ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONTINUES DISCUSSION ON FRESHWATER RESOURCES
Press Release
ECOSOC/5720
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONTINUES DISCUSSION ON FRESHWATER RESOURCES
19970711 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 11 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council this afternoon continued its discussion on maintaining a clean and safe water supply and adequate sanitation, with delegations calling for better coordination between the various parties concerned to avoid overlapping and duplication in ongoing efforts.
Opening the discussion, the representative of Japan stressed that issues related to the supply of freshwater needed to be dealt with "in a holistic and comprehensive manner", something that required close cooperation and coordination among governments and the international and regional organizations concerned. The delegate of Latvia agreed, adding that international organizations were responsible to a degree because their work "frequently overlapped or left blank spots". He called for urgent improvements in coordination.
The international community had to provide new and additional financial resources to facilitate the efforts of developing countries in providing their inhabitants with clean water, the representative Kenya said. This could only be achieved through a coordinated effort at both the national and international levels. The United Nations had to maintain its capacity to provide technical and financial support to national efforts to develop sustainable water strategies that addressed basic human needs and preserved the ecosystem, she went on to state.
During the debate it was pointed out that one billion people did not have access to safe drinking water, while, according to a report of the Secretary-General introduced this morning, close to two billion suffer from poor sanitation. The representative of India said the challenge of providing those people with safe drinking water and sanitation should be of urgent concern to the international community, which should provide technical and financial help.
The Economic and Social Council will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Monday, 14 July, to begin discussions on a variety of issues, including tobacco and energy.
Statements
HIDEKI HO (Japan) said water was not only an economic good but also a social one with a vital role to play in satisfying basic human needs in the areas of food production, health and the protection of ecosystems. Accordingly, freshwater should be dealt with in a holistic and comprehensive manner. This required close cooperation and coordination among governments and the international and regional organizations concerned. Japan attached great importance to the issue of water and placed much emphasis on providing related economic assistance, particularly for the creation of water and sewage systems. That assistance had taken the form of both loans and grants to countries all over the world. Japan would continue its efforts to provide clear and safe water for all the people of the world through its economic cooperation.
ADO VAHER, of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said the freshwater issue was not simply a scarcity problem; in many cases it was more of a management question. It was important to orient international assistance to building national and local capacities in water-resources management. The water crisis affected Africa the most, with its vast arid and semi-arid lands which were under increasing stress. Africa, meanwhile, was by far the lowest user of water resources; whatever water-related initiatives were undertaken, they should give Africa the highest priority in terms of financial and technical support. There was a need for a holistic approach and partnership in global efforts, and currently UNICEF was giving increased attention to water-resource management through a programme approach based on community-based management of the water environment within the context of Agenda 21. UNICEF recommended specific and realistic objectives; priority given to supply, sanitation, and hygiene; partnerships with Governments and communities; and emphasis on the needs of the poor.
MARIS DINDUNS (Latvia) said the freshwater situation in most developing countries was very close to critical. International organizations were responsible to a degree because their work frequently overlapped or left blank spots. There was an urgent need to improve coordination issues. Most of the problems Latvia faced were inherited from former management approaches that did not care about limited resources of drinking water or different sources of pollution of its freshwater basins. The country had, despite a very tight financial situation, introduced new local waste water treatment facilities and proper household and industrial waste disposal with secondary waste water treatment. On the global level, Latvia believed that sustainable use of water resources, including a safe drinking water supply, recycling and proper waste
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water treatment, played the most important role in achievement of sustainability and logic in careful exploitation of global freshwater resources.
LIBRAN N. CABACTULAN (Philippines) said that at the international or United Nations level, the Administrative Committee on Coordinations Subcommittee on Water Resources should emphasize more its function of formulating common strategies and joint programmes; should see to it that there was no duplication of activities or projects; and should enure that the comparative strengths and capacities of the United Nations system were fully harnessed. The recommended establishment of a global information network also should be carried out as soon as possible. At the country level, development plans and priorities should provide a unifying framework for United Nations operational activities on freshwater; the resident coordinator system should be fully taken advantage of; and, where applicable, such instruments as the Common Assessment, Country Strategy Note, field committees, and thematic groups should be brought to bear to ensure effective impact of United Nations technical cooperation assistance in matters related to freshwater.
