Videomessage by the Prince of Orange on the occassion of the 10th Summit of the African Union, 31 January - 02 February 2008

Speech | 02-02-2008

Your Excellency mr. Kufuor, Chairperson of the African Union, Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government, Your Excellency mr. Konoré, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Your Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,

It is a great honour and a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to address the tenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa. My subject today is the critical and essential topic of water and sanitation.

I would have loved to be able to be with you today. However, the celebrations for the 70th birthday of my mother, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, made my presence in the Netherlands obligatory. I trust you will understand this, accept my apologies and allow me to address your distinguished gathering by video message.

After accepting the position as Chair of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation in December 2006, I was delighted that my first task was to preside over an African Dialogue on Water and Sanitation, with my friend and co-chair Ms Maria Mutagamba. Other prticipants were other high-ranking water representatives from the African Union, the African Ministers' Council on Water, NEPAD, the African Development Bank, the African Water Facility, regional representatives and other key organisations which are instrumental in improving the water and sanitation situation in Africa. At that meeting, held in Tunis in December 2006, our discussions on the challenges Africa was facing were frank and sobering, yet in the end, hopeful and encouraging. Since then, my Board has been dedicated more than ever to advancing the water and sanitation agenda in Africa with the aim of helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

I understand that your deliberations at the Summit have focused in particular on the theme 'Industrial Development of Africa'. In order to overcome poverty and increase economic growth in the region, industrial development will be essential. I strongly agree that the African Region has a great potential for economic and social growth in this century. Take, for example, water resources development and management. Africa uses only 3.8% of its water resources for water supply, irrigation and hydropower, which are a prerequisite for industrial development. In other words, more than 96% of Africa's hydro-potential is still untapped!

Besides the need for clean energy and water, industrial development needs a healthy workforce. However, Africa is facing an ongoing, endemic water and sanitation crisis that debilitates and kills large numbers of people, limiting economic growth, educational access, and life opportunities. Most at risk are the poor, especially women and children in rural areas and in the growing cities and informal settlements. Only 62% of Africans have access to safe water and only 43% have access to adequate sanitation. Major sanitation improvements could boost the economy in so many ways.

Under the auspices of AMCOW, a Country Status Overview of 16 African countries has considered what it will take to get Africa on track to meet the MDG targets. The main messages of the study are:

The need to prioritise the water sector in budgetary allocations and to increase coordination efforts with other important policy sectors is paramount. At the same time sanitation requires a specific focus to ensure healthy living conditions. Sanitation generates substantial economic benefits and reduces economic losses. Sanitation also protects the environment and last but not least, sanitation saves lives!

During the months that I spent in East Africa as a pilot for AMREF Flying Doctors, I learned first-hand how many lives and how much money this NGO could save if it could shift from curative to preventive health care. Since good sanitation is the best preventive health care known to mankind, it makes perfect business sense to give sanitation the highest possible priority!

2008 is the UN International Year of Sanitation and it is a critical year for getting Africa back on track to meet the MDGs. Failure to do so will make the challenge even harder in subsequent years. Proper sanitation is seemingly a mundane thing that most people in the developed world take for granted, but providing safe sanitation to 2.6 billion people - some 41% of the world's population - is a daunting, almost impossible task. However, remarkable advances can be made very quickly, even in the poorest areas.

For example: in the Southern Nations province of Ethiopia, 1.3 million latrines were built in 1,5 year. In the district of Busia in Uganda, well-motivated district health officials virtually doubled coverage through a sustained local promotion programme. The experience of the community-led sanitation campaign in India and Bangladesh is being piloted in various African nations. Water Operator Partnerships or WOPs, initiated by my Board, provide innovative South-South and North-South cooperation and support for struggling public water utilities, with a central role for their workers.

One of the topics we agreed upon in the African Dialogue in Tunis is to prepare an African Union Summit of Heads of State on Water and Sanitation in 2008. All participants recognised the acute need for a stronger and more operational political commitment in Africa. The Summit draft is currently being prepared by the Secretariats of the AU and UNSGAB and I would like to use this opportunity to ask you to support that Summit.

I sincerely hope that my Board can work closely with you in developing a realistic action programme which can be endorsed at the African Union Water and Sanitation Summit, scheduled for July this year. An action programme which, in particular, will convince governments to set national water and sanitation policies and targets. It will also include sustainable cost-recovery mechanisms and promote improvement of access to finance by local authorities. For this, the Finance Working Group of my Board is working on innovative finance mechanisms.

Let us try to make a real difference and to offer new opportunities for a healthy, dignified existence and development for the poorest people in Africa. In doing so, we will pave the way for sustainable industrial development which will generate much-needed economic progress in the continent. If you need us, our Board is entirely at your disposal!

Your excellencies, please don't forget that sanitation for all also means all for sanitation! Thank you for your attention!