Kofi Annan statement

In April 2004, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, made the following remarks upon the start of the Sustainable Development Commission's work:

"Water is intimately linked with education and gender equality. Girls who have to spend time gathering water for the family tend not to be in school. And where schools have sanitation, attendance is higher, especially for girls.

Water is connected to health, since millions of children get sick and die every year from water-borne diseases and from lack of basic sanitation and hygiene.

It is linked to environmental protection, since poor water management degrades and squanders a precious resource.

It is linked to the urbanization of poverty, since rural impoverishment rooted in water and land-tenure issues drives people to migrate to already crowded cities -and most offer to their growing slums.

Tensions over water could even generate conflict, within and across borders, although water also offers great opportunities for cooperation.

So the stakes are high. Without an integrated approach, we could face a tangle of problems. But with one, we could generate a cascade of progress. Let us remember, though, that however much can be done at the international level - through aid and partnerships, for example - ultimately action on water, sanitation and settlements must be national and local : effective public administration, inclusive governance that involves communities and a real commitment to equity.

We need to overcome the entrenched interests and economic shortsightedness that hinder progress. And we need to act urgently on what has already been agreed. Let us, together, build the critical mass of actors and attitudes that is necessary to change course".