Sustainable development and the right to clean and safe drinking water in Zambia
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Date
2013-11-29
Authors
Nachula, Victoria N.
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Abstract
Development is defined as the process that improves the well-being of the people in a given nation. There are several factors that are responsible for the improvement of people's wellbeing and these include: education, health, shelter, food and water. Water is critical to all sectors of the economy. It is used for, agriculture, energy, health, industry, transport and tourism, and it is also used for domestic purposes such as cooking, drinking and bathing.The quality of drinking water is a powerful determinant of health. Drinking contaminated water can result in contracting waterborne diseases, such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever and diarrhea, and this can eventually lead to deaths and huge public expenditure on medical care. Access to clean and safe drinking water positively contributes to sustainable development.Zambia has vast water resources with 45 percent of the total water resources of the southern African sub-region being found in Zambia. Water sources include: lakes, rivers, wells, streams, piped water and boreholes. Yet only 41 percent of the households in Zambia have access to improved sources of water.People in urban areas especially low density areas have access to adequate water supply than the people in peri-urban and rural areas. Therefore, the research recommends that government should make efforts to develop and implement projects that aim at providing access to clean and safe drinking water especially to the people in peri-urban and rural areas.Time and again it has been reported that people draw water from shallow wells even in areas where there are communal taps in an effort to try and avoid paying for the service. Therefore, it is recommended that people should be continually, sensitized on the importance of drinking clean and safe water as a means of preventing waterborne diseases, and its impact on sustainable development.
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Human rights- Zambia , Quality of life- Zambia , Zambia- Social conditions , Sustainable development- Zambia , Water quality- Zambia