Water management must be integral part of sustainable development: experts

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2005

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Water management issues must be an integral aspect of sustainable development and ought to be adapted to take specific country situations into account, experts said as a World Water Week conference opened in Stockholm.

Some 1.4 billion people in the world, primarily in Asia and Africa, have no access to clean water while 2.6 billion have no basic sanitary system, according to Jamal Saghir, the head of water issues at the World Bank.

Three million children die each year because they have no clean drinking water, he added.

Saghir said water management, seen as the key to fighting poverty and promoting economic growth, must be synonymous with sustainable development.

"The World Bank will not grant loans to projects that don't respect...