As the International Decade for Action “Water for Life” begins, the United Nations and Governments are seeking to galvanise efforts to meet the internationally agreed targets of halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. Ministers and government delegates will meet next month in New York to take policy decisions on practical measures and options to accelerate progress toward these and other water-related goals at the Commission for Sustainable Development’s 13th session.

The ‘Water for Life’ Decade, which will be launched next week on World Water Day (22 March), calls on the international community to strengthen efforts to increase access to water and sanitation for all. The Decade aims to promote efforts to fulfil international commitments made on water and water-related issues by 2015, placing special emphasis on the involvement and participation of women in these efforts.

“This is an urgent matter of human development, and human dignity,” stated UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his message to launch the ‘Water for Life’ Decade. “Together, we can provide safe, clean water to all the world’s people. The world’s water resources are our lifeline for survival, and for sustainable development in the 21st century.”

Meeting the targets on water and sanitation would also contribute significantly to the realization of other UN Millennium Development Goals, including reducing poverty, promoting gender equality, reducing child and maternal mortality and providing universal primary education. The importance of achieving these two targets, together with that of achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020, was behind the decision by governments to focus on these three issues in the first two-year cycle of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development’s new programme of work.

Governments to decide on policy options and actions
To be held from 11 to 22 April 2005, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development’s Thirteenth Session (CSD-13) will be the first policy-setting session since the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg in 2002. The aim of the meeting is to decide on concrete policy options and actions to be taken to address obstacles and constraints and expedite implementation to achieve the goals and targets related to water, sanitation and human settlements in Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

“The importance of the work of CSD-13 cannot be overestimated. The policy options and actions Governments are expected to agree on will underpin our common endeavours in the coming years to meet the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation targets and commitments in water, sanitation and human settlements,” stated H.E. Dr. John W. Ashe, Chairman of CSD-13.

Increasing the participation of women in decision making on water and sanitation was one of the issues on the table at the recent preparatory meeting for the Commission on Sustainable Development, in addition to its being a key focus of the ‘Water for Life’ Decade.

“We need to free women and girls from the daily chore of hauling water, often over great distances. We must involve them in decision-making on water management. We need to make sanitation a priority. This is where progress is lagging most,” stated UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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