Het Koninklijk Huis
Toespraak Prins van Oranje tijdens UNSGAB-vergadeirng in Riyad
Toespraak van de Prins van Oranje, voorzitter van de Adviesraad voor water
en sanitatie van de Secretaris-Generaal van de Verenigde Naties (UNSGAB),
tijdens de 11e vergadering van UNSGAB in Riyad, Saudi-Arabië
De toespraak is in het Engels gehouden.
Our Board is truly honored to meet here in this beautiful facility and
I would like to sincerely thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the
Royal House for pulling together our sessions on such short notice.
This organizational feat is all the more impressive since right now
four additional water related events besides this one are taking place
in Riyadh. I understand that not one extra hotel room is available in
the entire city! And, it is a fitting welcome for water world
representatives since the city has just experienced one of the wettest
weeks on record! I'm sure the cities sewage and drainage crews have
been working double time.
I would also like to thank others whose support has helped make these
sessions possible--the secretariat of the Arab Water Council, which
is chaired by our esteemed Board member, Dr. Abu Zeid, and the
Islamic Development Bank. Welcome to Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani,
president of the Islamic Development Bank - thank you for making time
in your busy schedule. Welcome also to the UN Representative
Assistant Secretary-General Mr. Thomas Stelzer. We are increasing our
collaboration with many branches of the UN and our secretariat has
been significantly strengthened by Mr. Stelzer's department. You being
here with us now, during the busiest months in the UN Agenda, means a
lot to us!
Last night we were honored to attend the awards ceremony for the Price
Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, which recognizes
those dedicated scientists who drive innovation in water management.
I congratulate the recipients, and also commend Prince Sultan for
creating this opportunity to recognize and reward the commitment of
water scientists internationally.
Our meetings in Riyadh have been planned to take advantage of the fact
that water ministers representing Arab Countries are gathering here
and we are delighted to be meeting them in a regional dialogue this
afternoon. We have held regional dialogues in Africa, South and East
Asia as well as Latin America and the Caribbean - all have resulted in
agreements to enhance future collaboration. In the case of Africa, we
agreed that there was a need to focus high level attention to propel
water and sanitation issues to the top of national and regional
agendas and so we proposed an African Union Summit on Water and
Sanitation, which then took place in June of this year. I was able to
participate in this Summit and I believe it will help to advance
progress towards the water and sanitation MDG for African States.
During our dialogue this afternoon, I am sure that we will learn a
great many useful lessons about how Arab countries are coping with
water scarcity as their populations, especially in urban areas, grow
rapidly. This region has come up with remarkable and instructive
innovations in areas such as water reuse and desalinization. Other
countries have much to learn from Arab States and more opportunities
for technical cooperation can be forged.
We are also keen to explore sanitation issues. Safe and improved
sanitation coverage in some Arab States is poor, and some are not on
track to meet the MDG sanitation target. This need not be so, given
this region's ingenuity, compassion and wealth.
Sanitation, we know, is an unpopular subject, a very private matter
that can be challenging to publicly consider. But that is exactly what
we must do. And now, during this International Year of Sanitation, is
the time to do so. We must because progress depends critically on
political will and public education. The latest Joint Monitoring
Report conducted by the World Health Organization and UNICEF estimates
that just one dollar invested in sanitation yields a return of nine
dollars. Safe sanitation also affords human health and dignity, the
value of which is immeasurable. So, in this era of global financial
instability, sanitation technology and infrastructure is one of the
most reliable investment opportunities around! I would like to explore
how to increase funding and action on safe sanitation in Arab States
with the Islamic Development Bank in our sessions. During our UNSGAB
agenda item on the IYS we will review all of the activities around the
world that have happened during the International Year of Sanitation,
and we will consider how to maintain the momentum after the next few
months.
This September in New York during the High-Level Event on the
Millennium Development Goals many world leaders stressed the real need
for more effective monitoring and coordination related to the MDG
target. To meet this need the Global Framework for Action to
coordinate and streamline work among donors, international
organizations and recipient countries was proposed. I welcomed the
substance driving this Global Framework and indicated that UNSGAB will
review this proposal. During our current meeting we will have a
session on this important initiative.
During our meeting we will closely assess our work against the
Hashimoto Action Plan. I'm happy to say we have carried out many of
the actions we set out for ourselves. However, there are many actions
that remain and we must develop clear work plans so we all have our
marching orders when we leave Riyadh. Looking ahead, we will need to
prepare for the World Water Forum in Istanbul as well as advancing our
work with the G8 and the African Union.
I could easily go on, but we are here to work, learn and make progress
as a team. I am delighted to be with my UNSGAB family again and to be
here with so many esteemed representatives of the Arab States. Once
again, I thank our gracious hosts, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I
look forward to making great strides while we are together in
Riyadh.
Thank you very much.