegation of how our fund raising has contributed.
The Obvious - Why is Water so fundamental
Water is fundamental to survival. Go without it for a short time, and we would die. Although 71 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water only 2.5 percent of the earth’s water is fresh and approximately 2/3 of that is locked up in glaciers and permanent snow cover.
But clean, safe drinking water is not available to over 1.2 billion people (28 percent of the world population). And more than twice that number lack access to adequate sanitation, which is part of the problem. In less time than it takes to read this material, 20 children will have died because of unsafe water.
According to the World Health Organization, 1.3 million children, most under the age of 5, die every year of diarrheal disease caused by drinking contaminated water. Approximately 10 percent of those living in developing countries are infected with intestinal worms. 4 billion cases of water-born diarrhea occur annually. 6 million people are blind from trachoma. Large numbers of people are subjected to cholera and typhoid fever epidemics. And millions of people are adversely affected by the arsenic and other contaminates found in unsafe water. All told, water-related diseases, which are usually easy to prevent or to treat and are rarely seen in the affluent world, account for 80 percent of illnesses and deaths in the developing world. Imagine if 18 fully-loaded jumbo jets with children were to fall from the sky for just one day what the news would be reporting. But, that is what happens every day because of contaminated water.
About 6000 children – “the equivalent of 18 fully loaded jumbo jets” – die. Every 15 seconds, a child dies in our world from the effects of poor water quality.
Sick children cannot attend school. Parents of sick children cannot work on a regular basis. Women have more children because of the anticipated deaths. Having clean, safe drinking water is the first step to break the cycle of poverty in which many people are trapped.
The World Acknowledges work of someone who is working at the coal face to solve this problem - Dr Bindeshwar Pathak from India
First presented in 1991, The Stockholm Water Prize is the world’s most prestigious prize for outstanding achievement in water-related activities. The annual prize, which includes a USD 150,000 award and a crystal sculpture specially designed and created by the Swedish artisans of Orrefors, honours individuals, institutions or organisations whose work contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved health of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the Patron of the Stockholm Water Prize.
The 2009 Stockholm Water Prize will be awarded to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the Sulabh Sanitation Movement in India, at a Royal Ceremony followed by a Banquet in the Stockholm City Hall on Thursday evening, August 20. Dr. Pathak will also deliver the annual Stockholm Water Prize Laureate lecture at the Opening Plenary Session of the Week.
Dr. Pathak is known around the world for his wide ranging work in the sanitation field to improve public health, advance social progress, and improve human rights in India and other countries. His accomplishments span the fields of sanitation technology, social enterprise, and healthcare education for millions of people in his native country, serving as a model for NGO agencies and public health initiatives around the world.
Founders of the Stockholm Water Prize
The Founders of the Stockholm Water Prize are Swedish and international companies who strive to push sustainability forward in the water sector. The Founders of Stockholm Water Prize working in cooperation with the City of Stockholm are: Bacardi, Borealis & Borouge, DuPont, Europeiska Insurance, Fujitsu, General Motors, Grundfos Management, Hewlett Packard, ITT Water & Wastewater, Kemira Water, KPMG Sweden, Läckeby Water, P&G, Ragn-Sells, Scandic, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Siemens, SJ (Swedish Railways), Snecma, Uponor, Water Environment Federation and Ålandsbanken Sverige.
Related Links
Posts
