A/35/PV.54 General Assembly

In accordance with resolution 34/191 of 18 December 1979, the. General Assembly is today holding a special meeting to launch the de- cade 1981-1990 as the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. 2. Of all the many life-sustaining elements that we take for granted in our environment, water is perhaps the most vital for all human beings and for earthly life in general as we know it. 3. The human body is 60 per cent water and cannot survive for more than eight to 10 days if deprived of water in a temperate climate-even less in a hot, dry climate. 4. Interplanetary exploits of recent times have as- certained that the absence of water in other celestial bodies precludes the presence of any form of life similar to that on our planet, 5. Yet rational usage and preservation of this life- giving natural resource on earth have been somewhat neglected in many areas of the world through a series of social and economic factors that have contributed to pollution, contamination and general misuse of this precious liquid. 6. It is therefore with deep respect for the subject matter of our meeting today and with great and sin- cere admiration for the work of the United Nations system towards a more systematic and productive usage ofwater in the world, that I feel doubly honoured in inaugurating the International Drinking Water NEW YORK Supply and Sanitation Decade at this special meeting of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly, first, as the President of the General Assembly, upon whom the privilege of opening this meeting was bestowed, and, secondly, as the representative of a country that has contributed through the supply of funds and experts to the work of the United Nations system in its endeavours to provide safe drinking water and healthier sanitation systems in developing countries. My country has been striving at the same time to clean and purify its own waterways. 7. I am familiar with some of the impressive com- munity-level projects undertaken by UNICEF, UNDP and WHO in Asia and in Africa, and I cannot but praise those United Nations bodies for their invaluable contribution towards the provision and protection of sources of safe drinking water for mil- lions of people and the integration of water and sani- tation programmes with other development projects and with primary health care and educational pro- grammes. 8. With a concerted effort involving the United Nations system and the developing countries them- selves, on which the heaviest burden of monitoring and managing their water supplies must fall, I am confident that the special Decade we are launching today will be a success and that by 1990, when the Assembly meets again to discuss a progress evalua- tion report on the Decade, it will be able to note a drastic reduction or complete elimination of water- borne diseases and a great increase in the use of effective sanitation methods for the disposal of wastes, and consequently a sharp downward curve in the graphs of infant mortality and of gastrointestinal diseases caused by polluted waters. 9. I now call on the Secretary-General. 10. The SECRETARY-GENERAL: This special meeting of the General Assembly marks the launching of the International Drinking Water' Supply and Sanitation Decade, as has just been explained by the President of the General Assembly. It is both the start of a vital endeavour and the culmination of a long process in the United Nations system. Habitat, the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held at Vancouver in June 19761, recommended that quantitative targets should be established by nations to ensure that all their people had access to safe water supply and hygienic waste disposal by 1990. Later, the United Nations Water Conference held at Mar del Plata in March 1977, recommended that the period 1981 to 1990 should be designated the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade and I Report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements. Vancouver, 3/ May-JJ June /976 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.76.IV.7 and corrigendum), chap. 11. 14. The cost of achieving the Decade's goals will undoubtedly be considerable. Inevitably, it will have to be borne in large part by developing countries themselves. However, there are many obvious rea- sons for the full and effective participation of de- veloped countries in the efforts in this Decade. The humanitarian arguments are overwhelming. In addi- tion, it is a field in which the technology is relatively simple and readily available, the cost effectiveness is very high and the results will be quickly and clearly visible. I would therefore take this opportunity to call upon developed countries to make available the additional resources necessary for achieving the objectives of the Decade. IS. At the same time, I want to stress that, no matter how great the support from the donor community, the zReport 0/ the United Nations Water Conference, Mar del Pkua, /4·25 March /977 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.77.1I.A.12), chap. I. 3 Report 0/the WorldConference 0/the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, Copenhagen, /4-JO July /980 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.80.IV.3 and corrigendum), chap. I, sect. B. that finally the international community has realized that this is in.~~~_~.~n..~r.~a ~~, ~~ea~, a'?~t~_~_~~~ 26. I know we are talking in big monetary terms when it comes to the cost of the Decade-around some $30 billion of investment on an average per year; but if, as the Secretary-General emphasized, one looks at the socio-economic benefits that will come from our ability to give each and every citizen an acceptable level of health, then I· think represen- tatives will realize that these investments are very puny, as compared to the benefits. So we have not only a screaming need for better health, but we also have a great socio-economic opportunity. .. . . 