Sustainable and Development Goals (SDGs) was declared by United Nation (UN) in 2015. The SDGs aimed to facilitate clean water and sanitation, biodiversity protection, poverty alleviation, and peace generation and prosperity by 2030. The 193 member states agreed that the SDGs formulated are achieved to their national interests (Ibrahim and Osman, 2020). The member states also focused on gender balance by empowering women. However, clean water and sanitation have remained the most significant challenge affecting most parts of the world, especially the developing and third world nations. Most of these countries are still struggling to facilitate clean water. Therefore this article describes how this matter is affecting these nations. And also describes specifically where the challenge occurs, why it happens, and the consequence of the challenge. Besides, the paper will describe the solution to the problem how innovative and attractive the probable explanation will contribute to the entrepreneurial success or failure. The main goal for clean water and sanitation sustainable development (SDG #6) is the facilitation and access of clean water sources everywhere. Access to clean water and sanitation is a human right, yet billions of individuals globally face the challenge of accessing essential water services. Generally, approximately 1.8 billion individuals worldwide use water sources contaminated by fecal matter (GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, 2022)r. Around 2.4 billion persons have poor access to essential services like restrooms. The scarcity of clean water affects almost 40% of the global population, yet the population is projected to rise (GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, 2022). Nearly 80% of the water discharge in rivers is usually untreated, thus leading to water pollution.
To begin with, the challenges existing in clean water and sanitation (SDG #6), the developing and third world countries are the victims of this issue (Ibrahim and Osman, 2020). For instance, Governance is one of the major problems affecting these affected nations to achieve this SDG #6 (Herrera, 2019). Since they have internal problems and weal governance structures in their administration, due to poor Governance, these nations cannot facilitate institutional rules, political balance, proper decision making and implementation, and good water governance as a whole.
The other cause leading to the existence of inadequate clean water and sanitation is financial issues (Herrera, 2019). Financial resources are required to facilitate the success of the water development projects. Therefore, immense financial stability is needed to sustain clean water and sanitation. However, the developing and underdeveloped countries have poor and lack enough financial resources to facilitate the water and sanitation projects. In addition, the developing countries are not investing in clean water and sanitation projects.
Capacity building is one of the excellent Governance that drives the success of clean water and sanitation in developed countries. However, the developing and third world countries have poor capacity and weaker implementations of capacity buildings, especially in Africa like the sub-Saharan countries Asian continent (Ibrahim and Osman, 2020). These countries have shortages in basic needs like recycling, risks associated with water, water sanitation, agriculture, clean water, and other water wastages (Ibrahim and Osman, 2020). For many years, these countries have been facing these challenges.
Therefore, the causes mentioned above leading to unsustainable clean water and sanitation facilitation have led to several consequences for the affected areas. Firstly, there is water pollution. According to the United Nations (2019), in parts of the Asia Pacific rural regions, water pollution has worsened the situation since 1990 in several rivers. Up to date, they are still facing the challenges of accessing clean water for consumption. In 2015, some of the landlocked countries had difficulties accessing clean water. In addition, almost 1.5 billion people are still suffering from access to clean water and sanitation, especially in rural areas. Due to the water pollution, there has been an emergence of hazardous chemicals and severe pathogens in some parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other rural areas (United Nations, 2019). Women and children are the most affected people in these affected areas. Additionally, GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation (2022) reported that clean water hygiene-related diseases had remained one of the major causes of high mortality rates in infants below five years of age. Furthermore, GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation (2022) reports that more than 800 infants die daily from related diarrheal diseases due to the consumption of dirty water.
Inadequate clean water and sanitation supply have led to the withdrawal of the unstainable proportion of freshwater pools in the world (United Nations, 2019), which has led to the surpassing half of the water accessibility. There has also been an increase in demand for irrigation from the groundwater, which has led to severe stress in those areas. Therefore, this has also affected the agricultural sector to produce adequate food in those places, leading to the challenge of food security. Food insecurity leads to poor people’s living standards in those affected regions.
Additionally, According to Asian Development Bank (2017) report, the consequence of inadequate clean water and sanitation supply is a financial burden. The underdeveloped nations find it challenging to finance clean water and sanitation to reach the target 6.1 on widespread access before 2030. For example, Asian Development Bank (2017) reported that Asia and the Pacific regions needed a minimum investment of $800 billion from 2016 to 2030. And in addition, they required an average annual fund of $53 billion for the climate-adjusted investment.
Lastly, climate change is climate change’s insufficient facilitation of clean water and sanitation (United Nations, 2019). Due to inadequate water production, it has threatened the incidences of flooding to destroy water sources and the contamination of those water sources. In some regions, people face drought due to water scarcity leading to negative impacts on production and health. Contaminated water sources are the source of pathogens that causes disease attack on people. In addition, drought affects the production of crops and animals since the crops and animals will die because they need water for survival.
