DPI/ NGO Briefing
New York, EUA, November 16th, 2006

Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), attended the United Nations Department of Public Information NGO Section (DPI/NGO) briefing which had as a main theme the presentation of the Human Development Report for 2006. The briefing was held November 16th, 2006, at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The briefing presented the Human Development Report for 2006, entitled “Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.” A short film, produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was screened and it featured Mr. Kevin Watkins, Director of the UNDP Human Development Report, in Africa portraying the low quality of health and sanitation part of the country lives in because of the water crisis .The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Report on November 9th, 2006. The Report debunks the myth that the deepening global water crisis is the result of water scarcity and argues that poverty, power and inequality are at the heart of the problem. The Report furthermore investigates the underlying causes and consequences of a crisis that leaves over one billion people without access to safe water and more than two billion without access to sanitation. It states that to achieve water and sanitation for all it should be done through national strategies and a global plan of action. It also examines the social and economic forces that are driving water shortages and marginalizing the poor in agriculture; and looks at the scope for international cooperation to resolve cross-border tensions in water management.

The panel was composed of three speakers: the first one was Arunabha Ghosh, Policy Specialist, Human Development Report Office, UNDP; the second speaker was Kazuo Sunaga, Minister Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations; and the third speaker was Patricia Dandonoli, President and CEO of Water Aid America. All speakers talked about the different components, results, and recommendations of this year’s Human Development Report.