27. What is more, I also believe that we have all the elements for success, because we have the appro- priate technology, if member States have the courage to choose wisely. We can command the necessary resources because our new approach depends not only on impersonal pipes and pumps, no matter how 28. Because of this people-intensive approach, the Decade clearly has to begin within the countries themselves. Each national Government must launch it, and each Government must take its responsibility. This is the first vital step in demonstrating what is always so glibly called political commitment. 29. Clearly, each country also has to translate the Mar del Plata philosophy into concrete national strategies and plans of action. But these strategies and plans of action will both contribute to and be- come the beneficiaries of our whole aggressive thrust for health for all by the year 2000, because these strategies will include the basic elements of primary health care, which are: that the rural and urban poor, the social periphery, will be the main beneficiaries; that these programmes will include not only drinking water, but also sanitation and the education of the people; that these programmes will begin with the community, involve the community and belong to the community; that these communities will be encour- aged not to choose high, but right technology, so that they can make use of their own' skills and re- sources; and finally-and this is difficult-that these programmes be intersectoral, mobilizing in joint participation agriculture, public housing, public works, education and health. 30. All this will mean very big and very uncom- fortable changes: alterations in priorities and in the allocation of resources; multisectoral co-ordination; new community structures; new managerial ap- proaches; and the establishment of country-wide monitoring and evaluation systems. Because of what it will imply in end results to people, I am utterly convinced that the number of water taps per 1,000 population will be an infinitely more meaningful health indicator than the number of hospital beds per 1,000population. But all this will certainly pose very grave challenges to vested interests, wherever they are found, in the industrialized or in the developing countries, And here again we shall have to see whether there is anything but lip-service to political commit- ment by Governments, whether these are only pious slogans expressed in international conferences er during international years. 31. I repeat: most important of all, this Decade is for people and, when the chips are down, it will be exe- cuted by people. So it is vital that we open and con- tinue a dialogue with people at large, in the North as well as in the South. Only in that way will we have a small chance ofavoiding more frustration and inertia and only in that way can individuals and communities achieve that positive feeling that this is not our bu- reaucratic decade but their own living development decade. 32. That will take more than words, however, bet...."'se the dialogue must have content. It must show clet\rly what can be done, how it can be done and, above all, why it must hedone. Only in that way can manage~al competence at the entire disposal of the developing countries. 37. Finally, I want to underline a small lesson that we in WHO are slowly learning from very painful experience: that is, to set markers by which progress can be evaluated within a specific time-frame; because that is how we can really test our commitment, by action and not by rhetoric. Those markers may have to be set at all levels and by all those involved in the Decade. Clearly, that applies to national Governments but it applies just as much to the international Orga- nization and to all those providing external support. 38. For instance, the World Health Assembly, when it comes to the mid-term review in 1985, will have to ask member States some searching questions: ••Did you formulate a country-wide water and sanitation programme and do you imp!ement it?" "Can you demonstrate significant reorientation of national budget allocations for safe water supply and sanita- tion?" "Have you instituted mechanisms to ensure genuine community participation?". The Assembly will have to ask itself: "Have we truly harmonized our policies and activities in order to maximize the immense potential that lies in our collective will?" repr~s~~ted by such words as "solidarity", "gen- erosity and "compassion". Mr. Ortiz Sanz (Bolivia), Vice-President, took the Chair. ~O. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Span- Ish): The next speake- is the Executive Director of UNICEF, Mr. Grant. 41. Mr. GRANT (United Nations Children's Fund): We begin today a decade of action which offers to the United Nations and to the Governments of the world a most meaningful opportunity to start fulfilling the commitment represented by the consensus [A/35/ 464] which the eleventh special session of the General Assembly achieved in this hall on the new interna- tional development strategy just two months ago. As the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the New International Development Strategy, Ambas- sador Niaz Naik of Pakistan, said in introducing the draft, ..... the present strategy... conceives of develop- ment as an integral process and the obiectives of social and human development have been accorded a new emphasis... The strategy... contains specific goals and objectives relating to the elimination of hunger, universal primary education, primary health care for all, and a sharp reduction in infant mortality by the end of the century.':" 42. These are most worth-while, but also, we must recognize, most ambitious objectives. The new inter- national development strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, for example,calls for the reduction of infant mortality in all countries to 50 infant deaths or fewer per 1,000 births in the first year. Its achievement would require most low-income co~ntries, which now have an average infant mor- tality rate of more than 130 deaths per 1,000 births, to reduce infant mortality at a rate two to three times as rapid in the next two decades as that which they achieved in the past two decades. This will not be easy, but it can be done if approached with both the requisite determination-some would say political will-and skill in implementing necessary programmes, one of which is the provision-as is repeatedly em- phazi-od in .ne new international development strat- egy-ot' saie water, our topic here today. ~'Jccess in achieving the new international development strat- egy's goals would mean several million fewer children dying annually by the year 2000, than the United Nations now projects-the approximate equivalent of one Kampuchea each year. Given the favourable impact of these improvements in well-being on atti- tudes towards family size, achievement of these goals would also mean an even larger decrease in births than the United Nations now projects. The stakes are high, very high indeed. 51. We are encouraged that Governments have agreed, through their designation of the 1980s as the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, that they are prepared to invest vast sums of money in support of the Decade's goals. But, in all due respect, I must caution members of the Assembly that too often the Governments of donor countries and developing countries alike are mightily impressed by the purchasing power of the hard currency at their disposal for equipment and material and con- struction and are terribly tight-fisted when it comes to developing the educational and social context within which alone their physical investment can produce long-term and continuing health benefits. 52. There are, of course, situations in the world where the availability of clean, safe water at con- venient access may be the only missing-link element in that combination of factors which join together to produce a better lifefor people and we should move as rapidly as possible to provide that. missing link in those circumstances. 53. More often, however, the absence of conve- nient, safe water is only one of many missing ele- ments. And in those more common situations the failure to accompany the introduction of water fa- ,~~at~~,~I!~.~~~t.:,~~_C;l!, so~rc~~.,~f e_~~~~. !,!~~inB· 58. We plan to increase suo~nanually the input of UNICEF in water and sanitation over the next several years. Our. medium-term work plan foresees an increase in annual expenditure in that sector to ap- proximately $100 million in 1984, roughly double our current level. The largest part is still directed to supplies but there is an increasing emphasis on training, health education, project support com- munication and technical support in specialized techniques and logistics. ... .- .~ -------_.. . - _. - 59. UNICEF will also continue to concentrate its attention on those areas which are least likely to attract other extemal funding assistance-rural and urban slum areas where -external aid may not be bankable in the same way as, for example, large- reduc~s,heirlife expectancy shamefully below that of the rest of mankind. And worst of all, they are denied hope-hope that they or their children can ever break out of that prison of destitution. Our commit- ment to development and to social and economic advancement means nothing if we cannot change the deplorable conditions of nearly one quarter of the world's population who are now condemned to live lives of misery and despair by absolute poverty.. 65. The world continues its search for the keys which will liberate it from the enslavement ofpoverty, ment with the work of Governments in planning and implementing water supply and sanitation activities 71. But I must at the same time underline the fact that, as is the case in any development endeavour, the source of real action and implementation lies with the participating Governments and, more importantly, with the people most directly affected. Local com- munities and the human and material resources available in the local communities willhave the central and critical responsibilities in the achievement of the objectives of the Decade. This is as .it should be, for it is the local community which best knows its needs and can best determine the most appropriate and effective way of meeting them. But this also means major co-operative efforts by all Governments and by all organizations involved in the- promotion and mobilization of full-scale community participa- tion, including local, national and international non- governmental groups. 72. At the national level, a number of developing countries have already devised action plans and have already appointed action committees to carry the Decade's objectives forward, and I urge all Govern- ments which have not yet undertaken those initial activities to do so as soon as practicable, calling upon the United Nations system for support as they deem appropriate in the process. Equally critical is the need for due emphasis on water and sanitation in national development plans and targets and for de- ~eloping countries themselves to commit the increased resources required to meet target goals, to strengthen infrastructure arrangements for the design, manage- ment and servicingofthe new systems and to exchange experiences among each other on the problems en- countered and the successes achieved. 