AT STAKE: ‘HOW WE CHOOSE TO SHAPE OUR TOMORROW’ FROM ALREADY PRECARIOUS TODAY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION TOLD, AS TWELFTH SESSION OPENS

Commission on Sustainable Development                      

Twelfth Session                                            

4^th & 5^th Meetings (AM & PM)

AT STAKE:  ‘HOW WE CHOOSE TO SHAPE OUR TOMORROW’ FROM ALREADY PRECARIOUS TODAY,

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION TOLD, AS TWELFTH SESSION OPENS

Safe Water, Sanitation, Human Settlements Focus;

Part of Critical Assessment of 2002 JohannesburgSummit Implementation

“Nothing less is at stake than how we choose to shape our tomorrow from a today that is already precarious”, Prince Willem of the Netherlands warned the Commission on Sustainable Development today, as it began its first critical assessment of efforts by world governments to implement the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development outcome.

The Commission’s twelfth session, which officially opened today with high-level speakers focusing their attention on issues of safe water, sanitation and human settlements, began last week as a series of preparatory meetings for the convening in August of the international review of implementation of the Barbardos Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

In the first of two meetings today, Prince Willem, who serves on the Secretary-General’s Panel of Eminent Persons on water management and other sustainable development issues, stressed that “enormous challenges await us here” in ensuring the quality and quantity of water and its management, on which the world’s communities depended.

Urging the Commission to “make a difference”, its Chairman Børge Brende, Minister for the Environment of Norway, said that delegations would be asked to judge what was working and why as they focused on matters relating to water, sanitation and human settlements.  The broad picture was not very reassuring, and the international community was not on track when it came to meeting the globally agreed targets.  He, thus, stressed the need to overcome hindrances and create solutions.

With 900 million people still living in slums, more than one third of the world’s population still lacking access to improved sanitation and one sixth to improved drinking water, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, José Antonio Ocampo, urged investment in rural sanitation, as well as education about hygiene, increased investment for wastewater treatment, integrated water resources management, and regularized land titles for informal urban settlements to boost investment in housing, water, and sanitation.

Weighing in on the situation, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Toepfer said that, 10 years ago, delegations had been under the illusion that there was no need to think about implementation or monitoring -- that those things would take care of themselves.  The Summit in Johannesburg had been a wake-up call, and it was now clear that implementation of global development goals needed to be closely watched and reviewed in two-year cycles.

Asserting that the struggle to achieve the Millennium Development Goals would be waged in human settlements, the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, worried that rapid urbanization would increase poverty and further feminize it.  If current trends continued, 1.5 billion people would live in slums by 2020.  A workable, realistic strategy would help, as would implementation of the global goals at local levels.

Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Zephirin Diabre, said that the water and sanitation crisis remained largely a silent one.  Each year, some 3.4 million people died from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.  Well-functioning institutions and relevant legislation was a precondition for developing and sustaining the provision of clean water and sanitation.  Hence, the UNDP had focused on capacity-building and technical assistance for countries in those important areas.

This afternoon, the Commission held the first of its interactive dialogues on the thematic issues for the current session, this one on water.  Experts in the discussion agreed that several countries were seriously off-track in their efforts to achieve international development goals and that unless the international community scaled up its efforts, the water and sanitation targets would not be met.

Reporting this morning on inter-sessional meetings were the representatives of Morocco, Tajikistan, Turkey, and China.  Such briefings were also provided by:  the Deputy Secretary-General, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway; the Under-Secretary-General for Regional Affairs of Italy; and the Minister for the Environment of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Brief opening remarks welcoming the reports before the Commission and looking forward to the work ahead were made by the representatives of Qatar (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Ireland (on behalf of the European Union), Australia, Russian Federation, Indonesia, Lao’s Democratic People’s Republic, South Africa, Japan, and Republic of Korea.

Statements in the general debate, which will continue throughout the week, were made by the speakers from Ireland (on behalf of the European Union) and the Qatar (on behalf of the Group of 77).  Representatives of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the International Federation of Agricultural Producers also spoke.

Participating in the interactive dialogue were Alvaro Umana, UNDP Sustainable Development Group; Roberto Lenton, the Millennium Development Goal Task Force on Water and Sanitation; and Jason Kellman, Director and President of Brazil’s National Water Agency, as well as the representatives of South Africa, Ireland (speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated countries), Iran, Burkina Faso, United States, Croatia, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Japan,

Kenya, Israel, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Lebanon, Egypt, United Kingdom, Syria, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Japan, and Republic of Korea.

