Water
It’s Getting Better: Access to Water Edition
Big News On the Global Development Front: Unicef and the WHO announced that humanity has achieved the Millennium Development Goal of cutting half the number of people around the world who do not have access to clean water.
Water Conflict
So far, we haven’t seen a international water war. We’ve been able to solve water conflicts through economic and diplomatic solutions. I hope - I really hope – that we can keep that up. But as water gets scarcer, the fights are going to get worse.
The Water We Eat
The Millennium Development Goals can’t cover everything. It’s not so much a flaw in the goals as an unfortunate fact of life. One thing they don’t cover is irrigation water. In about ten years, we’re going to regret that.
World Water Day
People in the developed world think of diarrhea as a mild nuisance. But for most of the world it can be a death sentence. Sanitation related diseases – mainly diarrhea – kills over 4,000 children around the world each day, meaning it kills more children than malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB…combined.
Today is World Water Day, so this is a good opportunity to talk about how it is that people die everyday for lack of a clean glass of water. Here is a useful primer from GOOD.
Hollywood Stars and Under-Secretaries of State Talk Global Water Issues
Actors, Musicians, ambassadors and under-secretaries of state mingled together in the plush Ben Franklin room at State Department Headquarters last night in a reception to honor a Hollywood Star-Washington, D.C. wonk collaboration known as Summit on the Summit. The idea, conceived by Ethiopian-born musician Kenna, brought Hollywood stars, PhD’s and DC-based advocates on a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness about global water issues.
Happy World Oceans Day!
As previewed before the weekend, today is the first official World Oceans Day. And as I stressed before, this sounds like the perfect opportunity to push for U.S. ratification of the Law of the Sea treaty. He doesn’t call out Washington, but the S-G would certainly agree.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, and is the basis for international cooperation on all levels,” UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.
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“The world must do more to implement this Convention and uphold the rule of law on the seas and oceans,” he stressed. [emphasis mine]
A reminder: today is the last day to call or write the White House urging support for this treaty. Take a few minutes, for the oceans’ sakes.
UPDATE: IntLawGrrls has more.
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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