The UK government cannot provide global leadership through white papers alone, says WaterAid

on
21 November 2023
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In response to the UK government’s White Paper on global development, Katherine Nightingale, WaterAid’s Global Director of International Affairs, said:

“Ten years ago, Britain led the world on water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH), securing clean water worldwide for the same number of people as live in the United Kingdom — more than 60 million people.

“But as stated in the House last month by the UK’s Development Minister Andrew Mitchell – an MP who has long championed WASH - we have seen efforts on water, hygiene and sanitation slip in recent years.

“Now things are looking up. The UK government’s newly published White Paper sets out fresh plans to tackle the ‘unprecedented and accelerating water crisis’ and draws the dots between water and health, energy, climate adaptation and food.

“However, the UK government cannot provide global leadership through white papers alone, but instead through constructive financial and policy change to help deliver support for those on the front lines of the climate crisis. 

“We look forward to working with the FCDO on shaping it's cross-government global water strategy announced within the White Paper, as we help to build a future where everyone, everywhere has safe and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene.”

ENDS   

For more information, please contact:  

Emma Sutton-Smith on [email protected]. Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552, or email [email protected].  

Notes to Editors:  

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 27 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and 29 million people with decent toilets.  

For more information, visit our website wateraid.org/uk, follow us on Twitter @WaterAidUK, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress, or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.  

  • 703 million people in the world – almost one in ten – do not have clean water close to home[1]. 
  • 2.2 billion people in the world – more than one in four – do not have a decent toilet of their own[2]. 
  • Over 400,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes[3]. 
  • Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs[4]. 
  • [1] WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.  
  • [2] WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.  
  • [3] WaterAid calculations based on: Prüss-Ustün A, et al. (2019). Burden of Disease from Inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Selected Adverse Health Outcomes: An Updated Analysis with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. vol 222, no 5, pp 765-777. AND The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2020) Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.  
  • [4] WaterAid. (2021) Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery.

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