73. Now, in addition to the task of attending to ·their own unmet water supply and sanitation require- ments, developed countries have a particularly vital role and high responsibility to participate in the mo- bilization of the massive external resources which will be needed to fulfil the Decade's objectives. This Decade provides a genuine and practical measure of the commitment of the international community to development efforts of the kind that all nations and their citizens understand and appreciate-the direct alleviation .of disease and the destitution stemming from it and the broad-based enhancement of the human resources required to accelerate the achievement of all of their economic and social development goals. 5 see l-Jv'cial Records of the Economic and Social Council. /979. Supplement No. I. 6 See Report of the United Nations Water Conference. Mar del Plata, 14-25 March 1977 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.77.II.A.12, chap. I. 98. From the physical and infrastructural stand- points, those goals require a vast programme of works and investment to improve and widen existing public services as well as to construct new systems in areas which now lack them. 99. The degree of obsolescence of many existing installations also requires parallel efforts and a vast renovation programme, including installations utilized by 7.5 million inhabitants for drinking water and by 3.5 million inhabitants as regards sewage services. 100. In addition to that, we must consider the adap- tation or construction of sewage processing plants within the present system. The level of investment to be applied has been estimated to be of the order of $5.2 billion. In order to make those considerable efforts possible, the Argentine Government has made important changes in the institutional structures ofwater supply and sanitation services in our country. 101. Just a few months ago, the national Government was responsible for providing drinking water supplies and sanitation services in almost all the cities in.our country. But today, that situation has been changed. There has been a transfer to the provinces-22 in all~ of the responsibility for installation, equipment and available human and -economic resources in opera- tion in each province. It has been understood that the decentralization of those services-services which are in general eminently local-is an important measure for good administration and greater efficiency in resolving problems at the local level. 102. The national Government has in turn promoted the establishment and development at.the provincial level of entities which are responsible for those ac- tivities and have competent, flexible' administrative structures and a proper level of operative decen- tralization. 103.. We have also considered making those services municipal or private in the future. The national Gov- ernment will only participate in the construction, operation and administration of interjurisdictional works and services and will also rely on the human and operative resources available to provide technical aid to the provinces engaged in this process of decen- tralization. 104. This very important institutional change is being supplemented by the design of a national pro- gramme which includes a global policy of the.,country for the sector under its jurisdiction. Towards that end a special unit has been established; that unitis also acting as a steering committee in order t« pro- pose, co-ordinate and supervise national efforts during the Decade. ,', . . 105. Financing machinery is being prepared·to Inake it possible for this sector to have genuine natiolial resources which can be supplemented by loans at the local and international level. In the matter "of priority of investment in the administration of this financial machinery, the national Government will be assisted by the provinces. tai~ing the process of pollution over the short term at its present level and of implementing during the Decade a programme of recovery of polluted water courses at optimal quality levels compatible with differences in water use. In that connexion, a national committee has already been created-for pollution control and co-ordination of the efforts made by the vanbus"(:ompetent bodies-as well as a national programme for quality control of water and the pro- motion of the establishment of control bodies at the provincial level. Polluted water recovery projects and prosramm~s are being developed for some rivers in the Due'nos Aires metropolitan area. Ill. This has been a very brief review of some of the actions and decisions reached by the Argentine Go\.:mment to fulfil its commitment to its population and to the international community, of.which it forms a part, in this effort to be accomplished duringthe Decade. 1'12. That is why the Argentine Republic fully en- dorses the text of the draft resofution on the procla- mation of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade adopted unanimously on 4 November last by the' Second Committee and by the Qeneral Assembly as resolution 35/18. 113. We feel that if in the future we are able to implement this resolution, .the international com- munity; will have acted in a very positive way to meet a requirement basic to the well-being ~yeoples. 114. The PRESIDENT: I now invite the Rapporteur of the Second Committee, Mrs. Stephenson-Vernon ofJamaica, to present Part I ofthe Committee's report on agenda item 61, containing the draft resolution on the Proclamati(ln of tbe International Drinking Water Supply and ~~~it~~"~o~~c~~~..:-_,_ 115. Mrs. STEPHENSON..VERNON (Jamaica), Rapporteur of the Second Committee: I have the s~JD.lbly the adoption of a d.raft resolution entitled "Proclamation of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, 1980-1990" and the adoption of a draft decision relating to the documents submitted under subitem (f), "Natural resources", which was adopted by the Committee without a vote. I commend these recommendations to the Assembly. 117. The PRESIDENT: I call on the representative of Senegal, who will speak on behalf of the group of African States.

