Water cooperation – experience of the past and tasks of the future

On January 4th – February 4th, a subject book exhibition “Water cooperation – experience of the past and tasks of the future” dedicated to the United Nations International Year on Water Cooperation runs in the Official documents division (room 207).

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2013 as the International Year on Water Cooperation at its 65th session on December 20th, 2010 (resolution 65/154).

The resolution underscores the crucial importance of water resources for a sustainable development including the preservation of environment and liquidation of poverty and famine, maintenance of health and well-being of people, as well as the achievement of the purposes formulated in the Millennium Declaration. At the same time, it expresses the concern about a slow and non-uniform achievement of the main goal: to reduce twice the issues of population which are not having constant access to safe potable water and the basic services in the field of sanitation.

The total volume of water on the Earth makes about 1400 million cubic kilometers from which only 2,5 percent are fresh water. The main sources of the water consumed by people are lakes, rivers and shallow underground waters. The operational part of these resources makes only nearby 200 thousand cubic kilometers, i.e. less than 1 percent of all stocks of fresh water, and their significant part is placed far from populated areas, that even more aggravates the problems of water consumption. Nearby 1 billion people in the world have no access to pure potable water, and 2,6 billion people have no access to the basic sanitary services. Illnesses connected with the dirty water cause more deaths than all forms of violence including the war. According to the United Nations forecast, in 2025 two third of the Earth population will suffer from the shortage of water resources. Such a state of affairs challenges all the mankind and undermines all efforts in the field of development. These problems can be solved only through the coordination and joint efforts of all interested parties.

The International Year on Water Cooperation should become a platform for joint efforts of the United Nations and other international and regional organizations, governments, civil communities and businessmen to increase the awareness on the problems in the field of water resources and the ways of their solution. Thus this Year will promote the creation of a favorable environment for the development of new ideas and the search of the most effective ways of the achievement of international-coordinated purposes in the field of renewal and preservation of stocks of fresh water and in the field of water cooperation at global, regional, national and local levels.

The water cooperation should be based on the principles of a sustainable development and should promote fair economic growth and strengthening of human potential in all common water objects. It is necessary to increase the confidence between all interested parties of transboundary water resources management and to promote the realization of the integrated water resources management at all levels.

The exhibition presents more than 100 documents in Russian and English languages: books, periodicals, mimeographed materials of the United Nations, brochures and booklets.

• The exposition includes the following subject sections:
• The world water resources, their current state and use.
• The water cooperation: international legal documents in the filed of protection, preservation and use of water resources.
• International watercourses: protection and use of transboundary water resources.
• Fresh water deficit – the global issue.
• Use, current state and protection of water resources in the Republic of Belarus.

The exhibition will be interesting to scientists, students, post-graduates, specialists in hydrology, nature management, environment protection and all who are interested in ecological protection of water resources.

Useful links

• The International Water Day
• The Water for Life Decade
• The UN Water Network
• Water and sanitation
• The World Oceans Day (8 June)
• The World Water Day (22 March)
• The International Fresh Water Year (2003)
• The International Sanitation Year (2008)
• The United Nations for people and the planet
• The United Nations works for the preservation of fresh water
• The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council
• The World Water Council
• The European Water Initiative

Documents

• Human Development Report 2006 “Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis”
• UN-Water Annual Report 2010
• UN-Water Policy Brief on Water Quality
• The United Nations Mechanisms “UN – water resources”

Materials on the questions of transboundary water resources

• Water without borders
• The right to water
• Supplying water
• Preservation of the quality of freshwater resources and freshwater supply: application of complex approaches to water resources development, water industry and water use

Resolutions

• The UN General Assembly
• ECOSOC
• Reports of the United Nations Secretary General
• Documents of the Council on Human Rights
• Dushanbe Declaration on Water