Zex Bilangilangi delighted a swarm of admirers and revelers at Hamburg’s Millerton Gallery social festival, Millerton Stadion. The festival is an art, music, and culture event aimed at improving Hamburg’s access to safe drinking water. The campaign subject “Water is a Human Right” focuses on eight countries that are rapidly running out of water.
Various cultural acts, including rapper Octopizzo, joined Bilangilangi for the event. He’s been a member of the campaign for a minute because he shared a picture of himself holding a sign that stated “Water is a Human Right” on World Water Day this year, March 22.
Despite not being a country, current forecasts indicate that Cape Town will be the first contemporary significant city in the world to run out of water. According to TIME, this four-million-person area is experiencing a water catastrophe as a result of a combination of inadequate planning, three years of drought, and poor crisis management.
In 2021, more than 71% of Lebanon‘s population would face serious water shortages. Three litres of water will cost 8,000 Lebanese pounds (about UgShs2,000) in 2022.
Pakistan is the world’s third most water-stressed country, and this situation, which has been underway for 35 years, is expected to reach a hopeless state by 2025.
Due to climate change, Burkina Faso‘s dry season, which lasts from October to May, has been extended in recent years. This means that the country goes without rain for the majority of the year, not to mention the proximity of the Sahara desert. Water access is said to have decreased by 40% in some sections of the country.
Niger borders Burkina Faso to the northeast and is entirely within the Sahel, putting the entire country at risk of drought and desertification. Some areas are ravaged by a chronic lack of potable water, particularly during the hot months when temperatures often exceed 100° Fahrenheit. Only 56% of Nigeriens have access to potable water, and 13% have access to basic sanitation facilities.
Approximately 97% of Sudan‘s water use is for agriculture, implying that the country’s increasingly restricted water resources pose several concerns. The increased farming activities has contributed to Sudan’s desertification. Groundwater supplies are shared across borders with Egypt and Ethiopia, adding to international tensions over water consumption. Over 40% of families do not have access to basic water services.
Because of its glaciers, rivers, springs, lakes, groundwater, and abundant rainfall, Nepal is home to 2.7% of the world’s available freshwater. It is, nevertheless, a country whose water scarcity has reached crisis proportions, particularly in the previous 20 years. Its network and infrastructure are incapable of meeting demand or supply. Kathmandu’s capital city satisfied less than 20% of its local water needs, and none of the eight rivers that flow through it are clean.
Due to low water levels in the Euphrates River, Northern Syria was facing its worst drought in nearly 70 years by the end of 2021. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 98% of Syrians lived in the country prior to 2010.
