GEF

Unit 4  |  The Global Water Crisis 96 deadly. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti provides a telling exam- ple, as over 7,000 people died from a severe cholera outbreak that followed in the months after the earthquake. Cholera is an ongoing problem in that island nation. This case and other natural disasters highlight the urgent need to improve water infrastructure in developing countries. The United Nations MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) were established at the Millennium Summit in 2000 to gauge progress in improving quality of life, health, economic viability, and equality for all global citizens by the year 2015. One target of the MDGs called for sharply reducing the number of people worldwide without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. It is encouraging that in some regions the drinking water portion of this goal was met. However, little was accom- plished regarding the sanitation portion, and areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa showed little to no progress at meeting any of the MDGs. In 2017, the UN created the Sustainable Development Goals, which build on the MDGs with an ambitious agenda to achieve by 2030. Goal #6 is Clean Water and Sanitation. Goal #6 targets include: ■■ Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and afford- able drinking water for all. ■■ Improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally. ■■ Increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity. ■■ Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs) A set of eight development goals outlined by the United Nations to increase global well-being and improve global health by 2015.