It said about 1.5 billion people were directly employed in water and natural resource-dependent industries.
Further development of water resources and sanitation services were an opportunity for job creation and economic growth‚ the report said.
The UN issued the 2016 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report‚ titled Water and Jobs, yesterday‚ which was World Water Day‚ and is part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development campaign.
“Water and jobs are inextricably linked on various levels‚ whether we look at them from an economic‚ environmental or social perspective‚” Unesco directorgeneral Irina Bokova said.
“This analysis highlights the fact that water is work. It requires workers for its safe management and at the same time it can create work and improve conditions,” she said.
“If the 2030 Agenda is to be a success and we are to build together a sustainable future‚ we must ensure that work in water is decent and that the water we all rely on is safe‚” International Labour Organisation directorgeneral and UN-Water chairman Guy Ryder said. “Investment in small-scale projects providing access to safe water and basic sanitation in Africa could offer an estimated economic return of about $28.4-billion [R378-billion] a year‚ or nearly 5% of the gross domestic product of the entire continent.”
“Such investments also seem to have a beneficial effect on employment.
“In the US‚ every $1-million [R15.2-million] invested in the country’s traditional water supply and treatment infrastructure generates between 10 and 20 additional jobs.”
According to the report‚ almost 1% of the total workforce in both developed and developing countries work in the water sectors – which includes water management‚ construction and infrastructure maintenance‚ as well as water supply and sanitation.
