Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter stresses the urgent need to improve the water supply throughout the world
Bern, 22.03.2013 - During an international meeting on water cooperation in The Hague today, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter stressed the importance of improving the water supply throughout the world. He said that the diversity and the number of future challenges around the issue of water mean that this should be an international priority. This is the goal of this meeting, which is part of the consultation process on water in order to produce a definition for the new United Nations Agenda for the fight against poverty.
By 2030, half of the world’s population will live in a region where water is in short supply. At the opening session of the conference on cooperation and water management at The Hague today, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), stressed the urgent need to establish sustainable management of water resources and to improve water supply throughout the world.
States, international organisations and representatives of civil society met in the The Hague as part of the consultation on water. This is one of the 11 thematic global consultations organised in order to define the new United Nations Development Agenda. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of the issue of water in international political agendas. The meeting of 22 March marks the end of this consultation process, the results of which will be presented in a declaration at the end of the day's discussions.
The increasing demand for water, inadequate supplies and poor management of waste water are challenges that have serious consequences for millions of human beings and for the environment. These challenges and their extensive impacts mean that water is a priority issue on the development agenda and on the international security agenda. This was the main thrust of the speech by Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter .
Switzerland, together with the Netherlands, Liberia and Jordan, organised the consultation on water and has supported the global dialogue on this issue from the outset. Mr Burkhalter said:" Switzerland wishes to see a world in which the equitable management of water promotes sustainable development in all the regions of the world." In 2012 the Confederation invested more than 160 million francs for water purification and for the supply of clean drinking water. In the United Nations, Switzerland also advocates that access to clean drinking water should be recognised as a basic human right.
The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation. The celebrations of the International Day of Water hosted by the Netherlands are the culmination of the 2013 water cooperation campaign. In Switzerland, measures connected with the International Day of Water are coordinated by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and by the Federal Office of the Environment (FOE). The Water Without Frontiers event in Bern on 22 March will mark the beginning of Switzerland's contribution to this international year.
For further information, please contact:
Jean-Marc Crevoisier
Head of FDFA Information
+41 79 763 84 10
Address for enquiries
FDFA Communication
Federal Palace West Wing
CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55
E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch
Twitter: @SwissMFA
Publisher
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html
