Statement of Director-General Dr LEE Jong-Wook to mark International Decade for Action: Water for Life 2005-2015

WHO/Dermot Tatlow

People who can turn on a tap and have safe and clean water to drink, to cook with and to bathe in often take it for granted — and yet more than one billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water. Each year, March 22 — World Water Day —marks an ongoing effort to promote access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This year's World Water Day marks the launch of the International Decade for Action: Water for Life 2005- 2015. These are critical years to focus global attention on what should be obvious -- that clean water is indispensable to sustain life.

Every week, diarrhoeal disease due to easily preventable causes claims the lives of 30 000 people, most of them young children. This is a silent humanitarian crisis that thwarts progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The consequences of our collective failure to tackle this problem are the dimmed prospects for the billions of people locked in a cycle of poverty and disease. The humanitarian case for action is clear; the economic case is just as strong. It has been estimated that an additional investment of around US$ 11.3 billion per year over and above current spending could result in a total economic benefit of US$ 84 billion annually. The economic benefits would range from US$ 3 to US$ 34 per US$ 1 invested, depending on the region.

As we enter the International Decade for Action: Water for Life, it is clear that achieving the Millennium Development Goals for safe drinking water and basic sanitation will bring benefits worth many times the investment involved. The right approaches have been developed, they are being used, but there is not enough involvement or commitment by governments, by the private sector, by nongovernmental organizations or by communities. Clean, safe drinking water and adequate sanitation underpins and will speed the achievement of all eight MDGs. The links between water and human health are powerful. It will also bring health, dignity and transformed lives to many millions of the world’s poorest people.

I urge everyone to look at World Water Day as another occasion to renew their commitment to providing clean, safe water to all who need it. On this World Water Day, and for the International Decade for Action, let us pledge to do our utmost to respond to the plight of one billion of our fellow human beings who are deprived of this vital resource - Water for Life.

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For more information contact:

Nada Osseiran
WHO/Geneva
Telephone: +41 22 791 4475
E-mail: osseirann@who.int