Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 119.djvu/2551

 PUBLIC LAW 109–121—DEC. 1, 2005

119 STAT. 2533

Public Law 109–121 109th Congress An Act To make access to safe water and sanitation for developing countries a specific policy objective of the United States foreign assistance programs, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005’’. SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings: (1) Water-related diseases are a human tragedy, killing up to five million people annually, preventing millions of people from leading healthy lives, and undermining development efforts. (2) A child dies an average of every 15 seconds because of lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation. (3) In the poorest countries in the world, one out of five children dies from a preventable, water-related disease. (4) Lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene practices are directly responsible for the vast majority of diarrheal diseases which kill over two million children each year. (5) At any given time, half of all people in the developing world are suffering from one or more of the main diseases associated with inadequate provision of water supply and sanitation services. (6) Over 1.1 billion people, one in every six people in the world, lack access to safe drinking water. (7) Nearly 2.6 billion people, two in every five people in the world, lack access to basic sanitation services. (8) Half of all schools in the world do not have access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. (9) Over the past 20 years, two billion people have gained access to safe drinking water and 600 million people have gained access to basic sanitation services. (10) Access to safe water and sanitation and improved hygiene are significant factors in controlling the spread of disease in the developing world and positively affecting worker productivity and economic development. (11) Increasing access to safe water and sanitation advances efforts toward other development objectives, such as fighting poverty and hunger, promoting primary education and

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Dec. 1, 2005 [H.R. 1973]

Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005. 22 USC 2152h note. 22 USC 2152h note.

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