Three-quarters of Somali families found lacking water as drought looms
Nairobi, Kenya/Garowe, SomaliaThomson Reuters Foundation Nearly three-quarters of Somali families lack safe drinking water as drought looms across the country and depletes wells, raising the risk of hunger as crops fail and livestock dies, UK-based charity Save the Children said on Monday. Climate change is taking a heavy toll across eastern Africa, and increasingly erratic […]
Postcards: Sweet relief – Karachi public toilets aim to boost privy parity
As the world marked World Toilet Day on 19th November, ZOFEEN T EBRAHIM, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how a new project in Karachi is creating the country’s first privately managed public toilets made out of old shipping containers…
In a thirsty world, information gaps dog a push to tap groundwater
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation As growing populations and accelerating climate change worsen water scarcity around the world, pumping more from underground could help fill the gap in poorer nations – but only if supplies are better charted and they are used wisely, researchers said. “It’s a resource with a huge amount of potential,” said Jude Cobbing, who […]
Ethiopian photographer spotlights impact of water scarcity on women
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation A collection of striking photographs set in the arid landscapes of northern Ethiopia aims to spotlight the harsh reality of water scarcity and how it impacts the lives of women across Africa, said artist Aida Muluneh. Muluneh’s Water Life series – depicting turbaned, painted women in robes of primary colours of […]
Soap and superbugs: two billion people lack water at health facilities, says UN
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation A quarter of the world’s health facilities lack basic water services, impacting two billion people, the United Nations said on Wednesday, warning that unhygienic conditions could fuel the global rise of deadly superbugs. In the poorest countries, about half of facilities do not have basic water services – meaning water delivered by […]
Poor people’s right to water cut off by thirsty exports, unequal supply
Thomson Reuters Foundation Yogita has to fetch water up to six times a day – sometimes going out in the middle of the night – from a hand pump about half a kilometre from her house in India’s Madhya Pradesh state, leaving her baby son with a neighbour. In the summer, her husband cycles three […]
Lack of school toilets puts 620 million children in danger – report
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation A lack of proper school toilets threatens the health, education and safety of at least 620 million children around the world, the charity WaterAid said in a new study published on Friday. Children at one in three schools lack access to proper toilets, putting them at risk of diarrhea and other infections […]
Half the world’s schools lack clean water, toilets and handwashing
Thomson Reuters Foundation Nearly half the world’s schools lack clean drinking water, toilets and handwashing facilities, putting millions of children at risk of disease, experts warned on Monday. Almost 900 million children have to contend with a lack of basic hygiene facilities during their education, putting their health at risk and meaning some have to […]
Clean water for all is still centuries away, aid group warns
Thomson Reuters Foundation Supplying clean water and toilets for all could take hundreds of years in countries like Eritrea and Namibia unless governments step up funding to tackle the problem and its harmful effects on health, an international development agency warned on Monday. WaterAid – which says nearly 850 million people lack clean water – […]
Forced to walk miles, India water crisis hits rural women hardest
Thomson Reuters Foundation Women in villages who have to walk miles each day to fetch water are bearing the brunt of India’s worst water crisis in history, with activists warning of serious impacts on their health and well-being. About 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate access to safe water, and 600 million face […]