Princess Sumaya launches UN World Water Development Report in Geneva

AMMAN — HRH Princess Sumaya on Wednesday inaugurated the UN World Water Development Report at the UN Headquarters in Geneva.

Speaking on behalf of UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, Princess Sumaya, who is the UNESCO special envoy for Science for Peace, said that access to safe, affordable and reliable drinking water and sanitation services are basic human rights.

Princess Sumaya added that the theme of this year’s report, “Leaving No-one Behind”, “truly captures how scientific progress must contribute to lasting peace, based on equality for all in our human family”, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times.

The princess said that today, three in 10 people — a total of 2.1 billion — still do not have access to safe drinking water; and 4.5 billion people, or six in 10, have no safely managed sanitation facilities.

“It is thanks to the wide-ranging expertise of all of the members and partners of UN-Water that we can present such a comprehensive picture as we see in this report, and I wish to thank all of those involved,” she said.

The World Water Development Report is produced and coordinated on by the UNESCO World Water Assessment programme on behalf of UN-Water. It is a review that gives an overall picture of the state, use and management of the world’s freshwater resources and aims to provide decision makers with tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies, the statement said.

The event also served as an early celebration of World Water Day which falls each year on March 22.