Representatives of a number of civic groups also participated in the dialogue, including from trade unions, the Fishworkers Forum, the science and technology community, and farmers.

The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 20 April, to continue the thematic discussion on water.

Background

The Commission on Sustainable Development met this morning to continue its twelfth session.  The panel is expected to begin its general debate of the chosen thematic issues for this 2004-2005 session -- water, sanitation and human settlements –- and to continue its consideration of issues related to the overall implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  [For background, see Press Release ENV/DEV/762]

Statements

In opening remarks, Chairman BØRGE BRENDE, Minister of the Environment of Norway, outlined the “daunting” challenge delegations had before them, as the Commission embarked on its first non-negotiating session in an attempt to gauge what progress had been made towards meeting goals in specific areas identified in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, adopted in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. While focusing on matters related to water, sanitation and human settlements, delegations would be asked to judge, among other things, what was working and why, and where greeter efforts needed to be taken.

“Even at the outset of this review session, we know that the broad picture is not very reassuring”, he said, stressing that the international community was not on track when it came to meeting globally agreed targets and goals.  After highlighting key trouble spots identified by the Secretary-General in his report to the session, he stressed the need to “overcome hindrances and help create solutions at all levels.”

The Commission could and must make a difference, he said, “for if we don’t, then poverty, hunger disease and environmental degradation will continue to stand in the way of people’s chances to build better lives for themselves and their families”.  Likewise, the Commission would have failed to live up to its mandate as the lead United Nations forum working to ensure sustainable development for all.

Prince WILLEM of the Netherlands, who is a member of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Eminent Persons on water management and other sustainable development issues, said that the Millennium Development Goals had been set some four years ago, and everyone knew that water -– and access to safe, clean water -– was directly or indirectly crucial to achieving many of those objectives.  Further, it was now almost two years since the Johannesburg Summit, and the time had come for the Commission to identify the constraints and obstacles which had, thus far, prevented the broad implementation of that Summit’s action Plan.

Telling delegations that the Commission’s twelfth session would set the tone for a steadfast, deliberate approach to implementing that plan, he added:  “Your work here will prove to the world that tangible progress can be made”, in the initial priority areas of water, sanitation, and human settlements.  “Nothing less is at stake than how we choose to shape our tomorrow from a today that is already precarious”, he warned.  He said that the world’s communities, health, food supplies, sanitation, energy sources, and even people’s basic human rights, were dependent on the quality and quantity of water and its management.

In 20 short years, a future had been predicted in which one third of the world’s population would live under moderate to severe water stress, he continued, adding that many cities were already in trouble.  Where will we find enough water for drinking and how will we provide adequate sanitation?  How can we secure access to clean water, sanitation and affordable health, whether people lived in cities, towns or villages?  How will we grow food enough to feed another 2 billion people by 2015, when it takes one ton of water to grow a pound of cereal or   3,000 litres of water for a kilogram of rice? he asked.

Integrated water management was the key to solving many of those problems, he said.  That would ensure the involvement of all stakeholders and also ensure an effective, balanced path towards sustainable development for all.  He believed that integrated planning applied to the sustainable use of water would serve as a model for the other sectors the Commission would consider in the coming years.  He added that by 2015 those same 2 billion people would need access to sanitation facilities, if international targets were to be met.  “Enormous challenges await us here”, he said

He said that many countries in Asia were on target to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015.  In other regions, however, populations were struggling.  Contaminated water sources, inadequate operation and maintenance of pumps and distribution systems and water pipe leakage were just a few of the problems that needed to be overcome first.  Investments in hardware needed to be supported by public-private partnerships, since they would attract more investment.  And they needed to be accompanied by programmes to raise awareness of and improve hygiene and sanitation, particularly in schools.

Women needed to be involved in the entire planning and decision-making process, since they were usually directly responsible for securing domestic water supplies for families, he added.  He also stressed the importance of building partnerships to, among other things:  increase knowledge and information exchange; enhance public and political commitment and improve policy legislation; build capacity to bring the knowledge to those who needed it for implementation; and seek new sources of investment in water.

JOSE ANTONIO OCAMPO, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, noted that more than one third of the world’s population still lacked access to improved sanitation, and one sixth to improved drinking water.  To achieve the 2015 targets of halving the proportion of people without such access, another 2 billion people needed access to sanitation and 1.6 billion to safe drinking water.  In addition, another half billion people would join the        900 million currently estimated to be living in slums by 2020.

