Message from

Shoji Nishimoto

Assistant Administrator and Director of Bureau for Development Policies

UNDP

 

On the occasion of

The World Water Day: Water and Disasters

22 March 2004

 

Water is fundamental to development and poverty eradication.  Availability of potable water is the most basic of human needs and at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals.  However, lack of access to safe water and sanitation continue to impact the health and quality of life of almost half of humanity.  Still 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water supply and some 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation – with the predominant majority living in developing countries. The number of people, mainly children under five, dying from diarrheoal diseases is equivalent to twenty fully loaded jumbo jets crashing every day, with no survivors. Raw sewage from households and other residues from agricultural or industrial sources are increasingly affected freshwater ecosystems and aquifer crucial to the development of downstream communities and countries.

 

Lack of access to sustainable water services is more due to poor demand-and-supply management than to actual water scarcity.  The weak  water governance system results in making water as the greatest “killer” in the world - either through its scarcity or its overabundance, or its role as vector of disease.  Its shortage can intensify competition and the potential for conflict over access to shared water resources.  Its overabundance causes floods and landslides with a growing toll in downstream communities that are predominantly poor and vulnerable.  Water degradation exacerbates the impact of droughts, floods, and other natural hazards, particularly in ecologically-fragile areas where the poor people often live.  Its effects are most seriously felt by women and children.

 

Sprawling cities are growing focuses of risks, both in terms of intensifying the demand for clean water and sanitation, and waste disposal. The absence of adequate urban planning institutions, in addition to the spontaneous growth of marginal housing by the urban poor located in high risk areas, exacerbates the situation. Urban risks also tend to be complex and involve many different hazards and forces, in which water is a crucial variable for risk reduction.

 

These losses are compounded by the impact of natural disasters including droughts and floods. For instance, some 196 million people on average every year in more than 90 countries are exposed to catastrophic flooding.  Between 1980 and 2000, flood damages caused some 170,000 deaths worldwide.  While the risk from drought is complex to measure, a total of 220 million people were found to be annually exposed to drought. UNDP’s recently launched Disaster Reduction Report emphasizes that the incidence of weather and water-related events has increased and it seriously undermines development assets. Natural disasters are a problem of development and countries with similar exposure to natural hazards face different degrees of losses and impacts.  

            Global climate change further complicates the situation and may amplify these fast growing risks.  Recent research suggests that even gradual climate change could abruptly slow ocean’s thermohaline conveyor which could lead to persistent droughts and winter storms and intense winds in critical agricultural regions leading to a significant drop in our planet’s human carrying capacity. 

 

Given the increased uncertainty from climate variability and change, risk management must be an intrinsic component of development planning and policies failing which human losses and the destruction of productive and physical infrastructure will continue unabated. While climate variability and change have to be a component of all integrated water management strategies, these strategies also reduce vulnerability and risks to the livelihoods of the poor and the disadvantaged.  A risk management approach is needed beyond disaster response, addressing the root causes of vulnerability to natural hazards, as well as promoting sustainable development.

 

As we celebrate the World Water Day: Water and Disasters, we are reminded that much of water related loss of life reflects the growing gap between countries in terms of access to basic sanitation and secure water supply. Disasters are a reminder of effective management and therefore equitable development.  Water and Human Security are at the heart of United Nations Millennium Summit Goals.  The International Strategy for the Reduction of Disasters (UNISRD) and UNDP are in a key position to forge more holistic development strategies in which water management integrates risks from climate variability and change to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable and equitable development.

 

The universal in-country presence and regional and global networks give UNDP unique opportunities to help countries access and apply global water resources knowledge and good practices. Through multilateral financial instruments such as Global Environment Facility and the Montreal Protocol, UNDP is actively involved in managing projects that have a direct bearing on ecosystem conservation and restoration, as well as on rural livelihoods and renewable energy, all of which can contribute to mitigate the impacts of present and future risks from climate variability and change.

 

            UNDP advocates directing a significantly larger proportion of development resources toward preventing or reducing the impacts of global climate change including climate related disasters so that in the long run, fewer resources will be required for post-crisis rehabilitation of consequent damages.

 

            Within the framework of UNDPs Water Governance Programme, risk management strategies will empower stakeholders and improve poor people’s access to the resources needed to meet their basic needs.  We believe such a strategy would encourage development agencies to shift resources toward strategies aimed at preventing, rather than merely responding to, climate change-related disasters. It will also provide insights into accessing financial insurance for climate related natural disasters and extreme events by people in the developing countries, from which they are currently excluded.