|
The World Health Organization was set up in 1948 with the objective of promoting "the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health"; health being defined in the WHO Constitution as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
This objective has led to a framework of
four strategic directions
which are strongly interrelated.
The unit within WHO that deals specifically with water and sanitation issues is the Water, Sanitation and Health Programme (WSH), within the Departement of "Protection of the Human Environment" (PHE).
|
. |
"Health is a fundamental right, still denied to more than one-fifth of humankind"
WHO
|
"…it is estimated that almost half of the developing world's people suffer from diseases associated with lack of safe water, adequate sanitation and hygiene. Actions to reverse these trends are eminently affordable and feasible. Yet funding remains unacceptably meagre, particularly for rural water supply and urban sanitation.
Children are at especially high risk for contracting diseases from unsafe water and sanitation facilities in their schools. Indeed, each year, millions of school-age children develop infections that trigger or aggravate malnutrition and anaemia while compromising their physical development and their ability to learn."
Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF
In a speech to the UNICEF Executive Board
16 September 2002 |
|
UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.
UNICEF programmes operate in over 161 countries, areas and territories on solutions to problems facing children and their families and on ways to realize their rights. Work is carried out in partnerships with governments, civil society organisations and communities to offer children the best possible start in life. This is done by helping to prevent childhood illness and death by providing health, nutrition and water and sanitation services; by making pregnancy and childbirth safe; and by cooperating with communities to ensure that education is available to all children, without discrimination.
Programmes focus on policies, legislation and programmatic support to protect children in vulnerable situations. Our work reaches out to those who have been traditionally unreached, including working children, children affected by emergencies and HIV/AIDS, and those with nomadic lifestyles.
The department within UNICEF that deals specifically with water and sanitation issues is the "Water, Environment and Sanitation" (WES).
|
