Our Habitat takes the time this week to share with you information on World Water Day and its significance. Also, note the plight of Jordan, one of the 10 most water-impoverished countries in the world.

THE world yesterday celebrated World Water Day 2008, under the theme: 'sanitation'.

The day was geared at identifying issues on sanitation in accordance with the Internatioanl Year of Sanitation (IYS) 2008.

Meanwhile, the year is to see the United Nations focussing on issues affecting people's access to proper sanitation, which has been identified as a key area of poverty eradication. Among the areas being looked at are:

. hygiene promotion and sanitary facilities;

. water quality case studies and wastewater treatment;

. sewerage systems, as well as policy and institutional framework; and

. national information on sanitation.

The observance of World Water Day grew out of an initiative of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Stats to note

. More that one billion people around the world lack clean, safe drinking water

. More than 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation services

. In 2004, of the 2.2 million unsafe water deaths, 90 per cent were children

Sources: www.worldwaterday.net; www.worldwaterday.org; www.un.org.

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