78.4 Clean Water for Every Human Settlement
Whereas, Many human settlements, particularly in under-developed countries, lack sewage disposal facilities and frequently the only water available is multi-purpose and contaminated by faecal matter;
Whereas, Such contaminated water:
- Provides a breeding ground for flies, fleas, mosquitoes and parasites which transmit typhoid, malaria, trachoma, etc.
- Is a major source of bacterial, viral and parasitic disease.
- Contributes to a high mortality rate, particularly amongst women, children and babies at birth through umbilical and puerperal infections.
- Causes diarrhoea, amoebic and bacillary dysentery and other digestive-tract ailments, which are dehumanizing, degrading and often fatal;
Whereas, Late 20th-century water pollution is a deterrent to effective public health and social measures in countless human habitats, in spite of the discovery in the late 19th century (by Semelweis, Pasteur and Lister) of the importance of antiseptics; and,
Whereas, Lack of financial resources, materials and technical assistance are major obstacles to the acquisition of clean water supplies—a situation requiring urgent solutions; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the National Council of Women of Canada to provide leadership for other nations by initiating the establishment and maintenance of a ‘Human Settlement Trust Fund’ for international development under the auspices of appropriate agencies within the United Nations system, with not less than three billion dollars spent over the next three years for the development of clean water supplies for every human settlement.