Water
Increasingly under threat
Top item on the agenda of the international community - water availability. Source: KfW Photo Archive / photothek.net
The subject of water has been on the United Nations' agenda for 40 years. Today, a series of decisions and action programmes form the framework for German Financial Cooperation in the water sector. Agenda 21, to which the governments and many non-governmental organisations committed themselves at the 1992 UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro, places the focus of attention on the relationship between economic efficiency, social justice, and the sustainable conservation of water as the natural basis of life.
"Water" in the Millennium Declaration
The United Nations Millennium Declaration, which was adopted at the 2000 Summit in New York, represents another milestone in the integration of development activities. The development goals derived at the summit ("Millennium Development Goals") are also relevant to the water sector. Amongst others the number of people with no sustainable access to clean drinking water or sanitation facilities should be halved by 2015 (MDG 7, target 10).
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, one of the areas added to the catalogue of Millennium Development Goals was that of "basic sanitation". The German Government's Programme of Action 2015 demonstrates its explicit commitment to this goal. It supports developing countries in ensuring the preservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, combating desertification, promoting biological security, safeguarding the water supply, and addressing international climate and forest protection.
Comprehensive View of Water Resources
Water is becoming a scarce commodity in more and more regions of the world, including North Africa, the Middle East, other African countries and Asia. Its quality is coming increasingly under threat. The main reason for this scarcity differ from one region to another: population growth, increasing urbanisation and industrialisation, rapidly growing demand from irrigated agriculture and the inefficient use of water resources. In some regions and seasons, climate change will exacerbate this situation even further. Therefore, a holistic approach to water resources is essential.
Water and Sanitation - a Basic Human Right
In July 2010 the UN General Assembly acknowledged the human right to clean drinking water and sanitation. Within the framework of German Financial Cooperation, KfW Entwicklungsbank is making an important contribution to the realisation of this human right. In its work, the KfW Entwicklungsbank places particular emphasis on implementing the core elements of this human right, in other words, on efforts to make the availability, quality, accessibility and affordability of water and sanitation a reality for more and more people.
Last updated: July 2011