The official proclamation of the "Interna- tional Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade" is undoubtedly a major event of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly, particularly for the third world countries. 119. As religions emphasize, water is the source of life. It is necessary for drinking, for cooking and for hygiene. It is also indispensable to enable animals and plants to live. Hence the need for adequate water supplies of sufficient quality and quantity. 120. Shortage of drinking water can hamper the economic and social development of the third world countries. On this matter I would refer the Assembly to the report of the Secretary-General [A/35/367]. 121. Is there any need to emphasize that certain endemic diseases found in the third world are trans- mitted water-borne? Dysentery, cholera and bilharzia, to cite only a few, are transmitted by organic wastes, borne in the majority of cases by water. The eradica- tion of these infectious diseases will depend, on the one hand, on the quality of the water at the disposal of the population concerned and, on the other hand, on the quality of the sanitation services provided to ensure a healthy environment. 122. The goal of the Decade that we are proclaiming today is to guarantee the water supplies of urban and rural areas by the year 1990, by the adoption and early implementation of health service programmes and programmes for the elimination of waste water. Of course this is an ambitious goal but it is within our capabilities. ' 123. Millions of women and children walk miles every day to obtain a few pints of water. For millions of human beings the fetching of water is the main activity, and what water it is! 124. The report of the Secretary-General provides ample illustrations of the effects of the shortage of safe water and adequate sanitation services. According to this report, "every year over 13 million children die in the developing countries [partly because of] the absence of reliable water supply and sanitation services" [ibid., para. 13]. The heavy price they pay deprives these countries of millions of potential workers. However, those who survive are not spared, for they suffer the atter-effects of those parasites. • •• --_ .••• ~_.~. __ •. _-.p .•••~ .- - .. 131. We are aware of the efforts that have been made by the developed countries and by the World Bank and WHO in this field and we congratulate them on those efforts. While we do so, we agree with the Secretary-General "that the traditional involvement ofthe Bank willneed to be supplemented by increasing commitmentsfrom otherdonors" [A/35/367,para. 38]. 132. The success of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade will depend on .the will and the commitment of all to co-operate and to work to bring about the early attainment of the targets. 133. We hope that the efforts made so far in this field will be stepped up throughout the Decade and thus guarantee safe and ample water supplies and adequate sanitation facilities for all urban and rural populations. .

I now call on the repre- sentative of Burma, who will speak on behalf of the Asian group of States. 135. Mr. GYEE (Burma): It is my privilege and pleasure, first of all, to speak on behalf of the Asian group of States, ofwhich Burmais the current regional Chairman. I need not say how happy we all were to hear our President open this unique one-day special meeting of the General Assembly devoted to the launching of the International Drinking Water Supp,ly and Sanitation Decade. We are confident that his valued guidance will be a major contribution to the success of our deliberations. 141. By virtue of its natural and geographical con- ditions, Burma is predominantly an agricultural country. It is a country e.ndowed with .;. natural river system of four large rivers, all flowing in the same direction from north to south. These are the rivers Irrawaddy, Chindwin, Sittang and the Salween, with their .tributaries. Apart from this riverine environ- ment, Burma is blessed by the monsoon rains for over six months of the year. Hence, it can be seen that lJurma has enormous water potential, both surface run-off and ground water, forthe multiple purposes of irrigation, hydroelectricity and potable water supply. We in Burma are highly conscious of the socio-economic aspects of water resources and we have accorded appropriate attention to those aspects endeavours concerning national development. 142. Of a' population of approXimately 35 million, 'about 87 per cent is in the rural sector, consisting of peasant families engaged in crop production. The fact that Burma has an agriculture-based economy and that peasant farmers have a direct or indirect bearing on the national development process needs no special emphasis. 143.". Against such a background, it is only natural that our external trade should be highly dependent on agricultural productien. Foreign exchange derived from agriculture constitutes 70 per cent of our total economy and this fact of itself warrants unremitting efforts on our part to boost agricultural production through rural improvements. 144. Accordingly, in the current implementation of Burma's 20-yeat long-term economic plan, which has been under' way since 1971.-1972 with five component short-term plans of four years each, agriculture has been accorded the highest priority. The human ele- ment is an integral part of any national development process and we have not lost sight of the urgent need to raise the liVing and working conditions of our peasant farmers. We have not lost sight of the fact that water plays an important role in serving the interestof'our people; regarding it as vital that a safe and adequate water supply be made' available to rural areas for drinking and domestic use, as well as for cultivation. An assured safe water supply can provide peace of mind to our peasant fanners and thereby enable them to devote themselves whole-heartedly to their productive activity. 