All known forms of life on earth depend on water. Safe drinking water is vital to human existence and a freshwater supply is ground zero for all agriculture. Civilization and human progress can only flourish around access to clean water supplies.

Some one billion people worldwide currently lack access to safe water, the greatest single obstacle to human survival and development. Recent United Nations studies state that over two billion people will suffer the consequences of severe water shortages by 2050.

Of all the countries designated "water scarce," the majority are in sub-Saharan Africa where the absence of clean drinking water historically makes it the most parched, diseased and impoverished region on earth. Millions of African children and adults die each year due to contaminated water, dehydration, and related starvation. The expected doubling of this area′s population over the next 40 years, together with encroaching desertification, will only exacerbate the crisis.

To date, all initiatives seeking to improve the supply of water to the 12 most affected countries in this region have not solved the problem. Although well-intentioned, these efforts have proven to be only temporary or localized "band aids" that have not adequately addressed the size or recurrence of a crisis that is both ubiquitous and perennial across the Sahel.

A permanent solution is required, one whose vision and execution match the scale and geography of the crisis, and that subsequently affords sovereign self-empowerment for each affected country.




TAP Summary (pdf)

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