In responding to those challenges, he said, the international community must increase investment in rural sanitation.  The rural-urban sanitation access gap was almost twice that for water supply, and rural sanitation coverage was 30 per cent lower than rural water supply coverage.  Steps should also be taken to shape hygienic behaviour through education and awareness raising; increase investment for wastewater treatment; put in place a process for integrated water resources management; and regularize land titles for informal urban settlements to boost investment in housing, water, sanitation and other infrastructure.

A lack of political will at both the international and national levels had hampered progress in several key areas, he continued.  Those included the misuse and overuse of irrigation water; tariff reform aimed a fuller cost recovery and well-targeted subsidies for the poor; enforcement of laws and regulations to address worsening water pollution; forward planning to meet increased demand for affordable urban housing; and affordability of basic amenities to the poor.

Stronger political will and more effective institutions must be matched by additional financial resources, he said.  Even with the lowest-cost solutions, the financial requirements for supplying clean drinking water and sanitation should roughly double to $33 billion to meet the 2015 targets.  Providing adequate municipal wastewater treatment could mean tripling investment over current levels to about $50 billion a year.  Based on a cost per housing unit upgraded of between $1,300 and $1,950, and assuming an average of six people per household, halving the current slum population of 99 million would require between $100 billion and $150 billion of public investment.

KLAUS TOEPFER, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said that some 10 years ago, when he had headed up an early session of the Commission, delegations had been under the illusion that there was no need to think about implementation or monitoring -- that those things would take care of themselves.  But a wake-up call had come in at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, and it was now clear that implementation of international development goals, particularly those related to sustainable development, needed to be closely watched and reviewed in two-year cycles.

The facts concerning water and sanitation were clear, he said, adding:  “We really have to hurry up if we want to meet the water targets”, by 2015.  The pressures of a burgeoning human population, especially in urban areas of the developing world, the expansion of agricultural production and water intensive industrial development, as well as the impact of unsustainable use, had all contributed to the current state of affairs.  It was not necessarily a quantity crisis, he said, but an efficiency and investment crises; a management and technology transfer crisis; and most importantly a partnership crisis.

He stressed that, while it was important to seriously address obstacles to implementing the Johannesburg action plan and overall obstacles to achieving sustainable development, it was also necessary to showcase the success stories -- the partnerships and best practices in each of the target areas -- so that others might build upon those practical approaches.  To that end, he noted the joint UNEP-Habitat projects on Water for African and Asian Cities as an example of how knowledge could be shared effectively within various regions.

He stressed that there was no need to “re-invent the wheel”; there were real life examples to point the way forward.  If those examples were replicated, he believed the Commission and the wider international community could go a long way towards ensuring the water and sanitation targets that were agreed at the Johannesburg Summit were met, and that solutions were found that balanced the needs of the varied water users with the needs of the natural environment.

ANNA KAJUMULO TIBAIJUKA, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), stressed that the struggle to achieve the Millennium Goals would be waged in human settlements –- in cities, towns and villages.  Noting that cities and towns would absorb 95 per cent of the world’s expected population growth, she said that rapid urbanization would increase poverty and the feminization of poverty in cities.  Women would pay a heavy price in procuring water for their families through daily drudgery and lost opportunities.

At present, she continued, some 930 million people lived in slums. If that trend continued, 1.5 billion people would live in slums by the year 2020.  Most slum dwellers were excluded from several aspects of urban life that remained a monopoly of the privileged minority –- political voice, decent housing, safety and the rule of law, education and health.  Provision of basic services and slum upgrading must become a core priority for local and national governments alike, and should receive adequate support by international financial institutions and development agencies.

A workable, realistic strategy was needed to make a difference in people’s lives, she said.  The commitment of policy-makers to human settlements was the first step.  The goals may be global, but must be implemented locally, where people lived and services were required.  The United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers at the country level must prioritize water and sanitation and slum upgrading.  In addition, water must be recognized as a right and one of the most fundamental conditions for survival.  The UN-Habitat was focusing on the issue through the Global Campaign on Secure Tenure and through the Housing Rights Programme, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights.  Financing water, sanitation and slum upgrading required a close partnership of United Nations agencies with the international financing institutions to supplement domestic resources.

