Human
Development

Freedom to realize our potential

Human development is about what people can do and what they can become. It is also about the freedom they have to exercise real choices intheir lives. Water security is an integra part of human development. Water security ensures that every person has reliable access to enough safe water at an affordable price, to lead a healthy, dignified and productive life.

Aiming For A Better World

Human development and human security are about much more than economic growth. Human development lays the groundwork for a better world: a world without poverty, where education and good health can be enjoyed by all.

Clean water and sanitation are closely tied to human development. The second biggest killer of children worldwide is the combination of dirty water and lack of sanitation. They kill 4900 children each day. Universal access to even the most basic water and sanitation facilities would save health systems in developing countries about 1.6 billion

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US dollars each year. When children walk long distances to fetch water or when they get sick because they drink unclean water, they miss school and seriously harm their education. Poor education and health cripple their ability to work, and they sink into a vicious cycle of nearly inescapable poverty.

Fortunately, huge improvements are possible. The Human Development Report’s Global Plan calculates that we need 10 billion US dollars annually to meet the Millennium Development Goals and drastically improve access to clean water and sanitation all over the world. Although 10 billion dollars may seem a lot, the governments of the world spend that amount on military hardware every eight days! Imagine the implications if we used a tiny percentage of military spending to provide sanitation and clean water for all.

Consider this too: in ruralWest Bengal, India, huge advances in sanitation, health, and community development have been achieved at incredibly low cost.

With a small loan, community members constructed latrines in more than six villages. The money ­ 30 US dollars per latrine ­ was loaned for one year without interest and helped the villagers both build the latrines and start family businesses. Before the latrines were built, villagers relieved themselves in open fields: a situation lacking hygiene, safety, and privacy.