The United Nations Millennium Development Goals initiative sets the goal of halving the percentage of people worldwide who do not have adequate sources of drinking water or live in unsanitary conditions.
More than 1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and some 2.6 billion are deprived of basic sanitation.
In a report released today, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said rapid population growth, particularly in urban areas, means health services face difficulties even maintaining current levels.
(dpa)
An Increasingly Thirsty World
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. Disputes about access to water are increasingly coming to the center of global attention, especially in China, India, and Central Asia. Writing about the 1967 Six Day War in his 2001 memoirs, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that "while border disputes between Syria and ourselves were of great significance, the matter of water diversion was a stark issue of life and death." (more)
RELATED ARTICLES
Tibetan Water Plans Raise Concerns
Environmentalists Say China Misusing Cross-Border Rivers
China's Economic Boom Strains Environment
Nature Waits For Cross-Border Sanctuaries To Catch On
Overused Rivers Struggle To Reach The Sea
UN Water Report Takes A Hard Look At Central Asia
Irrigation, Pollution Threaten Central Asian Lakes
THE COMPLETE STORY: Click on the icon to view a dedicated webpage bringing together all of RFE/RL's coverage of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.