ZEPHIRIN DIABRE, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said improving the access of the poor to clean water and basic sanitation were at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals and contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  A precondition for those basic services to be developed and sustained was the existence of well functioning institutions and relevant legislation.  Hence, UNDP’s focus on capacity-building and technical assistance for countries on those important areas.  Sadly, the water and sanitation crisis remained largely a silent one.  Every year, some 3.4 million people died from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.

He said over the past decade the UNDP had managed a portfolio of over $1 billion for sustainable water development in more than 120 countries.  It had signed more than 30 public/private partnerships with $20 million for development activities.  The UNDP had developed several key service lines in the field of water, sanitation and human settlements at the national, local, regional and global level.  In all UNDP’s activities, there was a need to actively ensure the mainstreaming of gender.  Women’s empowerment and parity in girls’ education could not be achieved when women and girls spent the better part of each day collecting water, and the lack of sanitation services at schools coupled with ill-health impacted on girls’ education.

The UNDP would actively pursue its capacity-building activities and support to countries, for example, through its involvement with regional and national institutions, the Government of the Netherlands, and the Global Water Partnership, in Cap-net, a global capacity building network for integrated water resources management.

Reports On outcomes of Inter-session Meetings and Conferences

ABDELLAH BENMELLOUK (Morocco), reporting on the Marrakech Meeting on Sustainable Consumption and Production, said that recent gathering had dealt with production and consumption patters, as well as questions related to waste management, infrastructure and technology transfer in the field.  Experts from around the world had taken part in the meeting and had agreed that it was an important first step in defining sustainable consumption and production for the wider international community.

The meeting recognized the responsibility incumbent upon governments, private sector and civil society in meeting goals in that field.  It also stressed the importance of partnership, and experts concluded that designing successful programmes would require broad cooperation, information exchange and transfer of technologies, particularly among and between industry and the private sector.  The meeting also highlighted the important role developed countries needed to play. Next year, another major meeting had been planed on how to review progress made and push the Marrakech process forward.

RASHID ALIMOV (Tajikistan), outlining the major results and lessons learned from the International Water Forum held in Dushanbe from 29 August to 1 September last year, said he was appreciative of the United Nations’ and all international partners’ contribution to the success of the Forum and expressed the hope that cooperation on water and other issues would continue. The Forum, attended by representatives of 53 countries, 11 United Nations specialized agencies, 91 international organizations, which included non-governmental organizations, as well as local and international media, focused on the subject of water, environment and security.

High on the Forum’s agenda were the Millennium Development Goals with regard to water and sanitation, the sustainable use of water resources and their management and protection.  The Forum discussed the progress made in reaching those goals and those of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and considered the prospects of efficient water resources management in the world regions, including Central Asia.  The urgency of improving patterns of water management in the lower and upper streams of transboundary rivers was widely discussed, Mr. Alimov said, noting that the paradoxical situation that developed in Central Asia was specifically noted, where, despite enormous freshwater resources, people could not avoid living under what he termed permanent “water stress”.

Ms. SAY (Turkey) said the Istanbul Meeting on Governance for World Summit on Sustainable Development Implementation in Countries in Transition had recommended the need to raise the awareness of major groups on implementation.  It had also stressed the need for self-determination, increased transparency, and the engagement of civil society, particularly through partnerships, in such implementation in transition countries.  She noted that the level of participation and depth of discussions at the Meeting had highlighted the importance of issues related to implementation.

BJORN SKOGMO, Deputy Secretary-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, summarizing the conclusions of the “Water for the Poorest” conference in Stavanger, Norway, in November 2003, stressed that actors at all levels should prioritize services to the poorest and take steps to mobilize domestic and external financial resources.  The international community should help in providing basic support to countries where national capacities to carry out pro-poor policies were weak.

People had a right to safe water supplies that satisfied their basic needs at a price they could afford, he said.  Halving the proportion of poor by 2015 was an internationally agreed priority, but the remaining poor were equally important.  The conference recommended improved water governance that ensured the effective use of existing resources and the active participation of all stakeholders; increased financing of water infrastructure and targeted financing schemes for the poorest; and empowerment and capacity-building to that end.

ALBERTO GAGLIARDI, Under-Secretary-General for Regional Affairs of Italy, reported on the outcome of the International Forum on Partnerships for Sustainable Development, held in Rome in early March.  He said that more than 700 participants had gathered in Rome and discussions had focused on the results achieved to date for the future in the main sectors of sustainable development:  protection and conservation of water resources, agriculture and rural development, climate change, renewable energy, biodiversity oceans and small islands and developing States.

