Monday, June 08, 2009

Let Clean Waters Flow


Let clean waters flow to the 884 million people who do not have access to clean water.

Let clean waters flow to the 2.5 billion who live without adequate sanitation.

Let clean waters flow promised President Obama in his Inaugural Address. Senators Durbin and Corker introduced S. 624, The Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009. So you'd think with the backing of the POTUS and bipartisan authorship that the bill would sail through the senate.

[Insert favorite watery death scene here.]

Right now the bill has only five of the 20 cosponsors it needs to move forward. And every day that passes, an estimated 4,100 children will die from diarrheal diseases spread through poor sanitation and hygiene.

Please call or email your senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 624, the Water for the World Act.

Here's what One.org said about it in their email:
The Water for the World Act targets underdeveloped countries with focused initiatives to improve access to clean water and sanitation; fosters global cooperation on research and development; provides technical assistance and capacity-building; provides seed money for the deployment of clean water and sanitation technologies; and strengthens the human infrastructure at USAID and the State Department to implement clean water and sanitation programs.

This bill will help establish the capacity and momentum we need to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on increasing access to water and sanitation by 2015. If those MDG targets are met, the benefits will include a total annual economic return of $22 billion for Africa in saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs.
And most importantly, 203,000 fewer children will die in 2015 from lack of access to clean water and sanitation.

Let clean waters flow.

One.org has a petition you can sign. But really. Call or email your senators and ask them personally to please cosponsor S. 624, the Water for the World Act.


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