An ‘atlas’, giving detailed information about the water resources across the African continent, has been launched by the United Nations Environment Programme on Africa day, May 25th.
The Africa Water Atlas has 100 satellite pictures, 222 maps and 500 graphics.
Patrick Hayford, a Director in the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, says while 26 African countries have made significant progress in providing clean water, only nine have developed effective sanitation.
And he says water and sanitation are key issues for the continent:
”Africa has a large number of lakes, big lakes, it has major rivers, some of the biggest rivers in the world, but overall, Africa as a continent is a region with severe challenges when it comes to the availability of water. For example, one figure that struck me was that we have only nine per cent of the world’s available water resources on the continent.”
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