March, 25 2009, 10:56am EDT
Dear Secretary Clinton: 'Women of the World Need Safe Water'
WASHINGTON
In an unprecedented letter of concern to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, prominent women have urged enhanced U.S. leadership to reduce the burden on women from inadequate drinking water and sanitation in developing countries. The Secretary of State received the letter between International Women's Day (March 8) and World Water Day (March 22) to emphasize this critical linkage.
It is the first time that women in America have come together from such diverse fields - non-governmental, corporate, philanthropic, environmental and entertainment - to advocate the global importance of safe water and sanitation from a women's perspective.
In their letter, the women leaders urged Secretary Clinton to take five actions that would make this issue a higher priority in U.S. foreign policy:
* appoint high-level advocates for water in the U.S. State Department and USAID
* commit U.S. leadership on the world stage
* significantly increase funding
* complete the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act Strategy
* hire qualified field staff
The prominent women leaders characterized the global lack of water and sanitation as an urgent, but solvable, development challenge. Nearly one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people do not have a safe place to dispose their excreta or a place to wash their hands. Women and their children bear the most severe burden from this crisis.
"If safe drinking water were accessible," says the letter, "women would not waste 40 billion hours annually fetching water from distant and contaminated sources. Only with safe water will women and their families have a chance to live without debilitating water-borne diseases (such as cholera, typhoid, and amoebic dysentery). Only then will they free their time to engage in income-generating activities, education, and caring for their families."
Sanitation, a typically ignored women's issue, is central to the women's message. The letter points out that "latrines enhance girls' attendance at school (especially once at the age of menstruation). They would provide dignity to the one billion women who otherwise defecate in the open, and reduce direct exposure to disease-causing pathogens."
Proven techniques and technologies are readily available to provide access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Experienced developmental organizations stand ready to increase their work with the U.S. government around the world. The letter also calls upon Secretary Clinton to encourage public-private partnerships to solve this global crisis and improve the condition of women and children worldwide.
"It is often forgotten how important water is to women's lives," emphasized Andra Tamburro of the non-profit organization, Water Advocates. "Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is an essential step to empowering women."
The signers include the following:
Harriet Babbitt
Vice Chair of the Global Water Challenge; Former Deputy Administrator, USAID
Kathy Baczko
Carol Bellamy
President & CEO, World Learning
Frances Beinecke
President, NRDC
Katryn Bowe
Water Advocates
Sally Cowal
Senior Vice President and Chief Liaison Officer, PSI
Patricia Dandonoli
CEO of WaterAid America
Monica D. Ellis
President & CEO, Global Environment & Technology Foundation
Helene Gayle
President & CEO of CARE
Molly F. Greene
Founder, Chief Philanthropy Officer
Water Missions International
Sherri Goodman
Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security)
Patricia Hall
President & Founder, H2O for Life
Ashley Judd
Nicole Lee
Executive Director, TransAfrica Forum, Inc.
Lee Lysne
Executive Director, Kind World Foundation
Tanvi Nagpal
Director, Water and Sanitation Initiatives, Global Water Challenge
Melanie Nakagawa
Attorney, International Program, NRDC
Michaela Oldfield
Water Advocates
Rachel Posner
Assistant Director, Global Water Futures Project
Jeannine B. Scott
Senior Vice President, Africare
Jane Seymour
Willa Shalit
Founder & CEO, Fair Winds Trading, Inc.
Mrs. Paul Simon
Andra Tamburro
Water Advocates
Christine Todd Whitman
President, The Whitman Strategy Group; Former Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency
Water Advocates is the first US-based nonprofit organization dedicated solely to increasing American support for worldwide access to safe, affordable and sustainable supplies of drinking water and adequate sanitation.
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