Welcome to the Global Water Sustainability Forum!
“From the Desk of the Topical Curator"
Welcome to the Global Water Sustainability Forum (GWSF) !!!
Water is essential for life, yet many millions of people around the world face shortages and daily struggle to secure clean and safe water for their basic needs. Millions of children especially in the developing world die every year from preventable water borne and water related diseases. Water-related natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and tsunamis exert a heavy tool in human life and suffering. And all too regularly, drought afflicts some of the world’s poorest countries, exacerbating hunger and malnutrition.
In the past decades, significant progress has been made in providing people with access to clean and safe drinking water and basic sanitation. But a major effort is still required in the decade and beyond to extend these essential services to those still unserved, the vast majority of whom are poor people.
Meeting the water and sanitation targets set by the international community for 2015 is a crucial step towards the ultimate goal of providing clean and safe water and adequate sanitation in particular and global water sustainability in general. Providing access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation is also fundamental for achieving the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as alleviating poverty, hunger and malnutrition; reducing child mortality; increasing gender equality; providing more opportunity for education; and ensuring environmental sustainability. Women and girls are overwhelmingly the water haulers of the world, a task that consumes valuable time and energy that girls could otherwise devote to schooling or women other income-generating or household activity.
Beyond meeting basic human needs, water contributes to sustainable development in other important ways. It is a major source of energy in some parts of the world, while in others its potential as an energy source remains largely untapped. Water is also necessary for agriculture and for many industrial processes. And in more than a few countries, it makes up an integral part of transport systems. With improved scientific understanding, the international community has also come to appreciate more fully the valuable services provided by water-related ecosystems, from flood control to storm protection and water purification. Already the world has started experiencing conflicts over water, but many countries successfully share river basins, inland seas and other predicted water resources, showing that this challenge can also be a powerful catalyst for international cooperation and global partnership building.
The International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, provides an excellent opportunity for the global community to advance towards a truly integrates approach to the management of the World’s Water Resources that ensures its sustainable use for generations to come.
You are all invited to join GWSF to give the decade the full support and promote global water sustainability for all!