The UN and Environmental
Sustainability of Water
Fryeburg Academy
Global Studies Class
March 8, 2012
1.
End Poverty
2.
Universal Education
3.
Gender Equality
4.
Child Health
5.
Maternal Health
6.
Combat HIV/AIDS
7.
Environmental Sustainability
8.
Global Partnership
Environmental Sustainability
Targets Goals
 Integrate the principles of
sustainable development
into country policies and
programs and reverse the
loss of environmental
resources
 Reduce biodiversity loss,
achieving, by 2010, a
significant reduction in the
rate of loss
 Achieve, by 2020, a
 Halve, by 2015, the
significant improvement in
proportion of the
the lives of at least 100
population without
million slum dwellers
sustainable access to
safe drinking water and
basic sanitation
3.575 Million People die every Year
from a Water Related Disease.
Every 20 seconds, a child dies
from a water-related illness
Women worldwide spend 200
million hours a day collecting
water
Installing water systems
 Since 2002, Brazil has been implementing the One
Million Rural Cisterns Programme.
 Installed 1,300 villagers in 2006, resulting in 20 litres of
affordable clean water a day being available to each
household.
 In Sri Lanka, the introduction of rainwater harvesting
tanks has enabled households to save on average $31
per month.
Last time we looked at all
the organizations that make
up the United Nations . . .
28 UN agencies deal with water!
Just to name a few !
 International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA)
 Word Health Organization
(WHO)
 United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF)
 World Bank
 United Nations Economic
Commission (UN EC)
 United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)
 World Meteorological
Organization (WMO)
 World Food Program (WFP)
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
 UNICEF helps governments and
partners implement communitybased water quality surveillance
systems to screen for
contaminants like human faeces,
arsenic, fluoride and nitrates.
 UNICEF also promotes a range of
low-cost sanitation, water and
hand-washing facilities and helps
improve sanitation and promote
hygiene, like hand washing, in
schools.
UN Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia
(ESCWA)
 In the Arab region, the ESCWA was tasked by the
Ministerial Water Council of the League of Arab States to
lead the establishment of a regional mechanism for
monitoring the water supply and sanitation targets and
other related indicators in Arab countries.
With only three years left . . .
 Some 1.7 billion people
have gained access to safe
drinking water since 1990.
 The world will meet or
even exceed the drinking
water target by 2015 if
current trends continue.
 86% of the population in
developing regions will
have gained access to
improved sources of
drinking water, up from 71
per cent in 1990.
Works Cited
"International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005-2015:
Homepage." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World.
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/ (accessed March 7,
2012).
United Nations Development Programme.
"Millennium Goal 7." GOAL 7 Ensure Environmental
Sustainability.
www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_FS_7_EN.pdf
(accessed March 7, 2012).
"Water
Crisis.”www.water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/://
(accessed March 7, 2012).