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 Mike Muller, Soutth African delegate"We can't expect the poor to pay the full cost of water"  real 28k Novelist Arundhati RoyDams "built in the name of the poor" real 28kSir Richard Needham, Conservative PartyDams "are enormously beneficial" real 28k |
The poor are hit first and hardest... Together we have one common goal: to provide water security in the 21st Century  |
Hague declaration
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But the forum has been criticised by many delegates for failing to address the real needs of the poor.
The six-day conference, timed to end on World Water Day, brought together more than 4,000 delegates from 150 countries to discuss ways of improving water provision.
Hague Declaration: Main challenges |
Securing the food supply
Sharing water resources
Managing risks from natural
disasters and pollution
Making price of water reflect cost
Involving public in managing resources
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But it did not suggest a funding source, either by the public or private sector - an issue that had been heatedly debated throughout the forum.
According to the United Nations-backed World Commission on Water, investment in water will have to double to $180bn a year to meet targets, and only the private sector can muster capital on this scale.
But South African Director General of Water and Forestry Mike Muller told the BBC's Newshour programme that poor people were unlikely to prove profitable to private companies.
"We can't expect the poor to pay the full cost of water as a condition for them to get access to what we believe is a basic human right," he said.
It is estimated that a billion people worldwide already have no access to clean water, and two billion lack proper sanitation.
Averting water wars
If trends continue, half the people on Earth will not have access to clean water by 2025.
UN forecast for next 25 years |
48 countries will be severely short of water
Half the world's population will have no access to clean water
Environmental refugees could reach 100m
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No specific reference was made to disputes arising from water issues in the Ministerial Declaration, other than a pledge to work within established international institutions to "strengthen water-related policies."
The third World Water Forum will take place in Japan in 2003.
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