(MissionNewswire) Through a “Clean Water Initiative,” Salesian Missions has provided the funding for the construction of 10 water boreholes in communities in Nigeria.
As part of the second phase of the project, the construction of boreholes has begun at Salesian centers in the towns of Koko, Abuja and three others in the Benue State.
The new water supply will help ensure that poor youth, their families and Salesian missionaries living and working in the area have access to safe, clean water for drinking and cooking and for personal hygiene.
This project also ensures access to water for Salesian youth centers that are providing services for street children.
This reduces the number of waterborne illnesses that can affect those in our schools, keeping them away from important study time.” UN-Water estimates that worldwide 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and by 2050, the world’s population will have grown by an estimated 2 billion people pushing global water demand up to 30 percent higher than today.
Women and children often bear the primary responsibility for water collection in the majority of households and globally, spend 140 million hours a day collecting water.
According to UNICEF, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and the ninth most populous country in the world.
By UN estimates, Nigeria will be one of the countries responsible for most of the world’s total population increase by 2050.
While Nigeria has the second strongest economy in Africa, it also has extreme rates of poverty with 100 million people living on less than $1 a day.
Poverty still remains one of the most critical challenges facing the country and population growth rates have meant a steady increase in the number of people living in conditions of poverty.