About 1,1-billion people lack access to safe drinking water, while another 2,4-billion lacked access to basic sanitation, the UN Environment Program warned. Nearly 5,000 children die every day from diseases caused by a lack of water, UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said Monday, while opening the three-day summit. The discussions in Jeju, a South Korean resort island, will form a basis for talks next month in New York with the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. That meeting will assess progress toward the United Nation's target of halving the number of people with no access to safe drinking water or basic sanitation by 2015. The current forum will try to generate a Jeju Initiative that will identify concrete measures to be taken to reach those goals, UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall said. Supplying safe water is increasingly difficult because the world population is growing so fast, by about 77-million people a year, UNEP says.
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
