Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will present a milestone report – Securing Water, Sustaining Growth – on the linkages between water security and economic development.
Securing Water, Sustaining Growth, written by an international task force and published by the University of Oxford, looks at water’s destructive force as well as its contribution to human health and prosperity.
A High Level Panel of Vice Presidents, Ministers, and representatives of NGOs and the business sector will release a Policy Statement (based on the report) calling on governments to invest in water security, in risk management, and in people and partnerships.
The call for action in Korea comes at a time when world leaders are negotiating a new post-2015 development agenda, which should be adopted at the U.N. General Assembly in September. This includes a set of Sustainable Development Goals, one of which calls for ‘ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.’ This new report reinforces the urgent need for that goal.
The relevance of the report and the Policy Statement has been borne out by recent news of South Africa’s worst drought in 22 years, the Atacama region of Chile experiencing its worst flood in 80 years, and the governor of California mandating a massive reduction in water use due to unprecedented drought.
More information about the report’s findings will be released on 13 April. For media interviews:
Steven Downey, Head of Communications, GWP, Tel. +46 (0)76 677 8640, E-mail: steven.downey@gwp.org
Eva Blässar, Writer & Media Officer, GWP, Tel. +46 (0)76 677 8635, E-mail: eva.blassar@gwp.org