Access to water is a basic human right

Today more than 25% of the world’s population has no access to safe drinking water. Each year, over 8 million people in the world, half of whom are children, die from causes associated with drinking impotable water, such as typhoid, malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhoea. Universal access to drinking water and water treatment services is vital for human life. 

Access to water is a fundamental human right 

Confronted with this situation, 189 members of the United Nations adopted the “Millennium Development Goals” declaration in September 2000. One of its goals is to reduce by half the percentage of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and water treatment systems by 2015. For many years, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has been helping the countries in which it operates to rise to this challenge.

Results above and beyond our objectives

From 1995 to 2008, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has:

• provided safe drinking water to 11 million people in emerging countries, including 9.2 million people with individual access and 1.8 million with access to public distribution points,
• connected 5.3 million inhabitants to wastewater treatment systems. 

To achieve these results, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has innovated and implemented practices to guarantee the success of its operations:

• A business model and financial engineering based on the local currency and local partners to guarantee economic and political stability.
• Gradual transfer of knowledge through training.
• An innovative pricing policy that allows cost-sharing and gives the greatest number of people access to drinking water and wastewater treatment services.

A few examples

Wherever local authorities have partnered with SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, the Millennium Development Goals for water access are close to being met, or have already been surpassed.

• Casablanca (Morocco): half the population without access to drinking water and wastewater treatment services was connected within 7 years.
• Buenos Aires (Argentina): two thirds of the population without access was connected to drinking water within 12 years, and one quarter to a wastewater treatment system.
• Jakarta (Indonesia): two thirds of the population without access was connected to drinking water within 7 years.
• Le Paz and El Alto (Bolivia): within 8 years, four-fifths of the population without access was connected to drinking water, and half the population was connected to a wastewater treatment service. 

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