billion "In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women’s time is consumed for the most basic of human needs — collecting water for domestic use." http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/
collect Imagine waking up long before sunrise and then walking for more than two hours to the nearest river or borehole and then carrying a bucket full of water on your head all the way home!
carry Now imagine you are a woman or a young child and it is your responsibility to carry this heavy bucket of water every day of your life!
walk Sounds melodramatic? This is a reality for millions of women and children around the world who do not have access to fresh water on tap. Many millions of people worldwide, mostly women and children, are forced to walk long distances on a daily basis to collect their water requirements for the day.
facts Specific water facts on Africa from www.consultancyafrica.com:
- Two out of every five people in Africa do not have access to clean drinking water.
- This means that there are currently 461,215,160 people living on the African continent who are at risk of being affected by illnesses caused by dehydration and poor sanitation.
- The number of people who do not have access to clean water in Africa is equivalent to the total population of the United States (US) and Russia combined.
- The United Nations (UN) estimates that Sub Saharan Africa loses 40 billion hours each year in activities relating to fetching water, which is the same as a whole year’s worth of labour by the entire workforce in France.
- Similarly, the average weight of water that is daily carried on the heads of predominantly women is equal to the average traveller’s airport luggage allowance: 20 kilograms.