ZHANG YISHAN (China) briefed the delegates on the outcome of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Forum on the sustainable development of cities, which had been convened by his Government, together with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in China’s Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong last February.  The Declaration adopted at the Forum had been circulated as an official document of the current session.

The event had addressed such issues as economic growth and job creation, infrastructure, urban housing and land use, as well as basic economic needs and sustainable tourism, he said.  While noting the problems of excessive population growth, diseases, traffic congestion and pollution, the Forum had focused both on immediate tasks at the local level and the need to take into account broader issues of effective governance and policy guidance, environmental protection and the sustainable development of cities.

ARCADO NTAGAZWA, Minister of the Environment of the United Republic of Tanzania, spoke about the eighth special session of UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum.  The session had endorsed the “Jeju Initiative”, which stressed that Integrated Water Resource Management should incorporate an ecosystems approach in meeting targets set by the Millennium Summit and the Johannesburg Summit.  It also emphasized the importance of the involvement of all sectors of society, major groups, especially women and youth, and various levels of government in pursuing international goals.  In addition, it reiterated that sanitation problems should not be addressed in isolation, and that environmentally sustainable sanitation services required an increased focus on eco-technology and water-treatment systems.  It was recognized that partnerships and the sharing of best practices could greatly contribute towards poverty reduction, and that there was a direct link between environment, good health and economic development.

General Debate

Mr. HAYES (Ireland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, stressed the key role that UNEP played in implementing internationally agreed goals and targets in the area of sustainable development.  He also recognized the valuable contributions being made by United Nations regional commissions, noting that some regions were behind in meeting such goals.  The international community must meet its commitments to sustainable development by moving from words to effective implementation.

The Commission’s current session would provide a sound basis for its policy year in 2005, he said.  The European Union had identified several priorities in the areas of sanitation and human settlements to be addressed, and it would also like to share best practices and hear others’ concerns.  Emphasizing the importance the current session, he said it should be focused on obstacles, constraints and challenges and how to address them.  It must also develop critical responses to help shape the final output of the 2005 session -- a series of structures and actions leading to the 2015 and 2020 targets.

NASSER ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER (Qatar), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said the reports of the Secretary-General before the Commission showed that developing countries had taken steps to improve the provision of services and infrastructure for water, sanitation and human settlements.  As a result, those countries had made some progress during the past decade to improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation and the provision of shelter.  There had also been improvements in policy formulation in those areas.

At the same time, he said that it was also clear that developing countries still faced immense challenges.  Their efforts still fell far short of what was needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals and the objectives set at Johannesburg.  Persistent poverty still undercut developing country’s efforts to achieve sustainable development.  The Group of 77 hoped this session of the Commission focused on ways of making the international environment more responsive to the needs of developing countries.  They should not only highlight the challenges and constraints, but also the possible approaches needed to improve the means of implementation in those countries.  Indeed, the reports revealed a huge gap in implementation still existed, and that the international community had failed to fulfil its commitments to that end.

For developing countries to move ahead, the international community would need to fulfil its commitments to increase support in finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, he continued.  That would be a necessary and important complement to the efforts undertaken by the developing countries themselves.  Turning to specific issues, he said the provision of safe drinking water was a critical element of poverty eradication.  But, in improving safe drinking water, developing countries had limited financial and technological capacity to respond to the growing demand for water for agriculture, as well as potable water and water for industrial uses.  Rapid urbanization and natural disasters also had an impact on natural water supplies.

He went on to say that the international community should, therefore, help developing countries improve investment in sanitation.  In that regard, the transfer of technology would be critical.  He added that developing countries also faced limitations in their efforts to ensure environmentally sound waste disposal, or water and sewage recycling.  Touching on some cross-cutting issues, he highlighted the particular importance this session had for African countries and small island developing States.  Despite their best efforts, it was clear that the people in the world’s poorest countries required more support form the international community to overcome water scarcity, natural disasters and other perennial problems that threatened their existence.

Interactive Dialogue

The Commission then held the first of its interactive dialogues on the identified thematic issues for the current session, in this case matters related to water resource management in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the objectives set at the Johannesburg Summit.

