DRC: In water-rich DRC, 50 million people lack clean water to drink, says UN

An estimated 51 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - or three quarters of the population - have no access to safe drinking water, even though the country holds over half of Africa's water reserves, the United Nations Environment Programme said in a new study. The country's troubled legacy of conflict, environmental degradation, rapid urbanisation and under-investment in water infrastructure has seriously affected the availability of drinking water, UNEP said in the study, unveiled to coincide with World Water Day.