HORIZON INTERNATIONAL SOLUTIONS SITE

Investing 0.16 per cent of global GDP in the water sector could reduce water scarcity and halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in less than four years, according to United Nations research released on August 25, 2011.

Global leaders convening at the opening session of the 2011 World Water Week in Stockholm called for increased investments in disaster-resilient infrastructure and smarter water management to avoid droughts, floods and pollution from further threatening the food, energy, and water security in a rapidly urbanizing world.

According to a new report released today by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) at the World Bank, African countries that transition to taking a leadership role in safe water and sanitation service delivery to the millions of people without access have an unprecedented opportunity to drastically reduce these numbers by 2015.

In a bid to improve the health and well-being of millions of people worldwide, the United Nations on 21 June 2011 launched a major push to accelerate progress towards the goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of the population without access to basic sanitation.