Inclusive water systems for persons with disabilities are integral for achieving SDGs.

Governments, non-profit organizations, and private entities have been working to create inclusive environments, provide access to essential resources and services and promote equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.

These efforts aim to enable persons with disabilities to live full and independent lives; participate in their communities; and contribute their talents and abilities to society, especially in the face of climate change.

On April 20, 2017, 173 countries ratified the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Created in 2007, it enshrines rights, such as inherent dignity, individual autonomy, non-discrimination, full and effective participation, accessibility and equality of opportunity, for persons with disabilities.

CRPD Article 9 requires access to the physical environment and public spaces and services in rural and urban areas. Article 19 focuses attention on living independently and inclusion by addressing equity in needs-responsive community services and facilities. Article 28 zeros in on adequate standards of living and social protection and requires State Parties to ensure access to clean water services that are appropriate and affordable.

SDG 6

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 represents a key strategy for enfranchising persons with disabilities. It promotes access to water and sanitation for all.

Specifically, it requires that 'no one is left behind.' To achieve SDG 6, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes must be both disability-inclusive and disability-accessible.

Supporting the objectives of WASH, SDG 10 advocates for the 'reduction of inequality within and among countries,' mandating the social, economic and political inclusion of all people, including persons with disabilities.

Several organizations are helping to realize the ambitions of CRPD and SDGs.

As part of UNICEF's WASH programme, Bungudu Primary School in Zamfara State in northern Nigeria built accessible latrines and hand-washing stations to accommodate children with disabilities. The project has improved sanitation and eradicated barriers that children with disabilities face at the school, where water and sanitation facilities had not been easily accessible.

In Madibunhana, in central Mozambique, the World Vision International has ensured that persons with disabilities can access water through rehabilitated and modernized boreholes with incorporated ramps, allowing 220 households to independently access...