MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

8.3.2006

further to Question for Oral Answer B6‑0003/2006
pursuant to Rule 108(5) of the Rules of Procedure
by Eija-Riitta Korhola and Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City

B6‑0153/2006

European Parliament resolution on the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City on 16-22 March 2006,

–  having regard to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the 2005 final report of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation, entitled ‘Health, Dignity and Development: What Will It Take?’,

–  having regard to the second UN World Water Development Report, ‘Water, a Shared Responsibility’, launched on 9 March 2006,

–  having regard to the G8 Water Action Plan adopted at the Evian Summit in 2003, confirmed in the G8 Gleneagles declaration of 7 July, 2005,

–  having regard to the EU Water Initiative (EUWI) launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (WSSD) in 2002,

–  having regard to the ACP-EU Water Facility, launched in 2004,

–  having regard to the European Parliament’s resolution of 4 September 2003 on water management in developing countries[1],

–  having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas half of the world’s population is suffering from lack of sanitation or lack of access to drinking water, and there is clear evidence of a looming global water crisis threatening not only sustainable development but also peace and security,

B.  whereas MDG target 10 is to ‘cut in half, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation’,

C.  whereas women suffer disproportionately from insufficient access to drinking water and sanitation,

D.  whereas the European Union and its Member States provide some EUR 1.4 billion per year for water and sanitation in developing countries, making the EU the largest aid provider in the world in this sector,

E.  whereas the EUWI aims to increase international mobilisation with a view to achieving the MDGs and WSSD targets for drinking water and sanitation through strategic regional partnerships involving all stakeholders – governments, civil society, local authorities and the private sector,

F.  whereas the ACP-EU Water Facility aims, within the framework of the MDGs and the WSSD targets, to ‘boost the sustainable delivery of water and sanitation infrastructure and improve water governance and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) practices in ACP countries by helping to address the financing gap’,

1.  Underlines the importance of promoting regional cooperation in Africa within the framework of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), given that water problems are particularly acute in Africa;

2.  Underlines the need for sustainable service delivery of water supply and sanitation, requiring a long-term investment and involvement of all actors from the local to the international level, and in particular of governments; calls for all programmes to value local and regional expertise as a key factor of success in water policy making;

3.  Welcomes the G8 commitment to promoting access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries and the partnership with the African Development Bank initiative on rural water and sanitation; calls for regular follow-up reports on the implementation of the Water Action Plan;

4.  Welcomes the allocation of EUR 500 million from the 9th EDF, in addition to earlier funding amounting to EUR 475 million from the 9th EDF for water supply and sanitation, for the launching of the ACP-EU Water Facility; calls for water supply and sanitation to be adequately funded in the 10th EDF;

5.  Regards the low involvement of the private sector in the Water Facility to date as regrettable; believes that public-private partnerships can often provide answers to some of the barriers to access to water and sanitation;

6.  Underlines and supports the findings of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation according to which MDG target 10 will not be achieved unless a number of preconditions are met, including

• –increased development assistance and increased targeting of Least Developed Countries,
• –a reallocation of the resources of low- and middle-income developing countries towards the poorest,
• –an increased involvement of all relevant actors in order to create real ownership for water supply and sanitation initiatives and to focus on community mobilization;

7.  Calls for innovation and use of new technologies to be an integral part of water supply and sanitation programmes; underlines that small, locally operated water supply and sanitation systems can often compete in terms of both quality and cost with large-scale centralised systems;

8.  Calls for all water supply and sanitation programmes to include specific efforts directed at addressing gender inequalities – so as to ensure equal distribution of benefits and the opportunities resulting from them – and at supporting women’s role in the supply, management and maintenance of water resources;

9.  Underlines that action to improve water supply and sanitation must not be taken in isolation, but should rather be part of a coherent, cross-cutting development strategy that includes other policy areas such as health and education, infrastructure, capacity-building and good governance, as well as sustainable development strategies;

10.  Underlines the importance of early prevention of latent regional water-related conflicts, especially in regions where countries share a common basin; calls, in this context, on further EU and international efforts to improve regional water policy coordination and to promote the setting up of regional water management bodies;

11.  Calls on the Commission – in the framework of the programmes for economic aid – and on the WTO – in the framework of the newly agreed programme on ‘aid for trade’– to support access to supply and distribution of water as a necessary condition for improvement of the infrastructure;

12.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the ACP governments and national parliaments, the G8 Heads of State and the World Water Council.

• [1]  OJ C 76 E, 25.3.2004, p. 430.