Children in Mali gather water for their households from a community well.

• WSSD Signature Initiative on Freshwater
• Global Programme of Action on Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution
• Dialogue on Water for Food and Environmental Security

World Summit For Sustainable Development Signature Initiative On Freshwater
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the United States announced an initiative to improve sustainable management of the world’s freshwater resources. This initiative builds on international efforts to achieve the United Nations Millennium Declaration Goal of reducing by half the number of people worldwide who are unable to obtain safe drinking water. The U.S. proposes to invest over $970 million during the next three years (2003-2005) to support access to clean water and sanitation services, improve watershed management, and increase the productivity (efficient use) of water resources. The United States is working with other government and non-government partners on this effort, and it is anticipated that the U.S. investment will mobilize over $1.6 billion for water-related activities around the globe.

Through Agency for International Development programs, the United States will invest $510 million on projects that enhance access to clean water and sanitation service, including water and sanitation projects to serve the urban poor in South Africa; small scale potable water supply and sanitation programs for poor rural communities in Ghana, Mali and Niger through the West Africa Water Initiative; and an innovative financing program that has supported a safe drinking water delivery system in India.

The United States is investing over $400 million over the next three years to provide increased protection to watersheds by integrating management activities for surface water, groundwater and coastal resources. Some example projects include the $15 million Ridge to Reef Program in Jamaica, focused on controlling water pollution from agriculture and human wastes; creation of local watershed management authorities to guide improved water resources management in Morocco’s Souss-Massa River Basin; and partnership in an international alliance that is funding use of state-of-the-art Geographic Information System mapping technology to improve watershed management capabilities.

The United States is investing over $60 million over the next three years to ensure that industrial and agricultural water use is as productive as possible. A $12 million Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community Husbandry project in Bangladesh will enhance the productivity of fisheries and farmlands. In Mali, the Agency has initiated a $10 million irrigated agriculture development program to support more intensive agriculture which will help to alleviate poverty and support economic growth. Other projects include a Colombian initiative to promote sustainable aquaculture activities as an alternative livelihood for farmers currently engaged in illicit coca production.
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Global Programme of Action on Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution
In November 2001, representatives of more than 100 governments renewed their pledges to implement the Global Programme of Action (GPA) for the Control of Land-based Sources of Marine Pollution at the first intergovernmental review of the GPA held in Montreal. A concluding session of the weeklong meeting featured approval of a ministerial statement that will henceforth be known as the Montreal Declaration. This declaration outlines the pledge of governments to work together with industry, international organizations, and other key stakeholders to address those activities that affect the health and productivity of the world’s oceans. More than 80 percent of marine environment pollution is caused by land-based activities, such as sewage, run-off from agricultural and industrial sites, and habitat destruction.

As part of USAID’s contribution towards implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Control of Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution, the Agency’s Water Team recently joined forces with LAC Bureau and the Environmental Health Project (EHP) for the next phase of an activity aimed at improving sanitation in small towns in Latin America and the Caribbean. EHP has produced a guidance document that lays out core principles and a methodology for ensuring that a range of issues such as environmental protection, financial sustainability, maximizing health benefits, local management, and equity are incorporated into the design of small-town sanitation projects. The activity will next field-test the methodology in collaboration with at least three small towns in Latin America and the Caribbean. Further dissemination of the methodology will take place in the form of two regional workshops — one in the Andean region and one in Central America — to develop the capacity of selected individuals and organizations to improve sanitation in small towns.
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Dialogue on Water for Food and Environmental Security
To address the fundamental problem of assuring enough water to meet future global food needs while maintaining or improving environmental quality, the Dialogue on Water, Food and the Environment was launched following the Second World Water Forum in 2000. A consortium of 10 international organizations – including the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Conservation Union (IUCN)), World Health Organization (WHO), International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), Global Water Partnership (GWP), World Water Council (WWC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) – are working together to build bridges between the agricultural and environmental communities on water resources issues by improving the linkages between the sectoral approaches that dominate policy making and implementation. This will include efforts to:

• establish a dialogue that will produce tangible solutions for the seemingly conflicting interests of water for food and environment, primarily at national and basin levels;
• draw together, maintain and improve the required knowledge base for the Dialogue;
• create a platform for local- or basin-scale activities that enhance food and environmental security in order to promote the exchange of experience and the development and identification of best practices; and
• raise awareness among relevant actors and stakeholders.