By Marwaan Macan-Markar
KYOTO, Japan, Mar 16 2003 (IPS)

An international conference began here Sunday with a pledge to get more water flowing towards the poor.

Egypt’s minister for water resources and irrigation Mahmoud Abu-Zeid set the tone for a shift from promises to programmes in calling on delegates from more than 160 countries to take action to give the poor a taste of the ‘Blue Revolution’.

"We must take the lead and make the hard choices to establish priorities," Abu-Zeid said at the opening session of the Third World Water Forum (TWWF) which runs March 16-23.

"Economic poverty and water poverty are synonymous," said Abu-Zeid, who is also president of the World Water Council, an independent think tank and principal organiser of the forum.

"We don’t want the Third World Water Forum (TWWF) to be an abstract dream," former Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, now chairman of the TWWF organising committee said at the opening of the conference. "At Johannesburg we incorporated a new numerical target. Now is the time to launch concrete actions to achieve the Johannesburg goal."

French President Jacques Chirac said in a recorded video presentation that France will back "an aggressive action plan" to help the water poor. For that "water should be recognised as a fundamental right."

The forum is looking for action on the targets on water and sanitation agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg last year.

Leaders agreed at Johannesburg to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation by 2015. The UN (United Nations) says 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water, and 2.4 billion people to proper sanitation. Some 2.2 million people in the developing world, mostly children, die every year as a result, the UN says.

"At any one time it is estimated that half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases," the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council says in a background note distributed at the forum.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have welcomed a blueprint for the ‘blue revolution’ likely to be endorsed by ministers from 150 countries March 22-23.

But some NGOs have their doubts where the money will come from. "Seeking solutions to the lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are good starting points, but success will only be gauged by the financing of the projects," says Karin Krchnak, co-chairperson of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development Freshwater Caucus.

Japan is looking for commitment to double global investment in water and sanitation services to achieve the WSSD goals. The Japanese proposal will be presented at the ministerial meeting.

Expecting more money from the developed world may not be easy given its record on international aid. Only four of the world’s industrialised countries – Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway – have met the UN target of spending at least 0.7 per cent of their gross national income (GNI) on aid to developing countries. The U.S. offers just 0.10 per cent, Canada 0.25 per cent and Australia 0.27 per cent.

The water council estimates that if the water poor are not helped with specific programmes, 2.7 billion people – a third of the world’s population – will be hit by water shortages by 2025.

The conference is also seeking support to address water-related issues such as the link between water and climate change, and the relationship between gender and water.

Organisers point also to the emergence of other controversial issues ahead of the conference: the continued backing to dams by international financial institutions like the World Bank, and privatisation of water resources. "There is a strong push to get water services liberalised, and all the negotiations are being held in private," says Shripad Dharmadhikary, an Indian researcher on water and energy. NGOs say they will be in the frontline in the fight against attempts to privatise water.

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