Did you know, that the amount of water needlessly leaked from faucets in the western world is actually enough to sustain 1 billion people in developing nations?
Whoa.
Approximately 71.11% of our planet is made up of water. Perhaps such a large number allow individuals to think they can be complacent? We seem to assume that human life can be sustained by this rather large magic number. Despite the amount of water our planet contains, in actuality, we can only use a small amount. In fact, only about 2.5% of the water on this planet is usable!
That means 6 billion people share the 2.5% of available water.
(Another) Whoa.
In 2003, the United Nations stated, that from 2005-2015, they were going to be focused on reducing the amount of people who do not have access to safe drinking water, by half. They proclaimed the prescribed set of years as the “Water for Life” decade.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations provided a wonderful, passionate statement about the challenges we have to face ahead.
“Water is essential for life. Yet many millions of people around the world face water shortages. Many millions of children die every year from water-borne diseases. And drought regularly afflicts some of the world’s poorest countries. The world needs to respond much better. We need to increase water efficiency, especially in agriculture. We need to free women and girls from the daily chore of hauling water, often over great distances. We must involve them in decision-making on water management. We need to make sanitation a priority. This is where progress is lagging most. And we must show that water resources need not be a source of conflict….Together, we can provide safe, clean water to all the world’s people. The world’s water resource are our lifeline for survival, and for sustainable development in the 21st century. Together, we must manage them better.”
(Click here for source)
Did you know, 1 in 6 people do not have clean water? Did you know that so many young kids have to travel far distances, and fill up water from the ground in which they have to carry home?
For many people, those on the other side of the world seem so far away, so out of sight, that it becomes very easy to close our minds and forget about the problems that plague other youth like ourselves. We allow ourselves to be indifferent to the troubles that affect others unrelated or disconnected to ourselves. We choose to proclaim words, which speak louder than actions.
<– The young girl in this photograph is in no way different from the young boy in this photograph. –>
They are both deserving of clean, accessible water. Yet, one of them has to travel far distances, to carry water long distances, and after all that work, still doesn’t get clean water.
Youth in privileged areas, myself included, take tap water for granted and assume that every time we open our tap, clean water will gush out. Imagine if you opened your tap and brown, murky, dirty water came gushing out! Anyone one of us could be in the position of the young girl obtaining water from the ground. It is both our responsibility and duty to ensure that youth like ourselves have the same privileges – even simple basic rights to food, clean water, shelter and education. Our job is to raise awareness, rally for this cause, and use our resources wisely so that another billion people can enjoy the same priviledges as we do.
So tell me, what are youth going to do to make a difference?
- Fariya Walji
CEO and Founder of Change Tomorrow’s World
