The Allen Almanac

I don’t understand the mindset of this country when we are willing to spend trillions on war in Iraq, but contribute almost nothing to help the poor of the world. I don’t know how much it would cost to provide everyone in the world with 20 liters of clean water a day, but it couldn’t have cost as much as this illegal war. And the benefits would be world changing. This Guardian article says that 1.1 billion people in the world do not have safe water. If we spent $1000 on each of them, we would still have spent less than this war is estimated to cost.

Nearly two million children a year die for want of clean water and proper sanitation while the world’s poor often pay more for their water than people in Britain or the US, according to a major new report.

The United Nations Development Programme, in its annual Human Development report, argues that 1.1 billion people do not have safe water and 2.6 billion suffer from inadequate sewerage. This is not because of water scarcity but poverty, inequality and government failure.

The report urges governments to guarantee that each person has at least 20 litres of clean water a day, regardless of wealth, location, gender or ethnicity. If water was free to the poor, it adds, it could trigger the next leap forward in human development.

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In the world’s worst slums, people often pay five to 10 times more than wealthy people in the same cities or in London. This is because they often have to buy water from standpipes and pay a middle man by the bucket. “The poorer you are, the more you pay,” says Mr Watkins.

Poor people also waste much time walking miles to collect small amounts of water. The report estimates that 40bn hours are spent collecting water each year in sub-Saharan Africa - an entire working year for all the people in France.