Speech
7 February 2006
Water Forum, Royal Geographical Society, London
Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International Development
“Water: meeting our promises”
Image courtesy of Oxfam
On 7th February DFID's multi-stakeholder forum took place. The forum is an annual chance for Non Governmental Organisations, academics , private sector companies and others interested in water and development to present and discuss key issues on water and development. This year the Secretary of State made the key note speech on water.
In his speech Hilary Benn said
"At any given moment, half the population of developing countries are sick from unsafe water and sanitation, and nearly 6,000 children die every single day from diarrhoea as a result,
In fact if you are a child under the age of five in a developing country, you are just as likely to die from diarrhoeal disease as from malaria - two killers completely absent from our own societies.
Why does it matter? Because everyone here knows that women and girls walk huge distances - an average of 4 miles each day - to collect water for their families; often carrying 20 litres on their heads. Can you imaging doing this for yourself - the equivalent of carrying a 5 year old child on your head from here to the London Eye."
Related Links
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