Sustainable development means working together to meet people’s basic needs—the things they need to survive, such as food, clean water and a place to live—in ways that will continue to work in the long term and will protect the environment.

Access to clean water is a key element of sustainable development. The 2004 Asian tsunami, which affected both India and Sri Lanka, destroyed many sources of clean water. The impact is still felt today. In Sri Lanka, for example, seawater flooded thousands of wells, making them unusable, and many of those clean sources of water still have not been rebuilt.

Fact File

In India, 75 percent of deaths from the 2004 tsunami were women and children. More than 700 women were widowed and almost 500 children were orphaned.

In Sri Lanka, more than 35,000 people lost their lives and over 516,000 were forced to relocate within the country.

In tsunami-affected areas of Sri Lanka, 90 percent of people lost their source of livelihood, from small businesses to fishing enterprises. Today, living sustainable lives is still a problem for thousands of people.

Good News

Although the effects of the 2004 tsunami were devastating, the recovery effort is an example of the positive impact of global partnerships. After the tsunami, the global community pledged $2.95 billion for rebuilding Sri Lanka—more than Sri Lanka thought it would need. People even came together within countries to help—the warring Tamil and Singhalese populations of Sri Lanka, for example, worked together to restore their country.

Each country within South Asia faces unique problems related to environmental sustainability. India, for example, faces the pollution of its holy river, the Ganges. Only about 10 percent of sewage in the country is treated, and both domestic and industrial waste is pumped straight into the river.

In Sri Lanka, one of the problems included in sustainable development is the protection of its biodiversity: specifically protecting one of the world’s most endangered species, the Asian elephant. As the human population of Sri Lanka grows, the elephant population dwindles, since humans encroach on land that the elephants need for survival. Every year, about 120 elephants are killed by humans.

Each country in South Asia is working hard to resolve challenges associated with sustainable development and with meeting each of the other Millennium Development Goals. Progress is being made, but work still needs to be done in order to realize the goals.