Efficient and better management of water resources is the key to provide a universal access to clean water and sanitation, according to professor Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of UNESCO Programme Office for Global Water Assessment.
The research carried out by the UN found that 2.1 billion people across the globe still lack access to safely managed drinking water while 4.5 billion people are still deprived of safely managed sanitation services.
The professor opined that the lack of access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services presents a global challenge to the civil engineers.
In his lecture delivered at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Uhlenbrook presented findings from the evidence-based review to establish the global baseline status of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 6, which focuses on the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.
Uhlenbrook revealed that all heads of UN member states have agreed that to achieve SDG6 it is necessary to implement integrated water resources management (IWRM), which would ensure that the water resources are shared effectively among many competing demands, including across country borders.
Currently, only 38% of countries across the globe have implemented medium-high IWRM in 2017/18.
Other countries have also suggested certain measures such as increasing water-use efficiency by reducing water losses by addressing leakages in municipal distribution networks, to achieve SDG 6.
ICE engineering knowledge director Nathan Baker said: “The ‘water goal’ is essential for progress on all other SDGs, with sustainable water management enabling social development, such as improving health and reducing poverty and promoting economic growth across many industries.
“Civil engineers are in a unique and privileged position to help achieve the UN SDGs and ICE is committed to doing all it can to help the engineering sector develop practical steps to tackle SDG 6.
“The time has come to turn words into action and ICE is facilitating the global debate on engineering solutions at a Global Engineering Congress in October this year.” Newsletter For all the latest pharmaceutical industry news, sign up for our regular updates.