WATER DESERVES HIGHER PRIORITY ON DEVELOPMENT AGENDA – UN OFFICIAL

WATER DESERVES HIGHER PRIORITY ON DEVELOPMENT AGENDA – UN OFFICIAL
New York, Mar 16 2009 6:00PM

Water must be given higher priority on the development agenda, a top United Nations official told a global gathering that opened today in Istanbul, stressing that the problems the world faces with regard to this precious resource are enormous.

"Developing countries themselves need to increase investment in water, and systematically integrate water in poverty reduction strategies," Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) told the opening of the 5th World Water Forum.

"The international community must also dramatically scale up its support. I urge leaders in all sectors to use this report as a guide and impetus for bold and sustained action to meet the world's water needs," he told the meeting, whose theme is "Bridging Divides for Water."

Mr. Matsuura presented the latest UN World Water Development Report, which warns that the surging growth in global population, climate change, widespread mismanagement and increasing demand for energy have tightened the grip on the world's evaporating water supplies.

As the world's population has swollen to well over 6 billion people, some countries have already reached the limits of their water resources, according to the report compiled by over 20 UN agencies.

"Chronic underinvestment and poor governance in many parts of the world has left hundreds of millions of people deprived of their right to safe water and basic sanitation, vulnerable to disease and extreme hunger, and exposed to the risks of water-related disasters, environmental degradation and conflict," stated the Director-General.

"After decades of inaction, the problems we face are enormous. If left unattended, they may become insurmountable," he added.

Also addressing the meeting, which runs until 22 March, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang said that water and sanitation issues are critical to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the internationally-agreed targets to slash extreme poverty and other ills by 2015.

Mr. Sha, who is representing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Forum, reminded participants that the world is lagging behind in reaching its MDG target to reduce by half the proportion of the population without access to basic sanitation services.

The Istanbul meeting comes ahead of International World Water Day, observed annually on 22 March to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
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Fifth World Water Forum: War victims need better access to water and sanitation

Istanbul/Geneva (ICRC) – The international community must do more to ensure that the victims of armed conflict have access to safe water and sanitation, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The ICRC is calling on governments taking part in the Fifth World Water Forum in Turkey this week to make a serious commitment to protect water and sanitation systems in times of war and to maintain services in conflict-prone areas to prevent them from collapsing.

"Water, sewage and electrical power systems, along with medical facilities, are usually the first things to be disrupted when a war breaks out," said Robert Mardini, who heads the ICRC's water and habitat unit. "They can be damaged or shut down completely by shelling and explosions, or overwhelmed by influxes of displaced people. Such incidents are often followed by massive shortages and by rapidly spreading disease that can result in loss of life." Mr Mardini cited Iraq, Gaza, Sri Lanka and Somalia as examples of places where the delivery of water supplies and sanitation services has been severely hampered by recent armed conflicts.

Roughly a quarter of the estimated 1.2 billion people unable to obtain clean drinking water, and 15 per cent of the 2.6 billion without access to proper sanitation, are in war-torn countries. "Access to safe water and adequate sanitation are fundamental for conflict-affected people," said Mr Mardini. "The ICRC aims to use the World Water Forum to put this issue higher up the international agenda and to remind governments of their responsibilities in this respect."

Mr Mardini drew attention to the double adversity faced by war victims struggling to survive a natural disaster. "When a natural disaster, such as a prolonged drought, exacerbates the devastation wrought by conflict, as in Somalia, people become far more vulnerable to poverty and disease."

The ICRC's efforts to improve water and sanitation involve working with communities and Red Cross and Red Crescent partners to provide emergency assistance where needed and to develop sustainable practices. The organization's neutral and impartial role enables it to talk to all sides in a conflict, and thereby to help restore access to water even as fighting rages on.