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STORY: WHO / SANITATION DRINKING WATER REPORT
TRT: 4:08
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 13 DECEMBER 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
13 DECEMBER 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Med shot, Bruce Gordon speaking
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Gordon, Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO:
“So with this report, we've tracked the efforts of countries to actually progress on water, sanitation and hygiene. We know the situation is terrible. We know billions of people are without access to even these basic, you know, kind of services. When we look at the targets that the countries themselves have made with their own resources and through their own policies, we find, you know, troubling kind of trajectory to not making those targets. So when we look at sanitation, 25 percent of countries only are on track to meet their own defined targets of countries in the same situation with drinking water, 45 percent.”
3. Med shot, Gordon speaking
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Gordon, Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO:
“If we do find progress, we find when we look at some trend data, we find that government spending has increased. So there, despite COVID and despite it being a financially difficult time around the world, there has been a 5 percent increase in public expenditure. So that's a good news story. We're also seeing more countries with costed plans, so they're taking more steps to, you know, have a kind of accurate and quantitative approach to to solving the problem.”
5. Med shot, filming crew
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Gordon, Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO:
“In our analysis, we've found a number of enabling factors that countries have taken and that kind of are the hallmarks of countries that have done well. And one of these is simply spending, having the systems in place and the human resources in place to spend the funds that are actually committed by a finance ministry, for example. Another is to make sure we get cost recovery of operations and maintenance through tariffs and have good regulatory functions. So these are simple, kind of enabling environment type functions that almost any country could do and should do. And we think this is, you know, something that can be done right away.”
APRIL 2022, DARFUR, SUDAN
7. Various shots, water cans in Abu Shouk IDP Camp El Fasher
13 DECEMBER 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Gordon, Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO:
“We know from this report and other reports that it's disproportionately felt in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and within countries that are great disparities in looking at an issue like kind of access to small water supplies as both a developed and developing country issue.”
AUGUST 2020, KIGALI, RWANDA
9. Various shots, water station
10. Med shot, people washing hands
13 DECEMBER 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Gordon, Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO:
“So there is very much a situation where there's marginalized people feeling the impacts the worst. And that was, of course, highlighted in COVID, the whole COVID time where we saw hand hygiene is a major, major issue where, you know, there's lack of hand hygiene around the world prevented people from taking a basic health protection measure.”
JULY 2020, PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN
12. Various shots, water testing
13. Close up, WHO staff
13 DECEMBER 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Gordon, Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO:
“Part of its financing. But part of it is acknowledging that WASH, water, sanitation, hygiene is dependent on systems. So it's depended on good regulation, is dependent on good governance and policies, strong institutions. There's no shortcut. There's no silver bullet. And all these things kind of have to happen progressively for there to be a difference to be made. In March of 2023, the world's coming together for the first time in 50 years to discuss how to accelerate progress. And so we don't think there is a more opportune time than now for countries to recommit to these targets and to ensure their infrastructure and plans are climate resilient and to, to really try to save some lives.”
15. Med shot, filming crew
Urgent action is needed globally and locally to achieve safe and sustainably managed water, sanitation and hygiene for all in order to prevent devastating impacts on the health of millions of people, a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2022 report compiles new data on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) from 121 countries and territories and 23 external support agencies.
Commenting the finding of the report, a Head of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit, WHO, Bruce Gordon, said, “with this report, we've tracked the efforts of countries to actually progress on water, sanitation and hygiene.”
Gordon named the situation “terrible”. He explained, “we know billions of people are without access to even these basic, you know, kind of services.”
The WHO representative said, “when we look at the targets that the countries themselves have made with their own resources and through their own policies, we find, you know, troubling kind of trajectory to not making those targets.”
Gordon continued, “when we look at sanitation, 25 percent of countries only are on track to meet their own defined targets of countries in the same situation with drinking water, 45 percent.”
According to GLASS report, while there has been an increase in WASH budgets in some countries, over 75 percent of countries reported insufficient funding to implement their WASH plans and strategies.
Gordon mentioned, “if we do find progress, we find when we look at some trend data, we find that government spending has increased. So there, despite COVID and despite it being a financially difficult time around the world, there has been a 5 percent increase in public expenditure. So that's a good news story.”
The WHO representative said, “we know from this report and other reports that it's disproportionately felt in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and within countries that are great disparities in looking at an issue like kind of access to small water supplies as both a developed and developing country issue.”
Gordon also urged, “there is very much a situation where there's marginalized people feeling the impacts the worst. And that was, of course, highlighted in COVID, the whole COVID time where we saw hand hygiene is a major, major issue where, you know, there's lack of hand hygiene around the world prevented people from taking a basic health protection measure.”
Gordon reminded that in March 2023 the global community is coming together for the first time in 50 years to discuss how to accelerate progress, “and so we don't think there is a more opportune time than now for countries to recommit to these targets and to ensure their infrastructure and plans are climate resilient and to, to really try to save some lives.”
