Despite recent improvements in water management, approximately 1.4 billion people lack adequate water and about 3 billion people lack adequate sanitation services. It is commonly acknowledged that these and other water problems affect the poor adversely in terms of their livelihoods, their health, and their vulnerability to water-related natural disasters.
The authors of this edited volume have broad experience managing water development projects - integrated social-economic programs aimed directly at poverty reduction in different regions of the developing world. In the book's four Parts, they offer an interdisciplinary approach to many issues that contribute to the relationship between water and poverty.