A new study commissioned by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) demonstrates that unclean water for drinking as well as for sanitation services is responsible for more deaths than all forms of violence, including war.
“These deaths are an affront to our common humanity, and undermine the efforts of many countries to achieve their development potential,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today, World Water Day.
There are two primary challenges surrounding water: quantity and quality. The study titled “Clearing the Water: A Focus on Water Quality Solutions” plunges into the latter challenge as fulfilling cleaner water standards is currently the more achievable goal.
“The fact is that, often as a result of mismanagement, much of the water that is available in developing but also developed economies is polluted and contaminated to varying levels.” ~ Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director