Japan puts water and sanitation on G8 agenda
27 February 2008
Credit: UN / Paulo Filgueiras
End Water Poverty welcomes Japanese commitment to discuss water and sanitation as this year's G8 meeting.
At the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Masahiko Koumura, delivered a speech committing his Government to putting sanitation and water firmly on the G8 agenda.
"Japan, as chair [of] the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, will play a leading role in the international community's discussions concerning water and sanitation."
Since the End Water Poverty campaign launched last year, we have been lobbying G8 leaders to put water and sanitation on the agenda. Last year, when the meeting took place in Germany, End Water Poverty campaigners sent 25,000 messages to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Hundreds of campaigners from all over the UK marched to Westminster with a huge knitted petition asking the UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to encourage other G8 leaders to tackle the global crisis in sanitation and water together. But water and sanitation did not make it onto the agenda.
This is the first time a major G8 nation has listened. Japan has been the world's largest donor in the sanitation and water sector since the 1990s. The challenge now is for the international aid system to follow Japan's lead and reform itself to deliver aid where it is needed most.
Henry Northover, Head of Policy at WaterAid, commented, "The Japanese Government are at last breaking the silence on one of the biggest killers of children in the developing world. By championing sanitation and water, Prime Minister Fukuda and his Government are starting to address a humanitarian crisis that kills more children than HIV, TB and malaria combined.”
Investing in sanitation and water provides the first step out of extreme poverty and brings vast economic returns.
As Masahiko Koumura said, "Water and sanitation are closely related to other issues, such as poverty, health, education, and gender, on which progress is needed in order to achieve sustainable development. [...] Behavioural change and developing clean and safe sanitation facilities are crucial for maternal and child health. [...] The resolution of issues relating to water and sanitation will significantly contribute to the achievement of other Millennium Development Goals as well."
Download Mr Koumura's speech to read more about Japan's commitment to water and sanitation. (PDF 37Kb)
For more information, photos and to arrange interviews please contact Charlotte Godber on +44 (0)20 7793 4909 or email charlottegodber@wateraid.org