President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said once again that taking serious action in connection with water, hygiene and sanitation crises has little or nothing to do with hypocritically dishing out to people something ‘we’ feel ‘we’ want to do or might look good doing for good name or for popularity: instead, it is about doing the right thing.
That ‘right thing’ involves using opportunities to provide for the people – rich or poor – what they need, deserve and must have, as per this government’s responsibility and commitment to meeting their basic needs that in turn will have a multiplier effect on the good of the nation, its economy and its people.
All too often, access to adequate sanitation, in particular, is seen as an outcome of development rather than a driver of economic development and poverty reduction, this nation’s leader pointed out.
That ‘right thing’ involves using opportunities to provide for the people – rich or poor – what they need, deserve and must have, as per this government’s responsibility and commitment to meeting their basic needs that in turn will have a multiplier effect on the good of the nation, its economy and its people.
All too often, access to adequate sanitation, in particular, is seen as an outcome of development rather than a driver of economic development and poverty reduction, this nation’s leader pointed out.
Mrs. Sirleaf cited South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s demonstrated for the world to see, how they took advantage of the opportunities that lay before their very eyes, to boost economic development by addressing sanitation, water and hygiene needs.
Against this backdrop, Africa’s Goodwill Ambassador for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, President Sirleaf, caution that universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene must be a post-2015 development priority.
The Executive Mansion said President Sirleaf’s statement was contained in a keynote address she delivered at the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Water in the Post-2015 Agenda in The Hague, Netherlands. That event took place on Thursday, March 21. The activity also involved a discussion of the results of the Global Thematic Consultation on Water.
“Without improved conditions, children will continue to miss school; health costs will continue to be a drag on national economies; adults will continue to miss work; and women and girls – almost always women and girls – will continue to spend countless hours every day, fetching water, typically from dirty sources,” the Liberian leader said.
President Sirleaf acknowledged the many challenges facing the global community today simply because they lack the knowledge or technical ability to address them; but this, she noted cannot be said of water and sanitation. “We know how to provide them. The resources exist. We simply need to decide whether doing so is a priority,” she pointed out, adding, “It should be, both now and beyond 2015.”
Reflecting on a new report released by WaterAid during the program, President Sirleaf said, among other things, it showed that while 61 percent of the people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to safe water, it is the wealthiest 20 percent who have almost universal access, while it is unlikely that more than one in ten of the poorest people living in rural areas have any access at all. In the ECOWAS region, 35 percent do not have access to safe drinking water.
On sanitation, she said the new report indicates a staggering 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation; whereas, in ECOWAS countries, 74 percent lack access to sanitation.
“We must do better,” she admonished, adding that addressing the global water and sanitation crisis is not about charity, but about opportunity, and WaterAid’s report presents a strong case for making safe water and effective sanitation available to all.
The Liberian President repeated that all too often, access to adequate sanitation, in particular, is seen as an outcome of development rather than a driver of economic development and poverty reduction, citing South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s where they demonstrated the potential for boosting economic development by addressing sanitation.
Quoting the World Health Organization, President Sirleaf said US$260 billion in economic losses annually is directly linked to inadequate water supply and sanitation around the world which could lift people out of poverty, create jobs and improve healthcare and education.
On activities in the sector in Liberia, President Sirleaf named the hosting of a multi-donor joint mission for Liberia, under the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) initiative, which resulted in the Liberia WASH Compact.
Liberia hosted a thematic consultation on water on the margins of the February Post-2015 High-Level Panel Meeting in Monrovia, in collaboration with partners that included the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and WaterAid.
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