The prospect for sustainable development looks bleak if we are not able to develop and manage our increasingly scarce water resources in a sound and effective manner. The pollution of and competition for increasingly precious water resources have intensified dramatically over the past decades, reaching a point where water shortages, water quality degradation and aquatic ecosystem destruction are seriously affecting prospects for economic and social development, political stability, as well as ecosystem integrity.

Each year, roughly 3.4 million people, mostly children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene. Currently at least 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water supply and almost 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation - with the predominant majority living in developing countries. Water degradation exacerbates the frequency and impact of droughts, floods, and other natural hazards, particularly in ecologically-fragile areas where the poor often live, and can intensify competition and the potential for conflict over access to shared water resources.

As we celebrate the World Water Day: Water for Development, we acknowledge the social, environmental and economic significance of water and the important water resources challenges that are faced in the road ahead.

UNDP is fully committed to the United Nations Millennium Summit goals. At the Summit, governments reaffirmed the need for more holistic development strategies in which water management is an integral component of efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable and equitable development. The Summit sets the goal of halving the number of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water by 2015. The Declaration also aims at discontinuing the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies.

UNDP has a strong mandate to work with governance, sustainable development and natural resources to enhancing human and institutional at all levels. UNDP is strongly positioned to help countries pursue pro-poor integrated strategies for water resources development and management. The universal in-country presence and regional and global networks give UNDP unique opportunities to help countries access and apply global water resources knowledge and good practices.

UNDP's water niche lies in what may be termed water governance. The concept of water governance has received increased attention at all levels. There is now a growing understanding and consensus that sound and effective water governance is key to reducing poverty. In the most recent international water meeting, the International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn, 2001, water governance was strongly emphasised as one of the most important priority areas.

Major areas of current UNDP support include national policy and regulatory frameworks for integrated water resources management; national and local-level capacity development, gender mainstreaming and participatory approaches to water management. An international network for capacity building in integrated water resources management, Cap-Net, has recently been established.

For many years UNDP has played a vital role in facilitating regional, national and local processes of sharing water resources and the benefits arising from it. Important regional and national developments are currently taking place that point to shared water resources as a catalyst for cooperation, development and stability. For example, the Nile riparian countries are taking significant collaborative and basin-wide steps toward enhanced dialogue on benefit sharing and to ensuring equitable and efficient water governance. UNDP will increase its efforts in assisting countries to enhance cooperation of shared waters, both within and between countries.

Some of UNDP's most recent water initiatives are based on enhancing water governance. The joint initiative - the Dialogue on Effective Water Governance - aims at bringing stakeholders together to examine and analyse water governance systems. The Dialogue will create a platform of trust for increased cooperation and negotiation, enhanced capacity building and collective decision making.

On this special day, I plead to people in all countries that this occasion will serve as an impetus to innovative and effective action for equitable and sustainable use of increasingly precious water r.