L’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies a déclaré l’année 2008 comme l’Année internationale de l’assainissement. En conséquence, la Journée mondiale de l’eau, qui était célébrée cette année le jeudi 20 mars, souhaitait metter en relief les questions d’assainissement. In accordance with the International Year of Sanitation, proclaimed by the United Nations for 2008, World Water Day will focus this year on sanitation. It was celebrated yesterdayon 20 March. UNESCO's Director-General message for World Water Day
A cette occasion, nous vous proposons de lire une partie de la déclaration de M. Koïchiro Matsuura, directeur général de l’UNESCO.
Reducing half the proportion of people living without access to improved sanitation by 2015 is one of the Millennium Development Goals.
The issue is crucial: according to UN-Water, more than 40% of the world’s population lives without satisfactory water sanitation. About 90% of sewage and 70% of industrial waste in developing countries are discharged untreated into watercourses, often polluting the usable water supply. The consequences are considerable: it is estimated that 88% of the global burden of disease is attributable to unsafe water supply, lack of sanitation and hygiene.
Within this context, the International Year of Sanitation developed five key messages: Sanitation is vital for human health; Sanitation generates economic benefits; Sanitation contributes to dignity and social development ; Sanitation helps the environment; Improving sanitation is achievable.
UNESCO participates in this effort. UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) focuses on sanitation through sustainable urban water resources management. The UNESCO-IHE Institute for water education, based in Delft (the Netherlands) supports research and capacity building in the field of sanitation.
Published every three years, the Report on the sustainable management of water resources will be presented in 2009 on the occasion of World Water Day. Entitled Water in a Changing World, it will focus in particular on the links between water and climate change.
UNESCO's Director-General message for World Water Day [PDF format - 166 KB]
Related links:
:: Sanitation Facts and Figures
:: About World Water Day
:: International Year of Sanitation (IYS)
:: World Water Day 2008
:: UNESCO Water Portal
