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Water for Life - International Year of Freshwater
More than one billion people do not have access to safe, clean water and 2.4 billion are without adequate sanitation. Every year more than 3 million people die from avoidable water-related diseases. The implications are frightening - death, chronic illness and poverty are all darkly allied to the absence of clean water. By 2025, nearly two-thirds of the world's population will be living in areas subject to water stress. How these countries manage their water resources will have important implications for health, agriculture, the environment and industry. Apart form the obvious health effects deriving from scarcity of water there are major concerns relating to water quality. Water quality has a direct impact on the productive usability of water, and more importantly on the health of the surrounding people. With nearly 70 per cent of global fresh water being used for agriculture - 80 per cent in Asia - it will be increasingly difficult to meet global food requirements for growing population. The development of fresh water resources for human use has compromised natural ecosystems that depend on these resources. The industry sector, which accounts for about 19 per cent of the world's fresh water use, is likely to need an increasing share in all regions of the world. In developing countries, where 56 per cent of the population will be living in urban areas by 2030, the share of water going towards domestic users will also need to grow substantially. The Australian Government has long recognized the importance of clean water as a cornerstone for development. This year alone Australia's overseas aid program will spend about $80 million on projects in the Asia Pacific Region to improve water and sanitation in poor communities. Australian efforts acknowledge that water supply and sanitation facilities are vital for the health of developing country populations, and that their careful management is also important for stability and growth. By improving basic services like water and sanitation, Australia is helping developing countries lay the ground work for productive populations, and ensuring the poor can expand their range of choices, improve their productivity and participate more fully in society. Some AusAID water and sanitation projectsThe following are just some of the many water and sanitation projects supported by the Australian Government's overseas aid program. Papua New Guinea For remote villagers along the South Fly River in Western Province getting water in the dry season often means a long trip inland or a journey by boat across Torres Strait to Australian islands.
A well supplies safe drinking water in the village of Aipokon, PNG East Timor
The project is funded by Australia and is run by the non-government organisation, Bia Hula, which in the local Tetum language means spring water. With small grants, Bia Hula has been able to bring clean water and sanitation to several villages. As well, an old water reservoir has also been restored. Now, no house in the area is more than 50 metres from a source of clean water. East Timorese men work on water pipes Kiribati A water supply and sanitation project on Kiritimati Island, Kiribati, involves extensive civil works to extract and deliver water from underground sources and encouraging the use of environmentally friendly composting toilets to reduce contamination of the precious water lenses. The toilets are being built where people live and work so that human waste can be dealt with on-site without need for water. This is important because fresh, clean water is a precious commodity in this nation where fresh water lenses can be easily polluted by septic tanks and pit latrine toilets. Compost toilet on Kiritamati Island Vietnam
Testing water for salinity, pH and dissolved solids Near the Cambodian border another project will strengthen the capacity of provincial agencies to plan, operate and manage a water management system on North Vam Nao Island. The project aims to prevent the island from flooding and enable communities to grow better rice and other crops. Laos
For the past year the Australian government, World Vision and local groups have been providing gravity fed water systems to the different communities. Water is taken from a steam higher on a mountain and stored in a tank before being fed again through pipes to tanks in villages. Now more than half the villages have access to clean water all year round through a reliable, clean and convenient water service. Lao hilltribe woman carries her water buckets 28 January 2003
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Safe, clean drinking water is one of life's most precious commodities. So precious that the United Nations has declared it a basic human right and has named 2003 the International Year of Freshwater.
The Australian Government is working with villagers and Western Province officials to provide a minimal level of drinkable water to some of the villages along the Torres Strait. Steel constructions have been erected with 9,000 litre polypropylene water tanks attached to them to catch rain water. This has relieved the burden on villagers to walk for hours to collect water.
The Bia Huala Water Supply and Sanitation project is delivering water sanitation and environmental health services in the three districts of Dili, Emera and Covalima.
The weather, river systems, agricultural practices and water supply infrastructure in Vietnam make water a major factor in addressing the extreme poverty that affects the lives of so many of its people. Working in partnership with local Vietnamese communities, the Australian aid program is developing a model for providing water and sanitation to disadvantaged towns and rural communities in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
Luan Prabang Province is one of the poorest areas in Laos. There is little in the way of irrigation or other forms of water storage, and almost all villagers rely on nature for the success of their crops, facing drought every year.
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