Asia

With 60 percent of the world’s population and some of the fastest growing economies, Asia is undergoing rapid changes. It is a continent of contrasts, where cutting edge technology meets rural customs and sprawling shanty towns spread out in the shadows of high rise megacities. Almost two billion of the continent’s inhabitants still live without sustainable access to water and sanitation, while large parts of the population reside in areas prone to cyclic flooding. The scale of the water challenges here is as large as the opportunity for progress. 


Facts:

• The urban population in Asia is expected to double between 2000 and 2030. (UNFPA, 2007)

• Progress in drinking water coverage has been greatest in East Asia, with an increase in coverage of improved drinking water sources from 68% in 1990 to 88% in 2006. (WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, 2008)

• Some 589 large dams were built in Asia from 1999 to 2001. (3rd UN World Water Development Report, 2009)

• Half of the 884 million people still relying on drinking water from unimproved sources such as ponds, streams, irrigation canals and unprotected dug wells, live in Asia. (WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, 2008)

• The urban poor across Asia are paying 20 to 40 times more for their water than what connected users pay. (Asian Development bank, 2006)

• Changes in the Earth’s climate will adversely affect the different regions of Asia in varying ways. In general, the impact of climate change will reduce crop yields by 2.5–10% by 2020, putting 132 million people at risk of extreme hunger by 2050. (Asian Development Bank, 2008)

• In many parts of Asia, floods are part of the normal weather cycle and affect millions of people on an annual basis. (Asian Development Bank, 2006)