Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-13-Speech-1-131"
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"en.20060313.19.1-131"2
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".
Mr President, aid from the European Union and the Member States to improve the world’s water situation totals EUR 1.4 billion a year, which makes us the biggest single contributor of aid. Considering how large this sum is, it is clear that the EU’s message will also be heard at the World Water Forum starting this week, and that the Union’s message is therefore not insignificant. The figures are alarming: 3 900 children die every day because of a lack of clean water. One fifth of the world’s population, some 1.1 billion people, suffer from a lack of clean water. More than 40%, meanwhile, are without proper water and sewage services. The figures are also a reminder that talk of looming water wars must actually be taken seriously. This is not just a matter of unsustainable development: it also has to do with a threat to security.
The report by the UN which was published last week, entitled ‘Water: A Shared Responsibility’, says that the reason for the unsatisfactory situation in the world with regard to water is largely poor administration. Aid reaches its destination more slowly because of bureaucracy and hierarchical decision-making. Decisions regarding how and when water should be distributed, and to whom, are not just made at national level, but also by local authorities, in the private sector and within the domain of civil society. Aid is needed in particular in order to increase regional decision-making and cooperation, and in a spirit of fairness. The issue is surely not helped by the fact that many of those countries suffering a serious water shortage are also high up on the corruption list. For example, in India millions of dollars are wasted every year in the water sector on political corruption, according to Hindu.com. Nearly a third of Indians who replied to a survey say they have had to pay bribes to receive water and sewage services.
I would also like to remind everyone that improvements to the regional water situation cannot be separated from other areas of development policy. Recently, studies have been published showing that merely solving the water problem could even make the situation as a whole worse if it causes population growth to accelerate, which would lead to food shortages. Simply building a well is therefore not enough. In all development aid we have to take the overall view so that solving one problem does not lead to new shortages, which we obviously do not want."@en1
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