The Mayor of Gicumbi District Bonane Nyangezi has said that 52% of 300, 071 residents in Gicumbi District, Northern Province have now access to clean and safe water.
The Mayor was speaking in an interview shortly after addressing residents on an occasion to officially open water points in Bwisigye sector, Gicumbi District and neighbouring sectors.
Six water points providing clean and safe water were built on donation of L’APPEL France’s arm in Rwanda in conjunction with Eglise Presbyteriene au Rwanda (EPR).
“Our target to have all residents get access to clean and safe water is within five years,” Nyangezi said.
Nyangezi also said there were a number of upcoming projects to make access to clean and safe water a reality and other approaches of gathering rain water for storage to be used in future.
Despite the hilly terrain there is still luck that there is a natural stream that provides water to the District and some residents still have to walk from 1 to 3 Kilometers to get access to clean and safe water.
Elisée Musemakweli the president of EPR said that the church has been involved with many developmental projects including getting access to clean and safe water across the country.
Musemakweli said that EPR church in Rwanda had previously completed similar water projects in Shyorongi and Karongi among other upcountry areas.
Rwanda is ambitious to reach the Millennium Development Goal target of providing 85% of its population with potable water by 2015.
It is estimated that current water coverage in Rwanda is at 75% up from about 55% in 2005.
Global facts on water
According to The Water Project.org globally 70% of water sources is for agriculture and irrigation, and only 10% on domestic uses.
The Water Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization bringing relief to communities around the world who suffer needlessly from a lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation.
And 84% of the people who don’t have access to improved water, live in rural areas, where they live principally through subsistence agriculture.
Less than one in three people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to a proper toilet.
Over half of the developing world’s primary schools do not have access to water and sanitation facilities. Without toilets, girls typically drop out of school at puberty.
While 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases. Girls under the age of 15 are twice as likely as boys their age to be the family member responsible for fetching water.
Almost two-thirds, 64% of households rely on women to get the family’s water when there is no water source in the home.
In developing countries, as much of 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.
Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease.
By investing in clean water alone, young children around the world can gain more than 413 million days of health!
Half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease.
Nearly a billion, 884 million people do not have access to clean and safe water. 37% of those people live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The average container for water collection in Africa, the jerry can weighs over 40 lbs when full.
The United Nations estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses 40 billion hours per year collecting water; that’s the same as a whole year’s worth of labor by the entire workforce in France!
Research has shown that for every 10% increase in women’s literacy, a country’s whole economy can grow by up to 0.3%.
According to the World Health Organization, for every $1 invested in water and sanitation, there is an economic return of between $3 and $34!
1 in 8 people world wide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water
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