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A United Nations (UN) human rights expert has said that the extreme drought in Botswana presents the country with an opportunity to develop a strategy for providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
The landlocked African country has been going through one of the worst droughts in its history with a significant part of the population facing a severe water shortage.
But Léo Heller, the UN special rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, said it should be seen as a chance to prevent illnesses and death in the longer term.
“The current drought,” Heller said, “should not be considered as a sporadic event, but rather as a driver for acquiring water security as a national priority.
“A strategic and participatory process, oriented to the provision of water and sanitation for all, will be a short-cut to prevent illnesses and deaths related to water-borne diseases and economic losses.
“As water stress in Botswana is predicted to get higher and higher due to the impact of climate change and increasing water demand, the government must establish measures in order to prevent severe environmental situations from translating into water shortage, affecting people’s standard of living.”
Mr Heller said he “found an alarming level of highly precarious water supply in these villages – in some cases with no public provision at all” and in some cases with the bush as the only solution to most of the people’s “physiological needs”.
“The government of Botswana is at a critical moment to translate its commitment to prioritise access to sanitation and safe drinking water for personal and domestic uses into full implementation. I am confident that the government, which is making progress in this regard, has the capacity to make the human rights to water and sanitation a reality for everyone in the country.”
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