Press Release
28 October 2008
Great stink, great disgrace
More than 1 billion people in developing countries still have no toilets and
900 million people no clean water, International Development Secretary Douglas
Alexander said today on the 150th anniversary of the Great Stink in London.
Douglas Alexander announced an increased effort to bring an end to the
sanitation crisis in developing countries by building toilets for more than 50
million people and providing clean water to more than 25 million people in the
developing world over the next five years. DFID will meet its commitment of £200
million to Africa by 2010 and maintain this until 2013.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:
"Sewage running through the streets of London and the stench from the River
Thames led to the closing of Parliament in 1858 – 150 years on this is still a
living reality for communities across Africa and Asia. Steps were taken to
transform the lives of Londoners at the time – now it is time for us to bring
about change globally and give that same access to the millions currently living
without toilets and clean water to wash and drink. It’s been a long enough wait.
"Water is the basis of all development – without it people can’t live, work or
learn. For a country like Sierra Leone, the funding I have announced today will
mean 1.5 million more people – almost one-third of the country’s population -
will have safe water and toilets, which will prevent the deaths of 15,000
children.
"Whilst in South Asia, this will mean helping 30 million more people get access
to basic sanitation - already we have seen an 11% increase in Bangladeshi girls
attending school where sanitation is available."
DFID’s strategy to give more people in developing countries clean water and
sanitation also sets out how the UK will help Africa and Asia better manage the
water resources they have to be more resilient in the face of climate change.
Countries helped by this policy include Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania,
Mozambique, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and
India.
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Notes to editors
1.
A
high resolution version of an image showing a London without proper water and
sanitation can be downloaded from here.
2. DFID has given £1 billion to help developing countries tackle water and sanitation
in the past five years (2001-06).
3. DFID will continue its £36 million commitment to UNICEF’s Sustainable Hygiene
Education and Water Supply Programme in Bangladesh, which aims to improve
sanitation for 30 million people between 2006/07 and 2010/2011.
4. The new commitments announced today will make DFID, on behalf of the UK
Government, one of the top three bilateral donors supporting water and sanitation in
sub-Saharan Africa
5. DFID works in over one hundred developing countries across the world. Our
water advisors based across Africa and Asia work with governments and local
communities to deliver essential services including access to clean water and
basic sanitation.
6. Nine hundred million people still lack access to safe drinking water and
approximately 2.5 billion still have no basic sanitation.
7. In 1858, sewage pollution in the Thames was so bad that the resulting Great
Stink of London prompted MPs to act. With the new sanitation system, disease was
reduced, health improved and lives were saved. However, 150 years on, 40% of the
world’s population live without basic sanitation and almost 900 million people
lack access to safe and reliable water.
8. A copy of DFID’s new water and sanitation policy paper is available here:
Water: An increasingly
precious resource, Sanitation: A matter of dignity
(1373kb).
For further information, contact Amy Wright on 020 7023 0600, e-mail
amy-wright@dfid.gov.uk or call our
Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100.
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