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DAM-L [right-to-water] African Ministers Mobilize to Finance Clean Water (fwd)
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Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 18:42:53 -0600
Subject: [right-to-water] African Ministers Mobilize to Finance Clean Water
To: dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
Message-ID: <200112111845640.SM01396@mail.iatp.org>
Right to Water (right-to-water@iatp.org) Posted: 12/11/2001 By svarghese@iatp.org
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African Ministers Mobilize to Finance Clean Water
BONN, Germany, December 10, 2001 (ENS) - African ministers in charge of
water from 22 countries are urging that action to reduce death rates due to
poor hygiene and polluted water be placed at the core of the next year's
World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa. There is a need
for "drastic measures to improve water, sanitation and hygiene conditions
for all our peoples," they declared.
The recommendation, which marks a new strategy in the field of water policy
for Africa, comes in the wake of figures showing that 6,000 people a day,
or over two million a year, are dying as a result of sub-standard sanitation.
In their Ministerial Declaration at the close of the International
Conference on Freshwater here last week, the ministers point out that with
a population increase of 400 million by 2010, at least 17 countries on the
African continent will be short of water within a decade. "Their lack of
water will severely constrain food production, ecosystem protection and
socio-economic development," the ministers warned.
They called for a regional and global alliance and financial support for
tackling water and sanitation problems.
The ministers have agreed to mobilize resources to meet water challenges
and to try and create the conditions to attract the massive investments
needed for water and sanitation. "It is our hope that future international
support will be proportionate to the gravity and magnitude of the water and
sanitation problems in Africa," the statement said.
The 17 point Declaration, agreed to by the ministers of Angola, Benin,
Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda, flags a
range of concerns.
With recurring droughts and chronic water shortages in many areas, the
majority of African governments and people pay an increasingly high price
for the water or the lack of it.
"The highest price is often paid by the poor majority in terms of money to
buy small quantities of water, calories expended to fetch water from
distant sources, impaired health, diminished livelihoods and even lost
lives, thus exacerbating the cycle of poverty. Today over 300 million
people in Africa still do not have reasonable access to safe water. Even
more lack adequate sanitation," says the Declaration.
The ministerial statement highlights how habitats, ecosystems and aquatic
species are at risk from the increasing demand for water and the lack of
agreements between countries on the equitable share of water resources such
as underground aquifers, lakes and rivers.
"With over 50 major, international, water basins in Africa, procedures for
avoiding or resolving international disputes over water are largely
lacking," the ministers acknowledged.
The Declaration underscores Africa's commitment to tackle these issues
through the New Partnership for Africa's Development, adopted by African
Heads of State in Lusaka, Zambia on July 11.
Key actions that need to be carried out by African countries and the
international community to deliver sufficient safe and clean water for
people and wildlife include governance of the water sector,
intergovernmental policy dialogue and financing.
The ministers agreed to hold a meeting of the 53 African ministers in
charge of water in Nigeria in March or April next year.
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