Water Access for Armed-Conflict Victims
PL | 17.03.2009 17:07 | Climate Chaos | Ecology | Terror War
Safety
The Red Cross also asked participants to protect sanitary systems in times of war.
"Water, sewage and electrical power systems, along with medical facilities, are usually the first things to be disrupted when a war breaks out," Robert Mardini, head of the ICRC's water and habitat unit, said in a written statement.
Quoted by a UN spokesperson, Mardini said that 15 percent of the 2.6 billion without access to proper sanitation, are in war-torn countries.
The Fifth World Water Forum opens in Istanbul Monday, bringing together an expected 20,000 people from 107 countries, among them government officials, business people and civic groups, who will discuss themes associated with water until March 22.
Access to water and health services quality are among the Millennium Development Goals set down by the UN to be reached no later than 2015.
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