What do you think that water conference delegates should be focusing on?
Water Talk
It has been realized for some time that water, or lack of it, is a major problem for a very large number of people around the world. Several world conferences have focused on it or been devoted to it.
The first conference was the United Nations Water Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1977. It focused on supplying safe drinking water and sanitation services to everyone. As a result, 1981 to 1991 was dedicated the "International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade". The aim was to give everyone access to sufficient safe water and basic sanitary facilities by 1990. By the end of the decade, while 1.7 billion people had gained access to clean water, 1.4 billion people had not. The record for sanitation was worse. In 1990 there was a fresh appeal from a UNDP conference called the "New Delhi Statement".
In 1992, the International Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE) took place in Dublin, Ireland. The "Dublin Statement" that followed included four principles for water management and decision making:
- Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment. Integral to this principle is the notion that since water sustains all life, effective management demands "a holistic approach, linking social and economic development with protection of natural ecosystems."
- Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels. A key element is the idea that decisions should be taken "at the lowest appropriate level, with full public consultation and involvement of users . . . "
- Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water. Implementation of this principle requires "positive policies to address women's specific needs and to equip and empower women to participate at all levels in water resources programmes...in ways defined by them."
- Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good. "Within this principle, it is vital to recognize first the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at an affordable price.... Managing water as an economic good is an important way of achieving efficient and equitable use, and of encouraging conservation and protection of water resources."
Later in 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It came up with a global plan of action on development with environmental protection called "Agenda 21". Chapter 18 concerned water, identifying 7 key areas:
- integrated water resources development and management
- water resources assessment
- protection of water resources, water quality and aquatic ecosystems
- drinking water supply and sanitation
- water and sustainable urban development
- water for sustainable food production and rural development
- impacts of climate change on water resources
In 1994, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development called for a "comprehensive assessment of the freshwater resources of the world" to be prepared in time for its meeting in 1997. The Global Water Partnership (GWP) was formed in 1996 to try and find ways to put the Dublin principles into practice. The World Water Council was created at the same time as a forum for debate. It hosted the first World Water Forum (WWF) in 1997 in Marrakech, Morocco. Delegates there began the task of writing the first World Water Vision. Also in 1997, the UN General Assembly decided to give top priority during 1998 to the subject of freshwater management. The second WWF in the Hague, Netherlands in 2000 was followed in 2001 in Germany by the International Freshwater Conference. Water was also a feature of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The WSSD looked at four water targets:
- Halve the proportion of people without access to adequate sanitation by 2021
- Prioritize programmes of action to reach the sanitation and water targets
- Develop plans for integrated water management by 2005
- Invest in water initiatives
The current state of affairs was that 2.4 billion people had no access to sanitation, and 2.2 million people die each year of water-related diseases. Many countries pledge money and fast action.
The third WWF was held in Kyoto, Japan in 2003, the International Year for Freshwater. It focused on water and health.
The World Water Week 2005 conference will take place in Stockholm, Sweden from August 21, 2005 to August 27, 2005. The 2nd Southeast Asia Water Forum takes place in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, from 29 August to 02 September 2005 and a conference called River Basin Management 2005 in Bologna, Italy, from 6 to 8 September 2005. The 4th WWF, "Local Actions for a Global Challenge", will take place on March 16-22, 2006, in Mexico.
There has certainly been a lot of talk about water. As time has passed, more organizations have become involved, and there has been more emphasis on sustainable solutions. Bearing in mind the way that the world population is skyrocketing, it is perhaps not surprising, though disappointing, that the targets are not being reached.
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What do you think that water conference delegates should be focusing on?
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