U.N. officials reiterate clean drinking water and sanitation are human rights issues

One year after the U.N. General Assembly "adopted a resolution declaring that safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right," top U.N. officials on Wednesday "stressed the need to realize the human right to water and sanitation, stating that it is critical not only to a life of dignity but also to achieving progress in the areas such as poverty reduction, boosting child health and combating diseases," the U.N. News Centre reports (7/27). Nearly 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water, and more than one million children die each year because of diseases such as cholera that are transmitted by contaminated water, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C notes (Krafczyk, 7/27).