Rich nations must lead bid to improve access to clean water: UN

Wealthy countries such as Canada must show greater leadership in supporting improved access to clean water and better sanitation in developing countries, says a report from the United Nations.

Released Thursday, the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) 2006 Human Development Report is viewed as a snapshot on key issues around the world.

The report estimates 1.8 million children die each year because they don't have access to clean drinking water or a toilet, said UNDP spokesperson David Morrison. Most who die are infants, he said.

Governments should spend one per cent of their GDP on water and sanitation and legislate that every person in the country has access to at least 20 litres of clean water each day, says the report.

Canadians use, on average, 600 litres of waterper person each day, he said.

Morrison cited an example of a slum called Kibera on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. The slum was featured in the Academy Award-nominated film The Constant Gardner.

"There are 71,000 people sharing a common, open-pit latrine," he said.

High infant mortality

Human excrement gets into the drinking water, leading to extremely high rates of infant mortality.

Morrison said cities such as London, Paris and New York had similar infant mortality rates 150 years ago.

"They got it under control," said Morrison. "What we're saying is that history needs to repeat itself, but this time in the developing world."

Through their foreign aid, wealthy countries such as Canada need to encourage developing countries to legislate guaranteed access to clean water.

When that happens, rich countries need to help developing governments design programs to get the clean water to the people, he said.

Canada spends 3.4 per cent of its annual foreign aid budget on water and sanitation issues. Morrison says this number should rise as high as seven per cent.

"Canada is in the middlein terms of rich countries in its support for water and sanitation in poor countries," said Morrison.

The report says the Group of Eight industrialized countries must take concerted action on the issue, or face continued poverty, poor health and diminished economic opportunities in developing nations.

For every dollar spent on improved water and sanitation, $8 would be returned in increased productivity and reduced health-care costs, says the report. Better management of water resources would also diminish the likelihood of armed conflict over ownership of the resource, said the report.

The report also included the UN Human Development Index, which ranks 177 countries each year in terms of health, education, life expectancy, income, poverty levels and environmental quality.

It said Canada has dropped to No. 6 in its ranking, down one spot from 2005.