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INTERNATIONAL
YEAR OF FRESHWATER
2003
GRAVE CONSEQUENCES AWAIT IF MILLENNIUM GOALS ON WATER,
SANITATION GO
UNMET, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE FOR YEAR OF FRESHWATER
Developed Countries Also
at Risk from Further
Environmental Damage, Food Insecurity, Instability, He Warns
Following is
the text of a message issued by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
today in observance of the International Year of Freshwater
(2003):
The International Year
of Freshwater (2003), proclaimed by the United Nations General
Assembly, comes at a crucial time.
At the Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders agreed to reduce
by half, by the year 2015, the proportion of people who are
unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water. And at the
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg earlier
this year, a matching target was adopted -– a commitment to
halve the proportion of people without access to basic
sanitation services, also by 2015. Grave consequences lie ahead
if we fail to meet these goals: the persistence and spread of
deadly diseases; further damage to the global environment,
threats to food security and stability itself. And, while water
problems are most acute in the developing world, developed
countries are also at risk.
The world needs
to improve its stewardship of water resources. We need much
more efficient irrigation, far less toxic agriculture and
industry, and new investments in water infrastructure and
services. And we need to free women and girls from the daily
burden of walking great distances in search of water -- time and
effort that could be better spent on education and building
better lives for themselves, their families and their
communities. The International Year of Freshwater should
mobilize the world behind these goals by raising awareness, by
generating new ideas and strategies and by promoting
participation, partnerships and peaceful dialogue. Let us pool
our efforts; let us use the knowledge and technology at our
disposal; and let us do our utmost to protect the world’s
precious freshwater resources -- our lifeline for survival and
sustainable development in the twenty-first century.
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