COVID-19 will unquestionably delay achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the latest global attempt to improve the quality of life of billions of people around the world by 2030.
Increasing access to clean water and sanitation are among the 17 SDGs. During normal times, and even more during the present pandemic, access to clean water and proper sanitation is essential.
But we must now rethink how we achieve the goals laid out in the SDGs. First, we should stop looking at access to safe water as the problem of developing countries alone – it is a global problem that worsens under extreme conditions like the current pandemic.
By Cecilia Tortajada and Asit K. Biswas, 2020. Article published in Water International, Volume 45, Number 5, pages 441-442. DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2020.1790133