Opening the discussion, ALVARO UMANA, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sustainable Development Group, said that there was some disturbing evidence that many, many countries were seriously off-track in their efforts to achieve international development goals.  The UNDP’s latest Human Development Report had shown that sub-Saharan Africa, large areas of the former Soviet Union and Southern Asia were facing serious deficiencies.  Fully one-half of all developing country populations were exposed to unsafe drinking water and lacked adequate, safe sanitation.  “We have quite a bit of catching up to do at the national, international and local levels”, particularly since the first review for the Millennium Goals was “just around the corner”, and the review of the Summit was, likewise, fast approaching.

He said that access to safe water was a catalytic entry point for sustainable development, chiefly as it was related to achieving other important development goals such as reduction in child and infant mortality.  Women should be involved in all levels of decision making in matters related to water usage.  He acknowledged that recording and monitoring mechanisms were burdensome on developing countries and needed to be streamlined, so that perhaps a single report would cover a country’s efforts to implement both the Millennium and Johannesburg goals.  In that regard, the World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) joint monitoring programme could serve as a good example.

He went on to say that the resources committed to at Johannesburg had only just begun to flow, but it was already clear that water aid was in decline.  The international community was at a crucial juncture and the coming two weeks would serve as a critical platform from which to launch mechanisms and programmes that could save the lives of countless families and children around the world.

Another expert, ROBERTO LENTON, of the Millennium Development Goal Task Force on Water and Sanitation, said the Task Force, as a major contributor to the Human Development Report, likewise agreed that unless the international community scaled up its efforts, the water and sanitation targets could not be reached.  At the same time, the Task Force believed that if efforts were enhanced, the targets were reachable.  Overall, it would take an unprecedented effort to overcome the political, institutional, technical and financial constraints that had proved to be serious obstacles.  Political will was crucial in order to ensure that water issues were included in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, among other things.

He said chronic institutional shortcoming and huge financial constraints needed to be addressed immediately, expanding access to water and sanitation to ensure that those countries that were most off-track got the help they needed.  That would require large amounts of money, he reiterated, whether in the form of taxes or overseas development assistance.  Business as usual would not do, he added.  It was now a question of what action needed to be taken in order to most quickly address the most serious problems or problem areas.

Responding to a question from the Chair, he said that the 1980s had been known as the “Water Decade”, but that many of the initiatives launched at that time had proved unsustainable.  To that end, the United Nations had come up with several propositions to counter that trend.  He reiterated that everything must start with political will to ensure that resources were distributed nationally and that institutional change occurred.  United Nations agencies also emphasized zeroing in on where the needs were greatest, and focusing as much on service delivery as on infrastructure.  He added that experience had shown that the international community could not insist on reform first and investment later, but must “think of ways to learn while we are doing”.

During the ensuing discussion, several speakers highlighted the importance of increasing private sector investment in water management, which currently rested at less than 10 per cent.  The representative of the United States stressed the need to unleash such investment by providing the needed structure to make water management a worthy investment.

Other delegates noted the lack of political will in water and sanitation management, and emphasized the need to implement existing action plans.  They also pointed to the huge problem of mobilizing domestic resources in the poorest countries to maintain water infrastructure.  Burkina Faso’s representative stressed that such countries were unable to make long-lasting contributions in resolving ongoing water problems.

Other speakers focused on the need to analyse the impact of water quality and availability on health and poverty.  Water management programmes should be linked with other cross-cutting issues, they said, including environmental projects, water policies, and other economic instruments, for maximum impact.  They also noted the importance of strengthening implementation of the Millennium Goals at the regional and local levels.  Colombia, the representative of that country said, had introduced subsidies to serve clients with no direct access to water and scanty financial resources.

Among the speakers who detailed their challenges at the national level to ensure access to clean water, the representative of Indonesia noted that clean water supplies were readily available, but not evenly distributed in his country.  He was also among those delegations that highlighted serious infrastructure deficiencies as the major hindrance to delivery.

Delegations from the Middle East focused on their efforts to support and promote water conservation projects and to enhance water desalination facilities.  One representative from that region stressed the primary role to be played by governments, but also wondered about ways the private sector could be persuaded to participate in water, or sanitation projects that might not be financially rewarding, since that sector was primarily motivated by profit.

Convinced that the Commission should stress the importance of education, particularly at local levels, the representative of Japan drew attention to a resolution on education and sustainable water use his country had sponsored, and which had been unanimously adopted, late last year in the General Assembly.  In a related comment, the representative of the United Kingdom said that it was clear that overall strategies needed to be tailored to local and community needs.

