Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter stresses the urgent need to improve the water supply throughout the world

By 2030, half of the world’s population will live in a region where water is in short supply. At the opening session of the conference on cooperation and water management at The Hague today, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA),  stressed the urgent need to establish sustainable management of water resources and to improve water supply throughout the world.

States, international organisations and representatives of civil society met in the The Hague as part of the consultation on water. This is one of the 11 thematic global consultations organised in order to define the new United Nations Development Agenda. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of the issue of water in international political agendas. The meeting of 22 March marks the end of this consultation process, the results of which will be presented in a declaration at the end of the day's discussions.

The increasing demand for water, inadequate supplies and poor management of waste water are challenges that have serious consequences for millions of human beings and for the environment. These challenges and their extensive impacts mean that water is a priority issue on the development agenda and on the international security agenda. This was the main thrust of the speech by Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter .

Switzerland, together with the Netherlands, Liberia and Jordan, organised the consultation on water and has supported the global dialogue on this issue from the outset. Mr Burkhalter said:" Switzerland wishes to see a world in which the equitable management of water promotes sustainable development in all the regions of the world." In 2012 the Confederation invested more than 160 million francs for water purification and for the supply of clean drinking water. In the United Nations, Switzerland also advocates that access to clean drinking water should be recognised as a basic human right. 

The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation. The celebrations of the International Day of Water hosted by the Netherlands are the culmination of the 2013 water cooperation campaign. In Switzerland, measures connected with the International Day of Water are coordinated by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and by the Federal Office of the Environment (FOE). The Water Without Frontiers event in Bern on 22 March will mark the beginning of Switzerland's contribution to this international year.

For further information, please contact:

Jean-Marc Crevoisier
Head of FDFA Information
+41 79 763 84 10

Further information:

Site of the Federal Administration for the International Year of Water Cooperation
The SDC Engagement in the water field
Post-2015 process: the new United Nations Development Agenda
Statement by Federal Councillor Didier Burhalter on the occasion of the World Water Day

Address for enquiries:

Information FDFA
Bundeshaus West
CH-3003 Bern
Tel.: +41 58 462 31 53
Fax: +41 58 464 90 47
E-Mail: info@eda.admin.ch

Publisher:

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs