U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

GLOBAL: West Africa among regions most threatened by sewage

ABIDJAN, 3 October (IRIN) - The coastal regions of West Africa are among the most threatened by land-based pollution such as untreated sewage discharge, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) reported on Thursday.

In a report detailing the global threat to coastal populations and the environment from untreated sewage discharges, UNEP called for wastewater emission targets, saying this would be a key step to cleaning up the seas.

The report says the South Asian seas face the highest risk of pollution resulting from 825 million people living without basic sanitation services. West and central African have 107 million and East Africa 19 million.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said: "Lack of adequate sanitation has been emerging as one of the biggest threats to human health. It is estimated that global economic burden due to ill-health, disease and death related to the pollution of coastal waters is running at US $16 billion a year".

According to Toepfer: "This study highlights the regions where our efforts are most urgently needed. One way of doing this is to set realistic but ambitious Wastewater Emission Targets, echoing those that have been developed in many parts of the world for emissions of toxic chemicals and noxious gases from power stations and factories."

The report was prepared by UNEP in response to a target on sanitation agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). It will assist the UNEP Regional Seas Programmes in taking appropriate action to contribute to achieving the WSSD-target, including halving by 2015, the number of people that have no access to basic sanitation services.

Titled: "Water Supply and Sanitation Coverage in UNEP Regional Seas - Need For Wastewater Emission Targets?", the report can be viewed at http://www.gpa.unep.org under the 'What's New' section.

[ENDS]

IRIN-WA
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: [email protected]
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: [email protected] or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002