Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

1 8 4 / C H A L L E N G E S T O L I F E A N D W E L L - B E I N GCities: Competing Needs in an Urban Environmentthe diseases associated with inadequate water and sanitation, andamong the urban population of low-income countries, one child insix dies before the age of five.The numbers alone are striking, but when added to currentprojections of a world urban population set to reach 80 percent by2030, they become thoroughly frightening. Efforts are being madeto provide better water and sanitation services to the world’s cities,but much remains to be done. There is a clear need to broaden anddeepen the coverage of global assessments of the quality ofprovision for water, sanitation and hygiene in urban areas so theyshow the proportion of people with ‘safe’, ‘sufficient’ and‘convenient’ as well as ‘improved’ provision. If the ultimate goalremains to improve such provision, what is needed are not onlysurveys based on representative samples of rural and urbanProgress since Rio at a glanceAgreed actionEstablish concrete targets on water supply and sanitationpopulations, but also site-specific information, which documents thedeficiencies and can be used by water and sanitation providers toplan improvements or by local residents to articulate their demands.There is an equally urgent need to limit the extent to whichuncontrolled urban development impacts on the surrounding areas,and to implement more effective infrastructure and watergovernance systems. A shift from supply-side only to a mix ofsupply- and demand-side initiatives could provide a more costeffectivesolution in many settlements.The situation is becoming increasingly serious, as urbanpopulations continue to grow throughout the world: action must betaken now in order to provide the world’s urban populations,especially the poor, with the safe, clean, accessible water andsanitation that is their right.Progress since RioEstablish targets for water-related services such as connection to sewerage, wastewater treatment, stormwater drainageAccord special attention to the growing effects of urbanization on water demands and usageRecognize the critical role played by local and municipal authorities in managing the supplyBy 2000, ensure access for all urban residents to at least 40 litres of safe water per day, 75% with onsiteor community sanitationUnsatisfactory Moderate Satisfactory