9:Things you didn't know about water

   The world is not yet on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Water is the source of life. Without water, children simply cannot survive. Without basic sanitation, entire communities live in an environment polluted by human waste. Where there is no tap or soap for washing hands, diseases spread quickly. Young children are particularly vulnerable and water and sanitation related diseases remain one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 years old. Hospitals and health centers without running water, toilets or soap can turn into disease factories. During childbirth, it can become a matter of life or death for both the newborn and the mother.

1. There is a water crisis and it is already happening.

3.7 billion people do not have access to safe water.

2. Water should not only be clean: it should also be “safe”.

For water to be safe, there must be access to it at home, it must be there when you need it, and it must be free from contamination.

3. Without safe sanitation, disease spreads quickly.

4.2 billion people lack access to safe sanitation, meaning a toilet that separates human waste to avoid contact and a system that can dispose of that waste safely.

673 million people practice open defecation, meaning they defecate on the side of roads, in fields or in bushes.

4. Children are at greatest risk.

Every day more than 700 children die from diarrhea due to clean water and poor sanitation.                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            5. Babies are born in unsanitary conditions.

About 35% of hospitals and health centers do not have running water or soap for handwashing and 19% of them do not have basic sanitation facilities.

6. Children are deprived of education.

When children have to walk great distances to fetch water, they often lose the opportunity to go to school. When schools don't have toilets, young girls have no space to manage their periods and they may choose to miss school because of it.

7. Climate change is making things worse.

Climate change leads to the destruction, drying up and contamination of water sources. By 2040, 600 million children will be living in water-stressed areas if we don't act now.

8. In times of conflict and crisis, children are twice as likely to be deprived of access to water.

About 117 million people in emergency situations urgently need access to safe water.

9. We must accelerate our efforts.

The world is not yet on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6  : Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. At the High Level Political Forum, UNICEF calls on governments to reaffirm their commitment to increasing access to water, sanitation and hygiene, to strengthening partnerships with national statistical offices in order to improve the collection, analysis and disaggregation of data, as well as to report progress on national measures.