STOCKHOLM, Sept. 6, 2010 - About 2,500 leading water experts are convening in Stockholm for the 20th annual World Water Week, which opened this morning with calls for better facilitated efforts addressing escalating global water challenges.
Held under the theme: “Responding to Global Changes: The Water Quality Challenge” the meeting comes at a time when both water issues and their solutions have never been more globally integrated and complex. The need to expand horizons beyond current spheres of cooperation gives participants at this year’s World Water Week a renewed drive to connect the dots to achieve the desired impact.
“Bad water kills more people than HIV, malaria and wars together, affecting the lives of families and the economic development of many countries around the world. We are also increasingly seeing that ecosystems and their services are being degraded by pollution, which will affect all functions of society,” said Mr. Anders Berntell, Executive Director of Stockholm International Water Institute, in his welcome address at the opening session.
The World Water Week is designed to build capacity, promote partnerships, and review progress on the correlations between water quality, access and related Millennium Development Goals such as poverty reduction and public health. Other issues raised during the week include climate change adaptation, urbanisation, water governance, the human rights to water and sanitation, and the growing strategic water concerns for businesses.
More than 20 ministers, including the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson are joined by leading experts in Stockholm to address these issues.
“A great deal has happened since World Water Week was launched 20 years ago. For example, today, almost two billion more people have access to safe drinking water compared with twenty years ago, and around 1.5 billion more people have access to sanitation. The provision of safe water has actually outperformed global population growth and given more than eight million people, roughly the population of Sweden, access to safe water every month – for 20 years!” said Carlsson during the official World Water Week opening address.
The opening day included a speech by the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, Dr. Rita Colwell, who warned that shortcomings in addressing the water quality issue, coupled with climate changes, could lead to disastrous outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera, which would in turn affect economic and national security. The opening day includes a high-level panel debate on water quality, where amongst other experts and policy makers Hon. Charity Kaluki Ngilu, Minister of Water and Irrigation, Kenya and Mr. José Lopez, Executive Vice President Operations, Nestlé will discuss the causes of water pollution and how to address it against variables such as demographic and climate changes.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of both the World Water Week and the Stockholm Water Prize. A majority of the previous Stockholm Water Prize laureates are present in Stockholm in observance of the jubilee to share their solutions to future water challenges at a special laureates’ seminar later during the Week in the presence of H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
About the World Water Week in Stockholm:
The World Water Week in Stockholm is the annual meeting place for the planet’s most urgent water-related issues. Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), it brings together 2500 experts, practitioners, decision makers and business innovators from around the globe to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions. www.worldwaterweek.org
About Stockholm International Water Institute:
The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a policy institute that contributes to international efforts to combat the world's escalating water crisis. SIWI develops and promotes future-oriented and knowledge–integrated policies, towards sustainable use of the world’s water resources leading to sustainable development and poverty eradication. www.siwi.org
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