BAROMÈTRE DE L'EAU 2016

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Water, a source of commitment

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has made the fight against water-related diseases its major combat. A vital and dignified aid is brought to 5 million people every year. Though water is finally being considered since the 2015 COP 21 on climate change, it is time to move from talk to actions.

Excerpt from the interview between Alain Boinet, founder of SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL and Brice Lalonde, Green militant and former minister for the Environment.

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"Water stakeholders

must now urge States

to take action."

Brice Lalonde

"Is access to drinking

water and sanitation achievable by

2030?"

Alain Boinet

Environmentalist and former Environment Minister, Brice Lalonde* takes part in all international summits regarding the future of our planet. Alain Boinet, founder of SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL humanitarian organization, met him after COP 21. Brice Lalonde attended as spokesman for the French Water Partnership (FWP).

"In humanitarian crises, access to drinking water and sanitation is vital for populations. The cause and effect relationship between unsafe water and mortality

states the obvious." Alain Boinet

Photo credit

About 3.5 billion people do not have access to real drinking water, 2.6 million people die each year from water-borne diseases

The road ahead to ensure a universal access to water is still long. However, the SDGs have made water one of its priorities.

"We must help countries in need. But in the end, it is the countries themselves which develop according to their will and desires."

Brice Lalonde

Water specialists agree that one way or another you have to pay for water: in kind, effort, time or money. What is not free is service – looking for water, cleaning it, conducting it, delivering it, returning it clean. It is already a battle to convince the population that there is no free lunch!

"If they say that access to water is a human fundamental right, this right must be implemented."

Brice Lalonde

There is no organization within the United Nations that is dedicated to water. Therefore, we need an accountable UN organisation.

Access to drinking water is acknowledged as a human right. This right is satisfied if water is accessible, available in sufficient quantity, uncontaminated, clear enough and affordable. In addition, access must be organized fairly and without discrimination.

Water, hygiene, sanitation access: they officially became one of the seventeen priorities for mankind. A new hope: drinking water for everyone in 2030!

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