This year, the United Nation has opted to address the issue of water quality rather than water quantity by launching a campaign entitled ‘Clean Water for a Healthy Life'. The fact that more than a billion people do not have access to safe water and well over 2 billion people live without adequate sanitation means that this topic really needs far more than just a day-long debate. The international observance of World Water Day, this year on March 22, is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. This year's theme ��" ‘Clean Water for a Healthy Life' ��" reflects the fact that population and industrial growth are adding new sources of pollution and increased demand for clean water across the world. Dirty water is killing more people than wars and other violence, the United Nations announced on World Water Day. The problem is of course graver in the developing and poor countries. According to the UN, more than half of the developing world's population is suffering from one or more of the main diseases associated with unsafe water and poor sanitation. "Poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to 88 per cent of all deaths from diarrhoeal disease, and the toll is especially high on children. Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of under-five child mortality, accounting for 4,000 deaths a day," said Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF Egypt Representative, adding that these lives could have been saved with a proper intervention. The lack of quality water is the reason that millions of children suffer reduced physical growth and impaired cognitive functions, due to diarrhoea as well as intestinal worms. Erma suggested that a combination of hand washing, food protection and household hygiene can reduce infant diarrhoea by 33 per cent. She also said that providing water, separate and private sanitation facilities and hygienic environments encouraged girls to go to school. Many of them are discouraged by the indignity of having no privacy and this policy is important for decreasing disease for all children. "It also reduces the physical burden on women and girls who are often responsible for fetching water from the nearest water source and gives them more time for school, childcare and income-producing activities," she stressed According to Erma, Egypt has made significant progress in giving the population access to water and sanitation services. "Yet disparities persist between rural and urban areas," she said, adding that 20 per cent of Egyptian children under the age of five were reported to have suffered from diarrhoeal diseases, while diarrheoa still accounts for 10 per cent of deaths among infants and children under five. UNICEF, along with the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, has launched a campaign to make the Egyptians more aware of the importance of clean water in their lives. "The campaign highlights the importance of improving water and sanitation behaviour and adopting better hygienic practices," Erma said, adding that the campaign sought to expedite efforts to promote and preserve water quality and improve sanitation services by getting civil society involved.
