Access to safe drinking water is essential to get out of poverty, says Swedish investigator

Access to drinking water is an important ally of the citizens living in extreme poverty â€" mainly women and children â€" and allows them to climb a rung on the ladder of social class. This rise can be done directly â€" easy access to clean drinking water could mean a child attending school â€" and not pick up buckets of water several miles away; and indirect: go to school is the only chance a child has to change their own social situation through education.

These two ideas were developed today in Lisbon by Hans Rosling, the doctor, researcher and statistician Swede who was co-founder and President of Gapminder Foundation and who were given honors to inaugurate the world water Congress.

This time, Rosling didn't swallow a sword, as in this celebrated TED Conference, but the good mood and the vein of entertainer were present, especially when your statistics entered into play â€" and there were many.

Hans Rosling follow Twitter.

Second Rosling, the drinking water â€" and the easy access to it â€" is one of the most important issues of the countries affected by extreme poverty. And gave the example of the family who, for not having direct access to drinking water, must "oblige" two of her sons to pick her up to several miles away. If this situation happens, they won't be able to attend school and lose some of the few chances they have to improve their social situation.

Rosling even gave an example: with a single innovative solution â€" a wheelbarrow financed by World Bank's microcredit, for example-, any family can put an adult, alone, to fetch water, allowing their children to attend classes.

The solution may seem as simple as basic, but the truth is that this is the African reality â€" and Rosling knows her well, once lived many years in Africa, including, between 1979 and 1981, in Nacala, Mozambique.

In school, these children can learn to defend their rights, learn more about their own health and well-being, development of basic infrastructures and agricultural technologies, and discover ways to get credit or microfinance.

Second Rosling, the revolution of water in countries affected by extreme poverty will also benefit women. When we are talking about this social reality, the most important is to reduce child labour and women â€" men will go on to have pride in the fact that their children study, and not on the amount of children they have.

On the other hand, there are issues indirectly related to this phenomenon and that are holding back the economic and social development of these people. The spinal injury are very frequent in women who carry water every day; others, who do not have the bathroom at home, are sexually attacked in public restrooms.

Asian and African Boom

At the beginning of the Conference, Rosling split the planet in four locations: America, Africa, Asia and Europe. If each billion people represent a single, America has today a person â€" as well as Africa and Europe-, against four in Asia. These figures will evolve in the near future: in 2050, Africa and Asia will gain a second inhabitant; and in 2010, Africa will feature four inhabitants â€" the equivalent of four billion inhabitants. "About 80% of the global population will live in Asia or Africa in 2100", warned the Swedish investigator.

Second Rosling, a since has passed unnoticed to the public is the stagnation in the number of children worldwide. "The number of children stopped growing in the world â€" is the biggest event that ever go unnoticed to the media: Asia and Africa are decreasing in the number of children per woman," continued.

Today, more and more families from developing countries decide how many children they want to have through the well-being that they may provide. This is where the importance of water in economic and social development. Six out of every seven billion people in the world today has access to good water. "Less than one billion people still have no access to good water, but the problem today is related to the quality of water â€" contamination, toxic problems," explained Rosling.

For that education allows new parents have a new vision of family planning, the water is fundamental. "We have to get good water to these billion people â€" and improve the quality of the water. But congratulations to your sector, you're doing an extraordinary job, "praised.

However, there is a question that leaves Rosling intrigued: there are more people with access to cell phones than with access to drinking water and sanitation â€" a reality especially visible in India, home to 1.3 billion people. And what is the solution of Rosling? "We have to invent the digital bathroom â€" the engineers managed to take the cellphone to various points on the planet, why not do the same with sanitation?".

At the end of the Conference, and after other speakers have already answered several questions, Rosling ended with a question that was hovering at the head of the lecturers at the end of the morning: "you know what nobody talked about here today? Of climate change. We need to act quickly on the issues of water and sanitation, due to climate change. Don't forget this: the climate will change ". But there was no time for more.

Foto: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade / Creative Commons

Green Savers will have a news crew at the world water Congress. Follow us daily at www.greensavers.sapo.pt, on Facebook or Twitter.

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