145. There is no denying that water is indispensable to many types of economic activity as well as to human, plant and animal life, and no systematic eco- nomic progress can be made without careful study and application of the water.factor. Proviilding safe water and sanitation would contribute in no small measure towards Cutting down water-related diseases -diarrhoea and other gastroenteric diseases and 155. The aforementioned projects being carried'out in Burma tie in with the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade activities. Burma intends to pursue those projects with greater' mo- mentum during the Decade on which we are embarked. But any attempt to reach the targets set for the Decade would initially require an increased flow of external inputs in the form of a reasonable amount of soft loans or grant aid. We need not stress how important it is to create the right conditions for achieving planned targets. Based on our past experience, timely inputs, both internal and external, play a very important part in ensuring the success of any plan and it is important that they be made available in sufficient quantity at the appropriate time. 156. Burma has already made much headway as regards water supply projects. It is vital that we sustain our efforts, not only to maintain the tempo of achieve- ment but to claim bigger successes, during the Inter- national Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. International assistance, expertise and technology will obviously' be necessary. As we see it, the task of providing new water supply within a country must go beyond an}' planned decade and necessarily with only minimal foreign assistance. For Burma, that means a strategy for mobilizing internal resources in order to reduce the foreign exchange assistance required far both urban and rural water systems. 157. Our present pattern of foreign assistance is based completely on the import of needed equip- ment, such as pipes, pumps and engines. We wish to change that pattern by the setting up of plants within the country to produce those very items with locally available materials, but such plants require capital funding. Tile advantage of that pattern is that it would be self-generating in the production of needed items and encourage self-help and self-reliance. 158. The chief constraint on foreign technical and financial assistance to the country has been that there is not enough money available for projects such as those concerning drinking water and sanitation. Such projects are unable to compete with economic and industrial projects which can show definite economic returns or foreign exchange earnings. Thus, in the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade a separate allocation will need to be made for funding such projects related to drinking water as those we have proposed. Such projects cannot hope to get adequate funding either from UNDP or from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. 159. The delegation of Burma, therefore, would like to urge the relevant international organizations and developed countries to increase their support and the flow of grant assistance to developing countries in

Since we share and support the goals of the International Drinking Water Supply and- Sanitation Decade, the delegations of the People's Republic ofBulgaria, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Hungarian People's Republic, the Mongolian People's Republic, the Polish People's Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Union ofSovietSocialist Republics and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic welcome its official proclamation. The Decade is the first step towards the practical implementation of concrete plans and programmes to help in the carrying out of the important social and economic develop. ment tasks of all countries and the strengthening of mutually advantageous bilateral and multilateral co-operation to supplement the efforts of States at the national level. 162. The attainment of the ultimate goal of the Decade-to provide all people with an ample supply of water of an acceptable quality-could be an impor- tant and worthy contribution towards the attainment of the goals and targets of the International Develop- ment Strategy for the Third United Nations Develop- ment Decade. Successful achievement of the targets of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanita- tion Decade will require significant material resources, of which there is an acute shortage at the present time. 163. The socialist countries will, in this respect as well, strive, both within the United Nations and outside the Organization, to implement the proposals they have put forward on disarmament issues, which would enable States to harness resources now spent on the arms build-up to the attainment of social and economic progress. On that basis, the socialist coun- tries advocate that the permanent members of the Security Council and other States with major economic and military potential cut back their military bud.ets and use the resources released ~ Iy such cuts for the social and economic development of peoples and, in particular, for providing assistance to the developing countries, as set forth in resolution 3093 (XXVIII) of the General Assembly and in the.proposals put forward by the socialist countries at the tenth special session of the General Assembly, devoted to disarma- ment, in May 1978. 164. The socialist countries are further convinced that the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade can only be truly successful on condition that the projects and programmes of the Decade -are implemented in accordance with the national plans for social and economic development of the developing countries and that they are under- pinned with an implementation of progressive social and economic reforms to be brought a~ut in those countries by mobilization by the latter of their own resources J the intensification of their own efforts to create and develop their independent national econo- mies, inter alia, by strengthening the sovereignty of 169. With the participation of specialists from our countries, plans for the comprehensive use of water resources are being drawn up in which questions of water supply are also dealt with as, for example, in the Republic of Iraq, the People's Democratic Re- public of Yemen and the Syrian Arab Republic. 