Therefore, Due to the existing challenge of facilitation of clean water and sanitation in the affected regions in different parts of the world, there are suggested innovative and feasible solutions that can initiate entrepreneurial success or failure. Firstly, Increase the access to safe water for all. It can be achieved by a strategy known as “leave no one behind” (United Nations, 2018). This will need to improve on the attention of the disadvantaged individuals to monitor alleviation of poor quality use of water sources. The groups have to be formed in rural and urban areas to identify the affected persons quickly. Additionally, the government and other non-governmental agencies have to cheap in and help those affected people access clean and safe water services cheaply and without barriers.
Secondly, there should be an improvement in access to the universal adequate and balance of proper hygiene. For instance, since the key to sanitation services like defection, the government has to ensure that everyone has access to toilets and safety management systems to reduce the problem of water pollution. A considerable investment is needed, especially in the fast-developing urban regions, even though the solutions will differ based on the relative significance of sewerage systems and site sanitation networks. To reinforce the efforts of the relevant authorities to regulate and manage sanitation techniques will be taken as one of the high considerations, comprising the consolidation of information management networks, particularly in the developing and third world countries.
In addition, collection, treatment, and reusing wastewater from industries and farms will effectively lower the rate of polluting water and thus improve the quality of water since most of the parts in the world do not have access to clean water because of water pollution both from the lowly earning and highly earning nations. Even though the challenge of safe water is facing the developing countries, water treatment in all places will reduce the challenge since the developed countries will spend less to access clean water. Therefore, they can support those facing the challenge either financially or supply that clean water to them. Additionally, tackling water pollution by treating wasted water will aid in protecting the environment and public health, thus mitigating the high expenditure on the negative effect of pollution and intensifying the availability of clean water points.
Furthermore, there should be an implementation of cohesive water resource management. The strategy is effective if it is put into practice to ensure comprehensive control in the cooperation of the shared water resources. There has been an emergence of conflicts in the alliance, leading to weak leadership for operations in the water sector. The operation agreement has to be diverse based on the customary law. There should be utilitarian and executive agendas, a proper financial plan, sufficient data availability, and human and technical ability.
Therefore, the above-mentioned probable solutions have to be reinforced by several essential elements to meet the targets set. To start with Governance, this is one of the fundamental pillars that help to ensure that the goals set are implemented and are working effectively. Proper Governance provides effectual administrative and institutional rules, operations, decision making, and politics to facilitate cohesive management in the clean water sector. Besides, good Governance involves proper policy formulation and implementation, capacity building, monitoring and regulation of water management policies, financial management, information acquisition, monitoring, and good coordination. Openness and transparency build trust, which helps to initiate good relations. Good Governance also helps to eliminate the issue of inequalities. If there is equal distribution of clean, sufficient, and affordable water, it will guarantee the facilitation of safe water and sanitation that will enhance prosperity and eliminate poverty.
Secondly, financial resources are needed to maintain and improve the acquisition of clean water sources and sanitation. More funds are required to effectively use the existing resources to create more opportunities to make more remarkable progress. World Bank can cheap in to finance the water sector to maintain, monitor, support, and strengthen the human water resources. Some of the financial projects that can improve access to sufficient clean water sources are the building of dams, water taps, boreholes, wells, and other artificial water sources.
Additionally, strong capacity building is needed to underpin proper water governance. Lack of capacity coerces water point development and management in all surfaces, especially in some parts of Asia Sub-Saharan countries. Therefore, the nations have to strategize capacity building by increasing the vocation skills of both long and shorter periods.
Lastly, there should be a productive data acquisition to initiate good Governance in the water sector and sanitation. This element is vital for transparency, accountability, and participation among the key stakeholders in the water sector. This will help facilitate proper management for the facilitation of clean water and sanitation.
In conclusion, SDG #6 is aimed to facilitate access to clean water sources everywhere. Additionally, the UN sought to reduce clean water and sanitation, biodiversity protection, poverty alleviation, and peace generation and prosperity by 2030. However, there are still challenges that limit most of the parts of the world that restrict them from accessing clean water and sanitation. This is due to some causes like poor Governance, lack of capacity building, and financial shortages. Then the challenge ends up mainly affecting the mothers and children, leading to a low level of living standards. Therefore, there has been a suggestion of probable and cohesive strategies like an initiation of proper Governance, capacity building, and financial support that will help mitigate the challenge of acquiring clean water and sanitation.
References
Ibrahim, shomali & Osman, Gulseven. (2020). A Note on SDG 6 -Clean Water and Sanitation for All. 10.13140/RG.2.2.16461.38881.
Herrera, V. (2019). Reconciling global aspirations and local realities: Challenges facing the Sustainable Development Goals for water and sanitation. World Development, 118, 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.02.009
United Nations (2018). Sustainable Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation. New York. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/19901SDG6_SR2018_web_3.pdf.
GOAL 6: Clean water and sanitation. (2022, March). UNEP – UN Environment Programme. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-6.
Asian Development Bank (2017), Asia Infrastructure Needs Exceed $1.7 Trillion Per Year, Double Previous Estimates, available from https://www.adb.org/news/asia-infrastructure-needs-exceed-17-trillion-yeardouble-previous-estimates.
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