Friday, December 10th, 2004
UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation Meets at TDLC
Second meeting of the board focuses on commitment, mobilization, integrated water resource management, and water-related disasters
Ruytaro Hashimoto (left), Patrizio Civili (middle), and William Cosgrove
The Tokyo Development Learning Center was honored to host the second meeting of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on December 9 and 10. The meeting was opened by Mr. Patrizio Civili, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and chaired by Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan.
Convening the advisory board in July, Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted the terrible costs of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. "Around 10,000 people will die today as a result of this preventable situation. That is unacceptable. The world has recognized that it is unacceptable. And it has also recognized that if we don't address water and sanitation issues, we can't have effective development strategies."
Mr. Annan made clear that the purpose of the board is "not to come up with new plans, but to help step up efforts to implement existing plans and meet agreed targets."
The second meeting of the advisory board featured three keynote presentations. Mr. Civili outlined the challenges facing the board; Mr. William Cosgrove, as Vice Chair of the International Conference on Integrated Water Resources Management, presented the conclusions from the conference which concluded in Tokyo immediately prior to the meeting; and Mr. Manuel Dengo, Chief of Water Natural Resources & Small Island Developing States Branch Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, presented the board's work program focusing on water and sanitation goals in the context of the Commission on Sustainable Development's 13th conference (CSD-13) scheduled for April 2005.
Munehiro Nakagai during his presentation
Mr. Muneharu Nakagai, the mayor of Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture, gave a dramatic presentation on the immense flood damage inflicted on the district by a series of strong typhoons. The board then began three back-to-back working sessions to discuss issues related to the board's mandate of commitment, mobilization, and integrated management.
The board then began three back-to-back working sessions to discuss issues related to the board's mandate of commitment, mobilization, and integrated management. In the afternoon of the first day the GDLN allowed a videoconferencing connection with Mr. Kalyan Ray, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch, UN-HABITAT.
The second day of the meeting saw the presentation of findings and discussions, and the consideration of next steps. Mr. Hashimoto made closing remarks and he and Mr. Civili jointly addressed a press conference with journalists and media gathered at the TDLC.
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Related Links:
United Nations Division for Sustainable Development: Water
Water resources in the United Nations System
