PHA-Exchange> Water for People - Water for Life -

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> Water for People - Water for Life -
> The United Nations World Water Development Report
>
> UNESCO website:  <http://upo.unesco.org/bookdetails.asp?id=4042>
>
> ".......To what extent will population growth, rising levels of pollution,
> and climate change intensify the water crisis? Exactly how much water is
> available per person in countries around the world? How much will we need
> for food security in the next fifteen, twenty-five and fifty years?
>
> The international community has pledged to reduce by half the proportion
of
> people without access to water supply and sanitation by 2015. What regions
> are on track? How much will it cost to achieve these goals? What is the
> likelihood that countries will go to war over water in the near future?
>
> There questions and others are addressed in this Report, which offers the
> most comprehensive assessment to date of the state of the world's
freshwater
> resources, based on the collective inputs of 23 United Nations agencies
and
> convention secretariats. It is part of an on-going assessment process to
> measure progress towards achieving sustainable use of water resources, and
> to influence better formulation and implementation of water-related
> policies.
>
> The goal of sustainable development was first set at the Rio Earth Summit
of
> 1992 and has been restated or expanded in many forums since then. The UN
> Millennium Declaration of 2000 transformed general guidelines into
specific
> targets. The international community pledged ". . . to halve by 2015 the
> proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking
> water" and ". . . to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water
resources,
> by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and
> local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies."
> Thus, ten years after Rio it is time to take stock.
>
> The global overview is complemented by the presentation of seven pilot
case
> studies of river basins representing various social, economic and
> environmental settings: Lake Titicaca (Bolivia, Peru); Senegal river basin
> (Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal); Seine Normandy (France); Lake
> Peipsi/Chudskoe, (Estonia, Russia); Ruhuna basins (Sri Lanka); Greater
Tokyo
> (Japan); and Chao Phraya (Thailand);
>
> Please consult the World Water Assessment Program's website at:
> http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/ex_summary/
> <http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/ex_summary/>  for Executive
Summaries
> of the UN World Water Development Report online in 7 languages (English,
> French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Japanese, and Russian). In addition to
> these languages, Chinese and Bahasa-Malay are expected soon.
>
> *    *    *    *