Global water crisis

Global water crisis

Water is a prerequisite to all human activities. It is critical for sustainable development and social-economic development, as well as the survival of human beings. It serves as an essential link between the surroundings and the society. As the global population elevates, the need for water rises with the same magnitude, and thus the need to balance all the demands on water resources to ensure the societal needs are taken care of (Jury & Vaux Jr, 2007). For instance, women and girls require access to clean and safe water to manage menstruation and maternity safely and with dignity.

However, according to FAO, over eight hundred million people lack access to necessary drinking water representing a ratio of 1:10 globally. This means more than one person in every ten, requires access to basic cleaning water. Globally, women and girls spend more than two hundred million hours in search of water daily. For instance, in Africa, an average woman walks close to six kilometers in search of water to cater for their daily needs. Roughly ninety percent of all-natural disasters are water-related. Primarily, more than two billion people live with no dependable access to basic sanitation, while more than eight hundred children die every day due to poor water and sanitation (Jury & Vaux Jr, 2007).

Local and global actions to alleviate the water crisis

To solve the crisis locally, the communities are more involved. In Africa, for instance, communities are coming up with managed latrines to alleviate the sanitation problem. Additionally, bore-hole wells, rainwater harvesting, and spring water protection are being encouraged by the country’s government. Individual innovation targeted at solving the menace is being put forward as well (Tarlock & Wouters, 2010). For instance, in South Africa, a franchise, named Hippo Water Roller was developed to address the numerous cases faced by rural women across the continent to access clean drinking water.

Globally, world organizations are more involved in the issue more than ever. According to the United Nations, climate change, population growth, urban development, and farm production are some of the problems yielding the crisis. Therefore, the world community ought to be engaged if any progress will ever be made towards making access to clean and drinkable water a possibility. Some of the solutions put forward to address the issue globally, include: educating the member countries to change consumption as well as lifestyles, inventing new water conservation technologies, wastewater recycling, development of energy-efficient desalination plants, enhancing community-based governance and partnerships (Tarlock & Wouters, 2010).

Water crisis and culture

Various marginalized communities across the globe face injustices due to water scarcity yielding both economic and social pressures. In most cases, water issues exacerbate inequality for the marginalized communities. For instance, the role of fetching water for domestic use has been for women and girls. The exercise consumes a considerable amount of time. The result is, most of the girls are barred from going to school and hence lack of education. Poor communities are also affected (Shiva, 2008). In the event of a climate-related disaster, such a society is less likely to bounce bank. The wealth can dig into their pockets and purchase bottled water while low-income families are left with no option other than wait for rainfall and related aids for survival. Children are well effected. This is because, in the event of a drought, the food prices elevate. As a result, access to nutritious food is limited, affecting their growth.

Additionally, water scarcity leads to regional conflicts.  This is because a flesh water source is most likely shared between two or more communities/countries. United Nations denotes that water fetching is part of the gender inequality as women and girls are often tasked with the role, with the most affected areas being in the African continent.

Culture encompasses ways of life, lifestyles, beliefs, and traditions. Water and culture are intertwined essentials of human life (Bracken, 2002). To find solutions for water-related problems, cultural diversity, stakeholder involvement, and intercultural dialogue are essentials. Considering cultural context helps in mitigating risks of failure while increasing the potential for success. For instance, a community living adjacent to filthy and unhealthy water may have a belief about their ancestors that it’s clean. Additionally, the long-existing tradition of women and girls fetching water features buckets carried on their heads, implying their responsibility, which is an essential social event for women to communicate with others at the water sources (Pelser, 2001).

Technical concepts installed from one region to another without taking into account local beliefs, gender, traditions, and practices only serve to minimize the effectiveness of the concepts. Water awareness yields culture. For instance, there is associated sacredness of Indians rivers. Such perception creates a diverging meaning of water use in general (Pelser, 2001).

Addressing water crisis

Governmental institutions are making tremendous efforts towards addressing water scarcity. For instance, in 2014, United Nations member states signed a proposed sustainable development goal that incorporated water. The water goal involved water resources, sanitation, hygiene, water quality. Management and risks. In response, the governments have done the following: “setting and implementing water quality policy frameworks and standards,” policies to regulate the discharge of pollutants into the environment, wastewater management as well as recycling and reuse (Frederiksen, 2005).

Non-governmental organizations have been leading in the efforts to promote water and sanitation. They have heavily invested in Africa’s potential to reduce suffering and ensure food security. Various organizations, for instance, WASH, partnered with the United Nations to promote sanitation and hygiene as well as access to water through carrying out of the test in available resources. Additionally, the organizations have come up with technological innovations to help the locals mitigate the crisis. Several charitable organizations have been at the forefront to enhance the provision of clean water, especially in the African continent and other parts affected by the crisis (Frederiksen, 2005). The groups operate through individual and group donations. They invest in technology and a variety of methods to provide clean water.

Cultural perspectives are a way of looking at a situation or concept through one’s eyes’ existing environment and social effects. Generally, it is the impact the culture and society have on one’s view and perspective. In the present water crisis, cultural perspective affects the meaning of water scarcity in many communities. In other regions, the role of technology in the provision of clean water has been questioned over the years, especially in areas with low educational coverage. Policies put in place to address the problem receive diverging opinions, not taking into account the actual problem and the effects it has in general, not in one community, but across the globe (Pahl-Wostl et al., 2008). In Africa, for instance, communities focus on the function of water instead of its meaning. Some communities places emphasize on the need to protect a water body based on beliefs and cultural perspectives that their god dwells in the area.

Facts refer to what is known and proved to be true. It integrates information that can be used as evidence in a particular discussion. Concerning the water crisis, scarcity problems are there for everyone to see, including the communities with the diverging opinions shaped by their cultural perspectives. Water scarcity pinpoints a lack of access to clean drinkable water, while technological innovations are put in place to enhance water delivery and desalination of salty water to address the rising demand (Castro, 2007). Additionally, the role of women and girls in search of water in some communities serves to cripple their efforts towards achieving their education dream and thus becomes economically dependent. In similar perspectives, policies installed by the government are meant to enhance water usage.

Water crisis and culture

https://sswm.info/arctic-wash/module-1-introduction/further-resources-sustainability-relation-water-sanitation/water%2C-sanitation-and-culture