Africa's Water Crisis

Floor Speech

AFRICA'S WATER CRISIS -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 17, 2007)

* Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, yesterday the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health held a briefing and hearing on the important issue of Africa's water crisis. We tend to take for granted this basic necessity for human existence, and yet we are told by the United Nations Development Programme that over 1.1 billion people in developing countries do not have adequate access to safe water. Access to water is closely correlated to basic sanitation, and there too the world is facing a crisis. Some 2.6 billion people live without this second essential aspect of good health.

* In its Human Development Report for 2006, the UNDP presents a heavy indictment against the international community, noting that every year 1.8 million children die from causes related to unclean water and poor sanitation. This is equivalent to 4,900 deaths every day, and diarrheal disease is the second highest cause of death in the world for children under 5. This occurs despite the fact that we now have oral rehydration therapy. These numbers dwarf the number of deaths resulting from violent conflict, and yet the UNDP points out that water and sanitation are rarely highlighted as an international concern.

* In sub-Saharan Africa--the focus of the hearing--over 300 million people lack access to safe water, and some 460 million do not have access to proper sanitation. These overwhelming numbers hide the even deeper tragedy that it is the poor, both poor individuals and poor countries, who carry the greatest burden. Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5 percent of its GDP, or about $28.4 billion each year, to the water and sanitation deficit. This figure exceeds the total amount of aid and debt relief provided to the region in 2003. And most of this loss is suffered by those households that are below the poverty line, those who can least afford to pay the cost. The lack of water also unduly affects women and girls, who in many societies have the responsibility of collecting and transporting water, which can occupy their energy and time for several hours each day.

* Beyond the apparent costs in human suffering and loss of life, there are broader social and economic costs as well. Improper water management impacts agricultural and industrial development, economic growth, and the preservation of land, coastal and marine ecosystems. Equitable access to sufficient quantities of safe water is necessary for a secure, peaceful society, and threats to such access can become a source of conflict and even violence.

* It is worthwhile to note that, according to the UNDP, the scarcity of water worldwide is not the result of physical availability. The Human Development Report states that household water requirements represent a very small fraction of water use, often less than 5 percent of the total. Instead the UNDP asserts that the source of the problem lies in power, poverty and inequality. Households in high-income urban areas of Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa have access to several hundred liters of water each day through public utilities, while slum dwellers and poor households in the rural areas of those same countries have access to far less than the 20 liters a day per person required to meet the most basic human needs. The same analysis is said to apply to the areas of agriculture and industry. Income levels and access to water and sanitation systems are key elements. UNDP explicitly rejects the notion that the global water shortage is due to population increases.

* Fortunately, the United States Government is acting to provide more safe water and proper sanitation to the poor of the world. Thanks to the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor

Act of 2005, authored by our good friend Congressman EARL BLUMENAUER who we welcomed as a witness at the hearing, the provision of affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries is a legislative component of our country's foreign assistance programs.

* I have learned that the lack of access can be addressed by relatively simple means by an amazingly few but deeply committed people. I learned this first-hand when I was in Uganda last year and met Robert Wright from Living Waters International. I often emphasize the importance of faith-based organizations in meeting the global health needs of the world, and Living Waters is a Christian ministry that implements water development through training, equipping and consulting. Robert was living a comfortable life in my home state of New Jersey when he decided to move himself and his family to the remote regions of Uganda to assist the poor. He went to a school operated by Living Waters to learn how to drill a well to provide water for the hospital he was building. Although he was suffering from a bout of malaria, he drove several hours to Kampala to inform our delegation of the work of Living Waters and to press the need for water for the peoples of Africa. Therefore, I was particularly pleased to welcome Mr. Malcolm Morris, the chairman of Millennium Water Alliance, which represents a number of partners including Living Water International, who informed the Subcommittee of the work being done by faith-based organizations on this issue.

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