• Up to 70, 000 children die per year from diarrhea.
• WaterAid wants to ensure great awareness on the value of clean water, decent toilets and hygiene facilities.
• This is a commitment that countries have made through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

A new report from international aid agency WaterAid has called on governments, donors and businesses to make Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) investments central to fiscal stimulus packages in developing countries in order to strengthen economic recovery and support future pandemic preparedness.
The report comes after the United Kingdom (UK) Government faced wide criticism for cutting plans to cut aid spending on lifesaving clean water, hygiene and sanitation programmes in developing countries by 80% earlier this year.
Economists who conducted the research and analysis that feeds into the report say reaching the levels of access defined by the United Nation (UN)’s Sustainable Development Goals could unlock huge sums of money.
And speaking in an interview with Money FM News, WaterAid Global Policy Director Chilufya Chileshe noted that there has been inadequate investment in the provision of clean water and hygiene facilities in developing countries, Zambia inclusive.
Ms. Chileshe stated that the organization wants to ensure that there is massive awareness on the value of clean water and hygiene facilities for all as this is the commitment that countries have made through the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
“WaterAid wants to ensure that there is great awareness on the value of clean water, decent toilets and hygiene facilities for everyone everywhere. This is a commitment that countries have made through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and unfortunately what we see is that the investment is very low and the result is that progress in terms of people accessing these basic services is very slow.”
“So data that was released just last week by UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO) shows that progress is at the rate of 1% for the last five years and so you can imagine that we have far too many people in Zambia, Africa and Asia in particular that are still defecating in the open, and are still using water that is unsafe and too far from their households therefore spending too much time, so what we want really is to raise awareness to that,” Ms. Chileshe observed.
Meanwhile, Ms. Chileshe said investing in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) improves health benefits and productivity gains as well as economic activities of different countries.
“By investing in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, what we do is improve health benefits and productivity gains of countries which improves the economic input that people can make and the benefits of climate resilience that communities can better have because once you have climate resilient WASH infrastructure, you are sure that your water won’t be contaminated,” she said.
She noted that Ii has become almost normal in some communities in Zambia and Africa for children to grow up with repeated cases of intestinal worms.
“In the report also is the value that we are trying to show, so we are trying to show that this human right has the health and economic value as well as value for a green recovery which is what we are all hoping for especially now in the time of the pandemic because it shows us where we should be placing the limited resources that we have to find permanent solutions to the problems that are facing us, we know that up to 70, 000 children die per year from diarrhea.”
Further, WaterAid Chief Executive, Tim Wainwright said, “Investment in water, sanitation and hygiene is mission-critical not only to ending this pandemic and preventing the next but to bouncing back economically by unlocking trillions of dollars of value for the global economy. Water and sanitation have been sidelined for far too long, their value overlooked, trapping millions in poverty. Our research shows that it’s an extremely cost-effective investment.”
“WaterAid is calling on governments, donors and businesses to do the right thing and prioritize the most vulnerable communities by making water, sanitation and hygiene investments central to their COVID-19 response, pandemic-preparedness and green recovery plans.”
The WaterAid report comes just days before G20 finance ministers meet, as many developing countries struggle to contain devastating waves of COVID-19 that risk overwhelming already-fragile health services and with weak economies already severely hit by lockdowns and travel restrictions