HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE RIGHT TO WATER OPENED BY SERGEI ORDZHONIKIDZE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA

“Access to clean water is a basic human right,” stressed Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva at a press conference on the right to water in anticipation of World Water Day (22 March.) “But securing access to water is not only an important goal in itself; it is also a prerequisite for realizing a number of the other Millennium Development Goals” the Director-General told journalists at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Also participating in the press conference were Mr. Alexander Likhotal, President, Green Cross International, Mr. Bertrand Charrier, Vice-President, Green Cross International, Mr. Alberto Velasco, President, Swiss Organization Committee for the Alternative World Water Forum 2005.

Mr. Ordzhonikidze underscored at the outset that the United Nations continued to play a central role in addressing the severe global water crisis. He recalled that at the Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders pledged themselves to halving by 2015 the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. Last year too, the International Year of Freshwater focused attention on the importance of freshwater for both security and development. Next week, on World Water Day, the International Decade “Water for Life”, proclaimed by the General Assembly, would turn its attention towards ensuring a greater focus on water-related issues and to further cooperation at all levels to achieve water-related goals of the Millennium Declaration, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development and Agenda 21.

“Without water, it is not possible to improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, combat communicable diseases and ensure environmental sustainability”Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze underlined.

The Director-General further stated that in September this year, world leaders would come together in New York for a high-level discussion of the progress made in implementing the commitments of the Millennium Declaration and in realizing the Millennium Development Goals – including the commitment concerning access to clean water. Later this month, the Secretary-General would publish his comprehensive report on the implementation of the Goals that will frame the discussions at the critical Summit. “I have no doubt that this report – and the discussions in September – will provide added impetus to our collective efforts to secure access to safe water for all”, he affirmed.

Mr. Ordzhonikidze concluded by saying, “I welcome this opportunity to draw attention to this crucial subject so that – in a firm partnership between Government, multilateral organizations and civil society – we may quicken the pace in securing this right for all”.

Mr. Likhotal spoke about the Green Cross International campaign on the right to water. He painted a gloomy picture: every eight seconds, a child died of water contamination; 10,000 people died every day from water-related diseases; and in the past ten years, more children would be lost to such diseases than to all armed conflict since World War II. Today, 1.1 billion people did not have access to safe drinking water and 2.4 billion people lacked basic sanitation but the situation could be remedied easily. If the governments of the developed world allocated USD 20 per capita– the price of 20 bottles of mineral water per year- towards fighting the water crisis, it would take ten years to resolve the problem, he said.

The international public campaign aimed to help in finding a solution to the problem of universal access to water and basic sanitation. Recognizing the vacuum in international law in addressing this issue, it would urge Governments to negotiate a Framework Convention on the Rights to Water. Green Cross International was expecting to collect at least one million signatures over three years through an online petition in support of the Convention, which would be presented to the United Nations. Via a campaign along the same lines a the mobilization by civil society to achieve the Ottawa Convention, citizens would gain a tool through which to assert their right to safe water and sanitation.

Alberto Velasco informed correspondents about the 2nd Alternative World Water Forum to be held in Geneva from 17 to 20 March 2005 and which aimed to promote public policy to enable universal access to potable water and the sustainable management of the resource. The Forum would explore four objectives: water as a human right, water as common property, water as public property financed by public authorities (such as the creation of a world water solidarity fund) and democratic water management. Parallel workshops would also take place on topics such as water and women in rural areas or water as source of conflicts in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

A journalist asked which countries had agreed to support the initiative. Why had so few shown interest? So far, Morocco, Tajikistan and Uganda had cooperated, with South Africa and Brazil showing great interest, said Mr. Likhotal. Since the idea had first come to light only in September 2004 at the Habitat Summit, the number of States was still low. Also, there was clearly a conflict of States’ interests involved but a strong citizen-led campaign had the power to sway governments, he said.

Asked which intergovernmental organizations were involved, he said that UNEP and UNESCO had been active. The UN Commission on Sustainable Development would also take up the issue next month in New York.