UN-OHRLLS :: Statement at the 3rd World Water Forum, Opening Plenary Session: "Sanitation, Water Supply and Water Pollution: for better Health and sustainable environment"

Statement at the 3rd World Water Forum, Opening Plenary Session: "Sanitation, Water Supply and Water Pollution: for better Health and sustainable environment"

Kyoto, 16 March 2003

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Participants,

I thank you for the invitation to address the Third World Water Forum on the theme: "Sanitation, Water Supply and Water Pollution: for Better Health and Sustainable Environment". Following the UN Secretary-General's initiative prior to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg to focus on water as one of the five priority areas and the positive outcome of that Summit last September, convening of the Third World Water Forum is very propitious and needs to play a critical role in finding solutions to critical water problems in the first decade of the 21st century. I commend the World Water Forum on its efforts in globalizing the water issue and highlighting the universal reality that "water is everybody's issue". Through broad discussions with experts, policymakers and representatives from organizations present here, hopefully we will be able to identify concrete actions needed for our societies.

Mr. Chairman,

In recent years, the international community's interest in water issues has seen a rapid growth in intensity. We are gathered here today to share our experience with proven actions and best practices that have facilitated sustainable solutions to our water problems. Our goal is to promote dialogue and interaction among the numerous stakeholders in integrating the knowledge and experience gained thus far. It is acknowledged that everyone from researchers, managers, policymakers and consumers, has equal responsibility for mitigating the water crisis and contributing to solutions. Whether the problem is ground water depletion, weak governance, low productivity of water in agriculture, or climate variability, it concerns the same scarce resource water.

Focussing on the 49 Least Developed as identified by the United Nations - and 34 of these are in Africa, I have the pleasure of submitting to the Kyoto Water Forum a report by the United Nations Office of the High Representative entitled "Critical Importance of Water Issues for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)". Copies are available in the room.

Deteriorating water quality and dams or engineering works cause loss of habitats and environmental degradation. This affects inland fisheries, which are a major source of protein and other nutrients for a large proportion of the world's population. This in turn produces grave consequences for human development aspects in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Therefore, poor water supply and sanitation lead to high rates of water-related diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery. For example, most rivers in Nepal's urban areas have been polluted and their waters are now unfit for human use, while drinking water in Kathmandu is contaminated with coliform bacteria, iron, ammonia and other contaminants.

About two billion people, approximately one third of the world's population, depend on groundwater supplies, but issues of groundwater use and quality have received less attention, particularly in the Least Developed Countries. For example in Bangladesh, 73 per cent of total water withdrawal comes from groundwater. In the Pacific Islands, use of polluted groundwater for drinking and cooking had lead to health problems such as diarrhoea, hepatitis, and occasional outbreaks of typhoid and cholera.

Mr. Chairman,

Even after the United Nations 'Water Decade' (1981 to 1990), more than one billion people in the LDCs lack access to safe, clean water, and three billion to adequate sanitation. The conferences in Dublin (Water and Environment) and Rio (Environment and Development) in 1992 explicitly linked these issues to environmental concerns, and the 1997 White Paper of the Department for International Development (DFID) further linked water and sanitation to the goal of poverty eradication. LDCs on average use per capita about 1-2 per cent of the water used in Canada. Despite this, they still face formidable obstacles with regard to water availability and safety, and globalization appears to be deepening their vulnerability. This Forum certainly would play an effective role in articulating the specific actions needed in the areas identified at the Johannesburg Summit.

I must stress that the issue of water is particularly of great concern to the LDCs. Access to clean water for consumption as well as agricultural purposes provides the foundation necessary for development. LDCs face formidable development obstacles and in order to face these challenges, certain basic necessities must be present, one of these being access to clean water. The poor and the powerless, especially women and children, are the main victims of lack of access to safe water and to sanitation facilities in the LDCs causing a serious setback in their development efforts.

The Programme of Action (PoA) for the LDCs adopted in Brussels in May 2001 is pertinent in addressing these same pressing issues that face LDCs development. The need for clean water underlines the Commitments identified in the Brussels PoA.

In Commitment 3 of the Brussels PoA - that outlines the building of human and institutional capacities - clean water is prioritised in addressing the issues of health, nutrition and sanitation. The Brussels PoA gives priority to strengthening the provision of social services related to health care, including clean water and sanitation as well as increasing the availability and accessibility of safe drinking water, particularly for rural populations. Actions by development partners committed on that Programme involve enhancing ODA and other forms of support, including technical support, for health, safe water and sanitation and supporting LDCs in ensuring access to and availability of safe drinking water by 2005.

Water is also a focus in Commitment 4 of the Brussels PoA - building productive capacities to make globalization work for LDCs. In terms of physical infrastructure, LDCs are encouraged to provide support to the development and strengthening of critical areas of physical infrastructure including water. Furthermore, in terms of enterprise development - particulary the businesses in the informal sector - the LDCs are urged, inter alia, to improve access to water in addition to energy, land, and credit.

As we all know, water plays a vital role in the agriculture and agro-industries of LDCs. Agriculture is the pivotal sector for these countries, as it underpins food security, foreign exchange earnings, industrial and rural development and employment generation. The Brussels PoA addresses this issue by aiding LDCs in increasing access of the poor, particularly women, to support services and productive resources, particularly land, water, credit and extension services. In addition, the water problem has a direct impact on rural development and food security in LDCs. Our goal should be to strengthen local institutions and enact policies and legislation that provide for more equitable and secure access to ownership and control of natural resources, particularly water.

Mr. Chairman,

With more than 600 million people -- 10% of world population -- the LDCs face incredible developmental challenges. Access to clean water in LDCs is clearly a prerequisite in overcoming many of the impediments to sustainable development. These challenges could be met most resolutely through effective national and international policies that are anchored more firmly in long-term developmental strategies aimed at the implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action.

I urge the Third World Water Forum and all stakeholders present to come up with a clear and concrete course of action to give the 600 million people in LDCs at least a worthwhile chance for their survival and development. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his address to the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly reminded the international community "Only by multilateral action can we give people in the Least Developed Countries the chance to escape the ugly misery of poverty, ignorance and disease".

Thank you for your attention.

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