Several speakers representing African delegations called for international support towards implementation of the United Nations Integrated Resource Management Strategy.  They were also keen for the experts to give concrete suggestions about how countries from the region could meet the Millennium Goals in the face of deepening poverty, persistent natural disasters and declining official development assistance (ODA).

As the discussion continued with major group representatives, a member of the National Fishworkers Forum noted that multinational companies exploited ground water to make money, rather than conserve and manage resources.  Where were the governance, political will, international assistance and education to resolve that problem?

A representative of the scientific and technological community said his group could provide high-quality information to help monitor progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goals.  Impact assessments, for example, were needed on upstream decisions that could have major impacts on downstream ecosystems.  New studies were also required to uncover causal links uniting purposeful water management and the environment’s capacity to provide resources on a long-term basis.

Highlighting the void in sustainable water management, a member of the farmer’s group pointed to the need for a mechanism to discuss the overuse and obstruction of water.  He proposed that an international water body be formed to tackle those issues.

Responding to comments and questions, Mr. LENTON suggested that the Millennium Development Goals be used as a focus of integrated water management plans.  Stressing that the international community should harmonize the use of water and its role in a variety of goals, he said that water had a vital role to play in reducing poverty and hunger.

Continuing, he said the Task Force had noted that countries most off-track in meeting the Millennium Development Goals must have additional resources.  Even if they were to maximize amounts from cost-recovery and cross-subsidies, there was no way they could finance capital, operating and maintenance costs through subsidies and user fees.

JASON KELLMAN, the Director and President of the National Water Agency of Brazil, then addressed the Commission’s integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans in his country.  He said that Brazil had decided that its efforts would focus on providing the widest possible access to safe water, while ensuring the protection of the country’s river basins.

And while that starting point had been easy enough to identify, it had taken federal and local governments some time to hash out such issues as water usage rights, water pricing and other matters.  He also stressed that, while it was often the case that governments coping with large amounts of debt pulled resources from wherever they could in order to offset those arrears, his Government had decided that all funds generated from water usage would be funnelled back for refurbishment and conservation of river basins.

Another expert, CONALL O’CONNELL, Deputy Secretary, Department of Environment and Heritage of Australia, said his country would maintain and increase agricultural economic performance through well-managed irrigation.  In August 2003, it had announced the National Water Initiative, which would improve the security of water access entitlements; encourage water market expansion; enable best practice water pricing; ensure ecosystem health and protect environmental assets; improve measuring, monitoring and information; and encourage water conservation in cities.

Noting that private investment would be discouraged by insecure water access entitlements, he said Australia was proposing to grant permanent entitlements to water users.  Permanent entitlements would be tradable, leasable, mortgageable, have title registration, and be supported by robust reporting and accounting.  Farmers would not need entitlements for domestic use or watering their stock.  Irrigation planning would integrate community economic, social and environmental aspirations, and urban populations would contribute to improved national management of water resources.

Through the new Water Initiative, he concluded, Australia was planning for integrated water resource management at catchments, basin and aquifer levels; establishing robust and effective water governance arrangements; and supporting communities of users and other interested parties to identify and integrate objectives for water bodies, users and the environment.  Australia’s approach was scaleable, and different aspects could be stressed for different national contexts.

When delegations took the floor, many supported the ecosystem approach to integrated water management, with the representative of Switzerland saying that there could be no sustainable water management strategies without ensuring the protection and sustainable use of water ecosystems –- marshlands, forests, swamps -- which should be considered as the basic and natural infrastructures of water sanitation.  She stressed that the private sector should be encouraged to participate in ecosystem protection strategies.

A representative of the Farmers group said that she was alarmed that the most serious hindrance to sustainable water management was the overall lack of awareness, not only about water resources, but about preventing pollution and ensuring the safety of freshwater sources.  The thrust had to be on education and raising awareness of water management at all levels -- local, national and industrial.  The representative of Trade Unions urged the United Nations to continue working towards defining water as a human right.  He also hoped the Organization could find a way to discourage the privatization of water management facilities and resources.

The representative of South Africa said that while everyone welcomed the interest shown by rich countries in the issues under review today, there was some concern that if developed country donors drew up integrated water management strategies, they might not see the nuances and distinctions that developing countries could readily identify.  Every effort must be exerted to make special provisions for the needs of the poor, as well as the needs of the environment, he stressed.

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