ESTHER M. TOLLE (Kenya) said the sustainable availability and supply of freshwater continued to assume ever-increasing importance against a background of problems arising largely from poor resource management, wasteful and inefficient use of the resource, unregulated disposal of effluents and weak institutional frameworks. At the national level, Kenya's Ministry of Land Reclamation, Regional and Water Development was responsible for the conservation and protection of water resources, development of water supplies and sanitation systems, water quality and pollution control as well as coordination of other actors in the water sector. At the global level. providing freshwater required a proven commitment by the international community to provide new and additional financial resources to facilitate the efforts of developing countries. There was a need for concerted approaches to integrated water resources management and development. This could only be achieved through a coordinated effort and cooperation at both the national and international level. The United Nations system must also maintain its capacity to provide technical and financial support to national efforts to develop sustainable water strategies that addressed basic human needs and preserved the ecosystem.
J.A.A. PETROV (Russian Federation) said freshwater was a problem even for those countries that had much of it, including the Russian Federation. There was concern, for example, with the quality and sanitation of the water being provided to the Russian population. Russia therefore supported an integrated, coordinated approach to water issues in the United Nations; effective, sustainable use of water resources should be one of the fundamental focuses of the United Nations, and programmes should be aimed at countries with large supplies of water as well as at countries with shortages; joint
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activities on water use were to be encouraged; efforts should be made to improve programmes of the United Nations system and to redirect their focus to the country and regional levels; and close contact should be made and kept with environmental agencies dedicated to related problems, such as that on desertification.
JACQUELINE AQUILINA (Malta) said a big part of Maltas water supply was obtained through the process of reverted osmosis or desalination of sea water. Malta welcomed the Secretary-General's report on freshwater, and stressed that closer cooperation and coordination was important in this area.
MATHIAS DAKA (Zambia) said enormous efforts were being made in developing countries to provide safe and sustainable water supplies to citizens, and these required financial and technical support from the international community, including the United Nations. In Zambia there had been improvement but problems, especially in rural areas, remained acute: only 1.2 per cent of rural households had piped-in water, and only 1.6 per cent had flushing toilets. Problems pertaining to clean water supply and sanitation tended to affect Zambian women the most, as was the case in many developing countries, as they were traditionally the primary haulers and users of domestic water. The Government continued to embark on rural water-supply programmes aimed at increasing coverage and improving service, and notable progress with regard to policy implementation had been achieved with help from Norway, Germany, NORAD, Ireland, and Japan. It could assist coordination greatly, Zambia felt, if a single United Nations agency could be designated the lead efforts on water-related matters.
SAVITRI KUNADI (India) said India attached the highest importance to the issue of freshwater. Despite significant efforts at the international and national levels, it was a matter of deep concern that in developing countries, more than one billion people did not have access to safe drinking water. The challenge of providing it to them was a matter of urgent concern for the international community. Freshwater was crucial for developing countries, but technical and financial constraints were partly responsible for holding them back. It was imperative that these constraints be addressed by the international community with new and additional financial resources.
HAROLD ACEMAH (Uganda) said the country was blessed with abundant freshwater resources and naturally had an abiding interest in freshwater issues; it felt priority should be accorded to the serious freshwater problems facing many regions, especially in the developing world; and hoped the international community would respond positively to the challenge of providing new and additional resources to finding long-term solutions to the looming water crisis, because such problems could be a threat to peace and security. Uganda thought a holistic, integrated, and well-coordinated approach was best, but it also believed that all actions should be undertaken on the basis of
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universally accepted international law relating to the right of States to exploit their natural resources, including their freshwater resources, and on the principle of equitable and reasonable use of such resources. Uganda had been disappointed to note that the report of the Committee on Sustainable Development on water issues had not mentioned these universally accepted principles of international law, and felt any meaningful dialogue must take place on the basis of those principles.
A. SYOLLOSI-NAGY, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the agencys International Hydrological Programme played a role in cooperative efforts of the United Nations system to freshwater issues. It was the only United Nations programme devoted to the science of hydrology and to water resources in more general terms, as well as to the transfer of knowledge to all . As water could become a source of conflict, the programme was developing formalized negotiation support methodologies for water-related emergency management and conflict resolution strategies by combining socio-cultural and hydrological aspects through "water for peace" case studies. It was also developing a methodological framework for comprehensive environmental risk and impact assessment in order to quantify the vulnerability of the environment.
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