COP22 spotlights water as part of the climate change solution
“Water is one of the most impacted resources, but water also provides solutions to these challenges,” stressed the President of the World Water Council.
World leaders, part of new High-Level Panel, call for action on water
The High Level Panel on Water, consisting of 11 sitting [...]
Media advisory: High-Level Panel on Water stakeout
The High Level Panel on Water, which consists of 11 sitting Heads of State and Government and one Special Adviser, issued today a Call to Action that advocates for a fundamental shift in the way the world looks at water.
At start of World Water Week, UNICEF highlights how girls lose time collecting water
The opportunity cost from a lack of access to water disproportionately falls on women and girls who collectively spend as much as 200 million hours every day collecting it.
Media advisory: Briefing on ‘Water and Jobs’ report
Briefing on the 2016 UN World Water Development Report, “Water [...]
Businesses show SDG support with new #WASHforWork initiative
11 leading organizations introduced a new initiative called WASH4Work, aimed at mobilizing greater business action to address water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges in the workplace, communities where workers live, and across supply chains.
Threats to forests could imperil global freshwater supplies
Safeguarding forests is essential for sustainable management of global freshwater resources and avoiding water shortages, according to United Nations officials and forest experts at an event today marking the International Day of Forests.
Sanitation becomes separate UN human right in enhanced fight against infection
With more than 2.5 billion people worldwide, one third of the total population, living without access to proper toilets, the United Nations General Assembly has recognised sanitation as a separate human right in a bid to curb a major source of deadly infections.
UNICEF urges swift action, ‘robust financing’ to close water and sanitation gaps in sub-Saharan Africa
Some 180,000 children under the age of five die every year – roughly 500 a day – in sub–Saharan Africa due to diarrhoeal diseases linked to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene, the United Nations Children''s Fund (UNICEF) warned today ahead of a conference in the region on boosting financing for the sector.
Children under five account for one third of deaths from foodborne diseases – new UN report
Diarrhoeal diseases are responsible for more than half of all foodborne diseases globally and of all those who fall ill after consuming contaminated food, 420,000 people die – almost third of them children under the age of five, the World Health Organization said today in its first ever report on the issue.
Special UN event stresses key role of water management in tackling challenges of climate change
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted a meeting on the links between water management and disaster risk reduction today, stressing that floods, droughts and cyclones have caused more than $1 trillion in damages and affected over 4 billion people since 1990.
New global arena needed to confront water challenges, UN board says
The supreme importance of water and sanitation to development and well-being merits creation of a powerful new global arena inside the UN, dedicated to resolving water conflicts and common challenges while tracking progress against the world’s newly-agreed development goals.
Millions of children’s lives at stake as El Niño strengthens, UNICEF ‘wake-up call’ report warns
As a result of a strengthening El Niño, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is warning that an estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa alone, as the weather phenomenon has left droughts and floods in its wake throughout parts of Asia, the Pacific and Latin America.
Millions of children will fall behind unless new UN development goals focus on most in need – UNICEF
The global community will fail millions of children if it does not focus on the most disadvantaged, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns in its final report on achievement of the child-related UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), emphasizing that “we were not ambitious enough” to reach those with the greatest needs.
In Tajikistan, UN chief highlights importance of safe water, sanitation and human rights
Kicking off a high-level event on water in Tajikistan today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged nations in the region and beyond to renew their commitment to safe water and sanitation as the international community forges ahead with the post-2015 development agenda and climate change intensifies the need to act.
UN food agency warns of 2050 deadline for dwindling water supplies, urges government action
Although the world's water supplies are expected to remain sufficient for a global population of nine billion in 2050, continuing overconsumption and the impact of climate change will diminish their availability in many of the planet's neediest regions, according to a new United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report.
A “water secure future” is possible with changes to water management practices
A possible 40 per cent water shortfall in freshwater supplies by 2030 could be avoided if the international community takes recommended action, according to the 2015 World Water Development report.
Deputy UN chief calls for ‘hydro-diplomacy’ as world faces growing water shortages
30 March 2015 - The international community must gear up for a new era of “hydro-diplomacy” as the threat of water scarcity risks plunging the world into a period of geopolitical tension and stunted development, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told delegates gathered at the General Assembly today.
World Water Day 2015: UN calls for global unity in pursuit of better water access for all
As the perils of climate change increasingly threaten the planet, the international community must unite in “a spirit of urgent cooperation” to address the many water-related challenges facing humanity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared today.