By Maureen Lorenzetti
At a United Nations summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, the US and Japan pledged to expand efforts to provide clean water and sanitation to the world's poor. The US delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) said the two countries will pursue joint or parallel water projects whenever possible, State Department officials said.
The initiative will accelerate and expand international efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation.
"Water is the key to life," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. "Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is essential to life, dignity and well being."
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said, "Rising from Johannesburg, I am confident that this stream of partnership will become a big river, as it runs through Asia and Europe next year."
The State Department said the United States will provide more than $970 million over the next three years for clean water projects. Japan has provided more than 40 million people access to safe drinking water and will implement clean water grant, loan and technical assistance programs, Japanese officials said.
"And these efforts will continue with Japan's initiative to improve access to safe and stable water and sanitary sewage systems," according to a joint statement. Japan will implement its grant and loan aid as well as technical cooperation for this purpose in close cooperation with local municipalities, NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and the business sector.
UN officials said that nearly one-third of the world's population lives with chronic shortages of water that directly threaten human health, agriculture and economic development. More than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, more than 2 billion to adequate sanitation. Some 6,000 children die every day from water related diseases. By 2025, nearly two-thirds of the world's population will experience some form of water-related stress.