Message from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of world day for Water, march 22

Paris, March 22
UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor has issued a message calling for a new ethical and holistic approach to the management of diminishing water resources on the occasion of World Day for Water celebrated today.

Here is the full text of the Director-General's message:

"World Day for Water highlights the intricate and truly vital links between human society and water. This year's selected theme, "Everybody lives downstream," is a reminder of our interdependency when it comes to world water resources.

"As more and more people face water shortage and the rise in water demand outstrips the rise in population, shared water resources between states or even between citizens risk becoming a source of conflicts. But diverging interests and geographical advantages and disadvantages do not inevitably have to lead to confrontation. Protection against the vagaries of rivers and utilisation of their resources require co-operation, discipline and solidarity, all attributes of a civilised society. New alliances, especially between policy-makers, community leaders, scientists, educators and the media are needed to reinforce the co-operative aspects of water use and stewardship, and minimise the risks of division. UNESCO is working with its partners to promote a new "water ethics" based on sharing the common water resource, caring for it and daring to adopt new approaches and solutions. This year, the World Commission for the Ethics of Science and Technology, recently established by UNESCO, has begun exploring these water-related issues. Water is life: who gets it, how much they get and what it is used for, reflect our basic social values.

"All of these issues must be taken into account at the same time as the technical and scientific aspects of ensuring an adequate supply, rational use and fair sharing of clean water. The need for a holistic approach in water sciences is evident. In pursuing these objectives, UNESCO is co-operating with other intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations in crucial activities, like the Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World and The Long Term Vision for Water, Life and the Environment. In the Aral Sea Basin, the Danube Basin, the Nile Basin and in the Mediterranean, UNESCO's aim is to transform the new "water ethics" into a concrete reality based on forward-looking stewardship of fragile water supplies. UNESCO is eager to initiate and facilitate scientific debate over major issues of water management, such as transboundary water transfers and to explore the potential of water as a medium of co-operation rather than conflict.

"The water issue, like other major challenges of the century to come, is forcing us to rethink our notions of security and interdependence. It is helping us to discern more clearly the links between development and peace, to acknowledge the global dimension of sustainable development, to recognise the need for a greater sharing of knowledge and resources, as well as to evolve towards a common wisdom of "upstream" and "downstream.". Throughout history, human beings have responded to the need to pool their efforts and share resources in the interests of greater security. It is of the highest importance that we should see water as a potential source of agreements that can serve as a paradigm for the constructive sharing of knowledge and resources.

Water is our common heritage. We all share the responsibility of protecting it for future generations."