America.gov (Washington, DC)
Nancy L. Pontius
4 September 2008
Littleton — U.S. experts and water specialists from more than 140 countries met August 17 to 23 in Stockholm, Sweden, at the 2008 World Water Week conference to lend momentum to solving water-related problems that cause millions of deaths each year.
Increasing access to adequate sanitation was the conference theme for the 2,400 professionals who attended from academia, government, business and science.
The conference heightened "awareness of the crucial importance of water, sanitation and hygiene to improving public health conditions, especially as this meeting draws a high-level policy audience that is in a position to highlight these issues," Richard Gelting, environmental engineer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told America.gov.
SANITATION
Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation, and that causes the deaths of 1.4 million children under age 5 each year. Inadequate sanitation is the world's largest and most ignored humanitarian crisis, according to conference speakers.
"This year, the conference sought to draw attention to the gap between sanitation delivery and safe water delivery," said Michael McClain, director of the Global Water for Sustainability program at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). "Twice as many people in the world lack access to adequate sanitation as lack access to safe drinking water," he said.
At the opening session, conference speakers criticized this gap as inexcusable, adding that although aspects of sanitation can be embarrassing for some, inadequate sanitation is truly a life-and-death issue for millions and needs more concerted, worldwide attention. Community hygiene education remains a critical component, McClain said.
Funding sanitation infrastructure and facilities and hygiene education remains a constant concern, even though this investment has been shown to be the most cost-effective intervention for public health.
"The U.S. government is committed each year to investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a very strategic manner in water supply and sanitation around the world, carried out primarily through USAID programs," McClain said. U.S. aid targets investments in facilities, technical capacity building, community hygiene education and strengthening governance structures, he said.
To improve sanitation in Asia, USAID signed an agreement during World Water Week with the International Water Association and the Asian Development Bank. The pact established a partnership to improve access to sanitation and clean drinking water by providing training and mentoring to water operators throughout Asia.
Another USAID program, ECO-Asia, sets up partnerships between Asian cities to build on local expertise in sanitation, drinking water and environmental concerns.
To strengthen wastewater and drinking water utilities around the world, an ongoing USAID program assists with financing mechanisms, system expansion and business practices, said Jim Franckiewicz, USAID water team leader.
A raindrop hangs on the tip of a leaf in Freiburg, southern Germany.
A new USAID emphasis on public-private partnerships teams U.S. and foreign governments with private U.S. companies. "For example, Coca-Cola and Hilton are providing humanitarian assistance for water supply, sanitation and hygiene [projects] in Africa," Franckiewicz said.
The USAID Global Development Commons is a new umbrella partnership for any organization working to improve water supply and sanitation internationally, he said. The U.S. government wants to partner with public and private groups to improve efficiency and increase the benefits derived from investments.
To enhance public health conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean, Gelting said, CDC's National Center for Environmental Health is working with international and local partners to help water-service providers improve the reliability of drinking-water systems.
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Competing demands for water resources remain a challenge, conference attendees said. Water management requires balancing fair and efficient use of water with environmental impacts. Poor management of water resources can damage public health and ecosystems.
One USAID program that works with local communities on sustainable water-resource management, sanitation, clean water and healthy ecosystems is Global Water for Sustainability, or GLOWS -- a consortium of international and local partners working to provide sustainable, clean water to people and ecosystems.
Conference speakers said effective water-resource management is particularly critical when water supplies are shared by different countries because water conflicts are often part of larger political and social tensions.
To help resolves these conflicts, speakers recommended continued communication and knowledge sharing among scientists, government officials, water operators and water users.
"Communication among these groups is perhaps the most important benefit of World Water Week," McClain said, "because the conference provides a rare opportunity for interaction and new understanding of issues each group faces."
CLIMATE CHANGE
The official conference summary report states that climate change intensifies the impacts of nonclimate threats to water resources, which include increased consumption and population growth. Nonclimate causes of water degradation require equal or greater attention than climate change.
According to the summary, uncertainty about the effects of climate change is inevitable; therefore, "no regrets" measures with multiple benefits should be implemented. Climate policies should avoid unnecessary impacts on water resources and ecosystems, such as from biofuels and poorly designed hydropower and water storage systems.
Additional information about 2008 World Water Week, including the full text of the USAID agreement with the International Water Association and the Asian Development Bank, is available at the World Water Week Web site.
More information about USAID water programs is available through the USAID Web site.
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