United Nations Declares New Water Decade (2005 - 2015)

In December 2003, the United Nations General Assembly declared the period from 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action, "Water for Life", beginning on World Water Day, March 22, 2005. Despite the tremendous achievements of the first Water Decade (1981 to 1990) and the 1990s, today more than one billion people still do not have access to safe drinking water, while double this number do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. As a result, at any one time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water- and sanitation-related diseases.

The goal of the Decade will be to put a greater focus on water-related issues. With this proclamation, WaterCan hopes that it will strengthen Canada's and the rest of the international community's commitment to achieving at the very minimum the water and sanitation coverage targets of reducing by half the proportion of people who do not have access to safe water and basic sanitation by the 2015. To learn more about the Decade visit the United Nations website www.un.org.