7th april, World Health Day 2024 - Access to safe drinking water is essential

The WHO estimates that every year around one million people die from diarrhoea due to unsafe drinking water and a lack of sanitation and hygiene. This number is also increased when water is hard to come by, because people decide that hand-washing is not a priority, which increases the risk of diarrhoea and other diseases.

By 2022, 6 billion people were using safely managed drinking water services, i.e. using improved water sources located at the point of use, available at all times and free from contamination.

Of the remaining 2.2 billion people :

• 1.5 billion people had access to basic services, i.e. an improved water source located within a 30-minute round trip; 292 million people had access to limited services, i.e. an improved water source more than a 30-minute round trip away;
• 296 million people used water from unprotected wells and springs;
• 115 million people collected untreated surface water from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.

Deep geographical, socio-cultural and economic inequalities persist, not only between rural and urban areas, but also in towns and cities, where people on low incomes and living in informal or illegal settlements generally have less access to improved water sources than other city dwellers. These inequalities are further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, of which water is the main victim.

(Source: WHO)

Throughout France, and particularly in the French Overseas Territories, people are exposed to the risk of contamination. In La Réunion, half the population cannot drink tap water because it is unfit for consumption. In Guadeloupe and Martinique, residents suffer regular water cuts, while chlordecone pollution threatens their health. In French Guiana, the presence of heavy metals in watercourses contaminates almost one child in five, causing serious neurological disorders. The proportion of people affected by lead poisoning is 60 times higher than in Metropolitan France.

Thanks to its 4 complementary areas of expertise, OiEau is helping to achieve SDG 6, which aims for universal and equitable access to drinking water, hygiene and sanitation by 2030.

With operations in more than 80 countries, OiEau is helping to put in place solutions that are adapted to the local context throughout the world, and in particular those that enable a territorial strategy of adaptation and resilience to climate change....

In terms of institutional and technical support, OiEau promotes the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which aims for economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability, essential to building a more peaceful future, conducive to the development of improved health conditions.

Good water management requires institutional and legislative frameworks to be put in place following participatory processes involving all stakeholders. By facilitating networks of stakeholders, from local to international level, OiEau ensures that the points of view of all users are taken into account. This is particularly important for transboundary water resources, which must be subject to fair arbitration. INBO, for which OiEau provides the permanent technical secretariat, brings together nearly 200 organisations responsible for water in 88 countries, and for 30 years has been promoting cross-border cooperation at the level of river, lake or aquifer basins.

Our training centre, with its educational facilities, is a unique place of learning in Europe, welcoming thousands of trainees every year. OiEau places the learning of professional skills at the heart of the skills development of its customers' teams, who are placed in real work situations. OiEau is keen to offer training adapted to developing countries or areas affected by conflict or disaster, for the creation or reconstruction of infrastructure for the production and distribution of drinking water and wastewater treatment.

OiEau carries out actions to raise awareness and disseminate knowledge, for example through newsletters, some of which are dedicated to Water Management and Safety Plans (PGSSE), or the provision of key figures on many aspects of water resources, particularly drinking water quality.

Good management of the resource means knowing it well. OiEau has developed an innovative approach to data, knowledge production and sharing, based on inter-institutional cooperation and capacity building, drawing on the existing procedures and systems of each partner, in a win-win situation.