Off the wire
French stock market index up 0.98 pct on Monday  • Israeli PM warns world countries over Iran deal as agreement deadline looms  • NATO troops practice response to chemical weapons attack  • Returning tourists arrested in north Russia on attempt to smuggle cocaine  • Update: Bomb alert negative, Turkish plane allowed to continue trip  • Pakistani, Saudi troops hold routine joint exercises  • Iran nuclear negotiators still finding solutions for remaining sticking points: Chinese FM  • U.S. stocks post solid gains with global shares  • Top Chinese political advisor meets Zambian President  • Top Chinese legislator meets Australian governor-general  
You are here:   Home

UN calls for speeding up actions on water management

Xinhua, March 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Deputy Secretary- General Jan Eliasson on Monday called for speeding up actions on water management, saying the world has to make real progress by the end of this year and beyond.

In a high-level interactive dialogue here, Eliasson made the appeal, while commending member states for including the goal of ensuring the "availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all" in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"This goal underpins progress in many areas and it can drive advances on sustainable water management," he added.

The high-level interactive dialogue was convened on the topic of the international decade for action "water for life": progress achieved and lessons learned for sustainable development.

The period 2005-2015 International Decade for Action "Water for Life" was proclaimed in a UN General Assembly resolution in December 2003. The decade officially started on World Water Day, March 22, 2005, and is wrapped up this year.

According to a UN report on Water for a Sustainable World, the planet is facing a 40 percent shortfall in water supply by 2030, unless the world dramatically improves the management of water resources.

In this regard, UN Water, the UN inter-agency mechanism for sanitation related matters, has recommended a SDG goal for water, which will include water governance and waste water management in the target areas, said the report.

The UN Millennium Development Goals are going to expire, and UN member states will agree on a post-2015 development agenda to replace them with an updated SDGs for the world's future development later this year. Endite