Ensuring right to water during pandemics and beyond
It is the 10th anniversary of the recognition of human rights to water and sanitation and our approaches to ensuring water and sanitation during this pandemic should therefore be based on a rights regime and people should be provided with water that is safe. It should be supplied by adhering to the principles of affordability, equality and justice.
The COVID19 pandemic is getting worse by the day and has seriously exposed the lacunae in our water policies and service infrastructure. Inequalities in availability and distribution of freshwater are more starkly visible than ever before. This is because water is the first line of our defence against Coronavirus and many people simply lack the right to the resource and required facilities. Time, we fixed the gaps as fast as possible, as well as worked towards building a resilient and just water supply regime.
It is estimated that nearly 800 million people across the world do not have access to clean water close to their homes. The problem does not end there. Almost two billion people, that’s more than a quarter of the current global population, lack water service that is free from contamination.
Having access to water is not enough. People need to have sufficient and safe water to be able to live a healthy life. And when it comes to pandemics such as the current one, the requirement of water grows manifold.
Hand hygiene is considered to be the primary protection against Coronavirus and experts are advising people to wash their hands frequently, each time for at least 20 to 30 seconds with soap and running tap water.
Then, cleaning surfaces with water and disinfectants is also a major need to kill the virus. Handwashing with soap has always been recommended to effectively disrupt the transmission of respiratory diseases. Soap molecules disrupt SARS-CoV-2’s outer lipid membrane, thereby killing the microbe. Running water is recommended as it flushes away the viral fragments. It has been observed that locations around the globe, where people do not have the habit of washing their hands, have a much higher level of exposure to Coronavirus. On the other hand, people, who do not have access to water, cannot culture the habit of handwashing frequently. So, they remain highly vulnerable to the virus.
40 percent people of the world at high risk
According to a fact sheet shared by UNICEF, 3 billion people, that’s about 40 percent of the world’s population, do not have a handwshing facility with water and soap at home. When it comes to the least developed countries, nearly three quarters of the people lack basic handwashing facilities at home. More than half of the people in the world do not have safe sanitation facilities yet.
A just published study in Environmental Health Perspectives, however, has found out that in 2019, 2.02 billion people, that’s about 26.1 percent of the world population, lacked access to handwashing with available soap and water.
The most acute shortages were found in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In case of sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania, the study found out, more than 50 percent of the population were without access to handwashing in 2019.
According to this study conducted by Michael Brauer and others from the University of Washington, in 46 countries, more than half of the population lacked access, and in eight countries (India, Nigeria, China, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia) the respective population that were estimated to be without handwashing access was more than 50 million. In India alone, some 499 million people lacked access. That’s almost 36 percent of the total population. Even in wealthier countries some populations lack access to handwashing.
The urban problem
We often have the perception that urban areas are well off, because, water supply coverage is always comparatively better than the rural areas. Region-wise statistics available show how urban areas are also replete with gross inequalities.
Urban WASH inequalities in handwashing facilities
Sub-Saharan Africa: 258 million people, that’s 63 percent of the urban population, lack access to handwashing. It is estimated that 18 million urban South Africans, that’s 17 percent of the population, lack the facility at home. Compare that to the richest urban dwellers and they are 12 times more likely to have access to handwashing facilities.
Central and South Asia: 153 million people, that’s 22 percent of the urban population, lack access to handwashing. In case of Bangladesh, 29 million urban people, that’s nearly 50 percent of the total urban population, lack the facility. Coming to India, 91 million people, that’s about 20 percent of the total urban population, lack handwashing facilities at home.
East Asia: 41 million people, that’s 28 percent of the urban population, lack access to handwashing facilities at home. In Indonesia, 7 million urban people, that’s 15 percent of the total urban population, lack these facilities.
Source: UNICEF Fact Sheet, March 13, 2020
Our urban areas have contrastingly different characters than the rural areas. Risk factors of infections in pandemics grow higher in the urban slums as population density is too high and concentration of the people in habitation areas is too dense. Then there are more gatherings of different forms in the urban areas and the market going population is also high and more frequent compared to rural areas. Not having handwashing facilities at home and lack of awareness on hand hygiene and crowd behavioural etiquettes can have devastating impacts on the population.
Public handwashing and sanitation facilities are important to contain the spread of diseases and viruses such as Corona. However, the world is also lagging behind in providing adequate public facilities. Nearly half of healthcare facilities globally do not have basic handwashing facilities, while 47 percent of schools in developing countries lack handwashing facilities with soap and clean water.
Right to water
The deadly Coronavirus has crippled human societies, shunted economic growth and pushed billions of people to poverty and food insecurity. Even though safe water is a human right, many facilities worldwide are charging money to supply water to people, including the poor, in the name of meeting operation and maintenance cost. This pandemic has not only made the existing facilities crumble but also has given us an opportunity to look at our policies and practices afresh.
Pandemics make poor poorer and their affordability reduces drastically, sometimes vanishes completely with little chance to recover in near future. We have seen how the migrant workers in India have faced an erosion of income and gone through innumerable sufferings.
Right to water for everyone is important, not only the rich and other people who can afford safe water. While making water access at doorstep in a time bound manner is a mandatory requirement, factoring in climate change (that has already induced water scarcity and is going to have much devastating impact in future) in our water supply planning is also essential.
The world is fighting COVID19 along with many disasters at a time. Disasters aggravate water quality and quantity challenges. Especially in water scarcity regions, when such pandemics occur, the access further eludes the people. Making people pay for water in such cases would harm them to a great extent. Our approaches to ensuring water should therefore be based on a rights regime and people should be provided with water that is safe. It should be supplied by adhering to the principles of affordability, equality and justice. Water supply systems and infrastructure must also guarantee measures to ensure sustainability of the resources by adhering to principles and measures of ecosystem restoration.
This article was originally published in Urban Update and has been republished with author’s permission
