PARAPHRASING TASK POSSIBLE ANSWERS 1. ORIGINAL: “And today, 4.2 billion people are still faced with daily challenges accessing even the most basic of services. Of these, 673 million people practised open defecation.” PARAPHRASE: Presently, open defecation is practised by 673 million people out of 4.2 billion population who still do not have access to basic sanitation infrastructure and services. 2. ORIGINAL: “By managing our water sustainably, we are also able to better manage our production of food and energy and contribute to decent work and economic growth.” PARAPHRASE: With sustainable water management, food and energy productions are better managed which in turn creates decent work and generates economic growth. 3. ORIGINAL: “Civil society organisations should work to keep governments accountable, invest in water research and development, and promote the inclusion of women, youth and indigenous communities in water resources governance.” PARAPHRASE: It is the role of civil society organisations to monitor governments to be accountable, prioritise water research and development, and include women, youth and indigenous communities in water governance. 4. ORIGINAL: The demand for water has outpaced population growth, and half the world’s population is already experiencing severe water scarcity at least one month a year. PARAPHRASE: Severe water shortage for at least one month in a year is faced by half of the world’s population due to water supply struggling to keep pace with demand of the growing human population. 5. ORIGINAL: Although handwashing with soap is critical in the fight against infectious diseases, including COVID-19, millions of people around the world have no ready access to a place to wash their hands, UNICEF said ahead of Global Handwashing Day. PARAPHRASE: In conjunction with Global Handwashing Day, UNICEF said despite the acute need for hand hygiene practices in times of COVID-19 pandemic and in preventing infectious diseases, a large population of the world still lack handwashing facilities. 6. ORIGINAL: The 2030 Agenda recognises the centrality of water resources to sustainable development and the vital role that improved drinking water, sanitation and hygiene play in progress in other areas, including health, education and poverty reduction. PARAPHRASE: The 2030 Agenda acknowledges how sustainable development hinges on water resources and the ripple effect of clean water, sanitation and hygiene on the improvement of other areas such as health, education and poverty reduction. 7. ORIGINAL: The water and sanitation crisis is getting worse and lack of progress on SDG 6 undermines progress on all of the other SDGs, particularly on global health, education, food, gender equality, energy and climate change. The situation compromises the entire 2030 Agenda and other international agreements and weakens the international community’s ability to combat and prevent pandemics. PARAPHRASE: The stagnancy of SDG 6 and the worsening water crisis threaten the progress made on the other 16 SDGs specifically on zero hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, energy and climate change. This put the whole 2030 Agenda, international agreements and global community’s battle against pandemics in jeopardy.
