Many sectors will not progress without universal access to water and sanitation: PGA

Ensuring universal access to water and sanitation is crucial to ensure progress on education, on jobs, on healthcare, or on the environment, says Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

He made this statement in his remarks at the Sanitation and Water for All Sector Ministers’ Meeting convened by the General Assembly on May 18, themed around ‘Building Forward Better for Recovery and Resilience’.

The event was hosted by the government of Indonesia in collaboration with UNICEF and the Sanitation Water for All global partnership.

In his remarks, PGA Shahid highlighted that access to water and sanitation is a matter of survival, adding that water is essential to health and well-being of the people as well as to reduce poverty and to ensure food security among many others.

Describing water to be a fundamental element of life that supports the achievement of almost every sustainable development goal, PGA Shahid noted that the world’s current water trajectory paints a dire scenario.

He stressed that “little to no” progress can be expected on education, on jobs, on healthcare, or on the environment without universal access to water and sanitation. 

Stressing that several countries combat threats such as water pollution and scarcity, PGA Shahid noted how more than 2.3 billion people are already in water-stress scenarios, with independent assessments implying a global water deficit of 40 percent by 2030, across the globe.

He also shed light on the alarming health threats for mothers, girls, children as well as and newborns, stressing that it is “unacceptable” that over 700 children die every day due to poor sanitation and lack of access to safe drinking water.

PGA Shahid stated that more than two billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services currently, with 3.6 billion lacking safely managed sanitation services.

Noting that such underlying water-related challenges are an urgent call for the world to pivot away from its destructive actions, the PGA stressed that Covid-19 magnified the importance of hygiene, sanitation and clean water for all.  

This, the PGA said, was the “same message” that echoed “loud and clear” during the discussions on desertification and land restoration at COP15.