“Hopes of a breakthrough in the global sanitation and water crisis at the G8 summit were [...] dashed as the G8 delivered a communique largely devoid of concrete actions to help the 2.6 billion people lacking access to a safe toilet, and the 1.1 billion people lacking access to clean water”.
“Instead of agreeing an action plan to tackle what a recent WaterAid report claims kills more children than any other single factor, G8 leaders were content to report on progress at the 2009 summit and take steps to implement the discredited 2003 G8 Evian Water Action Plan“.
“Proposals included in earlier communique drafts for an annual meeting and review to drive progress had been removed, while the G8 failed to provide any specific financial commitments”.
Read more: End Water Poverty, 08 Jul 2008
Read below the paragraph on Water and Sanitation in the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit Leaders Declaration og 8 July 2008:
47. Good water cycle management is crucial in order to address the issue of water, which has a cross-sectoral nature. In this regard, acknowledging the need to accelerate the achievement of the internationally agreed goals on water and sanitation, we will reinvigorate our efforts to implement the Evian Water Action Plan and will review it on the basis of a progress report prepared by our water experts by the next Summit. We will discuss with African partners the development of an enhanced implementation strategy. Moreover, we will promote integrated water resource management and the concept of ‘Good Water Governance’, with particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific, by taking necessary actions such as strengthening of trans-boundary basin organizations, sharing of water-related expertise and technology with developing countries, support for capacity building for water-related initiatives, promotion of data collection and utilization, and adaptation to climate change. We also acknowledge that ensuring adequate water supplies for human, industrial and environmental uses while minimizing the impacts of extreme hydrological variability are critical to protecting human health, promoting sustainable economic growth, and ensuring peace and security.
(a) We call upon national governments, in this International Year of Sanitation, to prioritize access to sanitation, building on the initiatives agreed at conferences on sanitation in Asia-Pacific and Africa. In this regard, we support the leadership role of the African Ministers’ Council on Water and the action of the African Development Bank.
(b) We will support efforts to improve the governance of the water and sanitation sector with a view to ensure that monitoring and reporting, at the international and national levels, are improved and that institutions responsible for delivering water and sanitation services are more capable, accountable and responsive to the needs of users.
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Make sure world leaders talk toilets at the UN « Sanitation Updates // September 10, 2008 at 4:46 pm |
[...] on from the G8 summit, this is the next big chance for the End Water Poverty coalition to get world leaders to take [...]