"Water for Life" 2005-2015 : world Water Day 2005 and Launch of the International decade

Abstract

This Keynote Address delivered by Mme Josephine Ouedraogo, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) at the World Water Day 2005 and Launch of the International Decade. Ouedrago, on his remarks highlighted that, the International Decade for Action "Water for Life", the General Assembly emphasized that water is critical for sustainable development and indispensable for human health and well being. The progress they have made in elevating the importance of water for Africa's development from a purely technical affair to one of the major policy challenges on our continent is revealed in various commitments embodied in the Africa Water Vision 2025 and the various sub-regional and basin-specific Visions such as the West African Vision, Lake Chad Basin Vision, the Nile Basin Vision, and others. Women and girl children still walk miles daily to fetch water for domestic use while millions of our children die needlessly from water-borne diseases which have been eradicated elsewhere.