170. Prospecting and planning work or: these prob- lems is under way in other countries as well. 171. In expressing our willingness to promote as far as we can the goals and targets of the Interna- tional Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, which we share and support, and in particular our willingnessto take part in implementingthe multilateral United Nations projects and the projects of the spe- cialized agencies in the field of drinking water supply by means of their contributions to UNDP, the dele- gations of the countries that I mentioned at the be- ginning of my statement, which are members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, state that the efforts of our countries to attain the progressive goals and targets of the Decade will be made in ways which will be consistent with the social and economic structures of our countries and the fundamental principles of our foreign economic relations, that is to say: full equality, non-discrimination, mutual advan- tage, co-operation among all States, irrespective of their economic and social systems, non-interference in the intee-al affairs of others and respect for sov- ereignty. 172. The socialist countries voice their staunch conviction that the States and peoples of the world, acting in a spirit of high-minded responsibility, will be able to bring about in the 1980s the maintenance and strengthening, of universal peace and will thus be able to create the conditions for resolving the vital global problems which confront mankind, in- cluding the problem of providing the peoples of the world with pure water. 173. The PRESIDENT: I now call upon the repre- sentative of Colombia, who will speak on behalf of the group of Latin American States. .. ,., .. _.' __ -'. ... ' ' .. 174. Mr. LIEVANO (Colombia) (interpretation from Spanish): Latin America is very pleased to join in the launching of the International Drinking Water SUPI,ly and Sanitation Decade. 175. At a time when, in spite of the vast progress achieved in the fields of technology and public health, millions of children still die each year from illnesses related to the lack of drinking water and sanitary facilities and large sectors of the population see their capacity to work and their life expectancy reduced for the same reasons, the need to mobilize the inter- national community is becoming increasingly pressing. 176. Since the time when the United Nations Water Conference, held at Mar del Plata in 197':' following the guidelines set by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held at Vancouver in 1976, recommended that the period between 1981 and 1990 be ~esignated the International Drinking Water Supply - - -. - . 181. The PRESIDENT: I now call on the repre- sentative of the Netherlands, who will speak on behalf of the group of Western European and other States. 182. Mr. SCHELTEMA (Netherlands): On behalf of the group of Western European and other States, I welcome the initiative that has been taken to devote a special meeting of the General Assembly to the water and sanitation problems we are faced with in this world. The Secretary-General and his close col- laborators, who have addressed this meeting today, has given us insight into the magnitude ofthe problems and at the same time have pointed to options for the solutions we are all seeking, 183. Since the United Nations Water Conference, held at Mar del Plata in 1977, the United Nations system has stimulated countries to take up the chal- lenge to reach the goals set out in the Action Plan we all agreed upon. 184. It was not so long ago that the Western indus- trialized countries themselves were engaged in the process of delivering water and sanitary facilities 185. We realize that the developing world, in co- operation with the nations I am representing here today, has still a long way to go in reaching the target set for 1990. In rural areas as well as in the urban fringes, so much remains to be done in so many sectors that we wonder whether we shall ever be able to succeed. But let us not be paralysed by the magni- tude of the work ahead of us and by the resources needed to reach the goal we have set ourselves: water and sanitation for all. They are measured by financial resources, but not by them alone. We are ready to assist wherever possible. 186. A pre-condition for bringing about the pro- vision of an adequate amount of safe water and an improvement in the sanitation situation is the raising of the technical capacity at the national level. And although it is the responsibility of national Govern- ments to allocate 'the highest priority to that area, inputs from outside may be of help. 187. We have listened with great care to what has been said by the Secretary-General and his collabo- rators today, On behalfofthe Group which I represent, I want to underline the great importance we attach to the assistance rendered by the United Nations system at the national level. A co-ordinated approach is needed, and I also welcome the arrangements that have been made in establishing a steering committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Administrator of UNDP, Mr. Brown, which will bring about this co-ordinated approach. 188. The Decade we are about to launch is not con- fined to water and sanitation. In the course of the Decade, it will become apparent that through the actions taken in this Decade we shall also make a contribution to the satisfaction of the basic human needs, such as health, education, housing and em- ployment. "

I now call on the repre- sentative of Qatar, who will. speak on behalf of the group of Arab States.

It is an honour for me, as Chairman of the group of Arab States for the month of November, to speak on behalf of those States on the occasion of this important meeting at which the General Assembly is launching the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade.