Tweet
"BEYOND SCARCITY: POWER, POVERTY AND THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS" PRESENTED AT UN HOUSE IN YEREVAN
Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 14 2006
Today, at the UN House in Yerevan Mr. Vardan Aivazyan, Minister of
Nature Protection of Armenia and Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN resident
coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Armenia presented the
2006 global human development report titled "Beyond scarcity: Power,
poverty and the global water crisis."
The Report calls on the governments of rich states to act urgently
to address the global water crisis: each year, the authors state,
1.8 million children die from diarrhoea that could be prevented with
access to clean water and a toilet; 443 million school days are lost
to water-related illnesses; and almost 50 percent of all people in
developing countries are suffering at any given time from a health
problem caused by a lack of water and sanitation.
"Like hunger, it is a silent emergency experienced by the poor and
tolerated by those with the resources, the technology and the political
power to end it," says the Report.
In recent years, Armenia initiated a number of reforms in the area of
water and sanitation management, as well as sustainable use of water
resources. Thanks to these efforts, water management and accessibility
have gradually improved in Yerevan and other major cities. Similar
positive trends were registered in terms of the level of Sevan Lake.
These achievements need to be acknowledged, but at the same time we
need to use this opportunity to draw the public and the government's
attention to the existing issues: endangered ecosystem of Sevan
due to the emerging swampness phenomena; lack of access to potable
water in many rural and urban communities in Armenia; intensified
desertification processes in Ararat and Armavir marzes; increased
deforestation in Tavush and Lori marzes.
Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 14 2006
Today, at the UN House in Yerevan Mr. Vardan Aivazyan, Minister of
Nature Protection of Armenia and Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN resident
coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Armenia presented the
2006 global human development report titled "Beyond scarcity: Power,
poverty and the global water crisis."
The Report calls on the governments of rich states to act urgently
to address the global water crisis: each year, the authors state,
1.8 million children die from diarrhoea that could be prevented with
access to clean water and a toilet; 443 million school days are lost
to water-related illnesses; and almost 50 percent of all people in
developing countries are suffering at any given time from a health
problem caused by a lack of water and sanitation.
"Like hunger, it is a silent emergency experienced by the poor and
tolerated by those with the resources, the technology and the political
power to end it," says the Report.
In recent years, Armenia initiated a number of reforms in the area of
water and sanitation management, as well as sustainable use of water
resources. Thanks to these efforts, water management and accessibility
have gradually improved in Yerevan and other major cities. Similar
positive trends were registered in terms of the level of Sevan Lake.
These achievements need to be acknowledged, but at the same time we
need to use this opportunity to draw the public and the government's
attention to the existing issues: endangered ecosystem of Sevan
due to the emerging swampness phenomena; lack of access to potable
water in many rural and urban communities in Armenia; intensified
desertification processes in Ararat and Armavir marzes; increased
deforestation in Tavush and Lori marzes.