Openingspeech by H.R.H. The Prince of Orange, Chair of the United Nations Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on the occasion of the 12th UNSGAB meeting

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

Our Board is truly honored to meet here in Sofia - one of the oldest cities in Europe with its rich history dating back more than 5000 years. I would like to sincerely thank the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria for hosting our sessions with so much hospitality and efficiency.
Thanks to our respected Board member and former deputy minister, Yordan Uzunov, we are gathered here in Bulgaria for the 12th meeting of the UN Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. I am also grateful for having the opportunity to meet with representatives from the 12 countries of the Black-Sea-Economic-Cooperation.

With the financial turmoil in the world dominating headlines and impacting economies and government budgets, the water and sanitation crisis might not be priority number one in this region. But the facts and figures on this subject still do deserve our utmost attention.

• Over 13 million people in this region do not have access to adequate drinking water supply.
• More than 41 million people have to live without improved sanitation facilities.

Before I explain what UNSGAB is all about, I wish to welcome his Excellency, Mr. Assen Gagauzov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works of Bulgaria. I am also delighted to see that the UN Representative, Assistant Secretary-General Mr. Thomas Stelzer is with us again. Finally I would like to extend a warm welcome to the representatives from the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Pact, the Regional Development Banks, the OECD and all other participants who are with us today.

Our Board's main task is to stimulate national governments, international organizations and regional and global development banks to take coordinate action to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets for water and sanitation. And our main mandate is the Hashimoto Action Plan that was launched at the fourth World Water Forum in March 2006. The action plan is concise - just twelve pages long. It contains no new commitments or proclamations. Instead, it concentrates on the targets the international community has already set for itself. So our message is a simple one: no more new ideas and policies. We better implement the ones we already have. It's time for getting things done on the ground!

Within that scope, we have held regional dialogues in Africa, South-East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in the Arab Region. All have resulted in agreements to enhance future collaboration on the six priority areas set forth in the Hashimoto Action Plan. In the case of Africa, we agreed that there was a need to focus high-level attention to propel water and sanitation issues to the top of national and regional agendas. So we proposed an African Union Summit on Water and Sanitation, which took place in June of last year. Other major achievements of the Board are the introduction of Water Operators Partnerships and our call for the successful International Year of Sanitation in 2008.

Now, let me briefly address the water and sanitation situation in the Black Sea Region. It is a very positive fact that the coverage rates are generally high in this region. Still, many countries face serious challenges to deliver safe drinking water to large groups of their population, especially in the rural areas.

Tap water can be of mediocre quality and is in some countries delivered at limited times during the day or week. A large part of the existing infrastructure is in poor condition. This is partly due to unclear responsibilities among different governmental institutions on one hand, and a severe lack of financial resources for operation and maintenance on the other.

Political developments and the decentralisation process of the last 20 years has fragmented the water sector into many small and medium size providers that lack the capacity to adequately serve the public.

Sanitation, we know, is an unpopular subject. It is a very private matter and public discussion about toilets, sewage systems and personal hygiene can be challenging. But this is exactly what we must do. Progress hinges on political will and public education. The latest Joint Monitoring Report conducted by the World Health Organization and UNICEF estimates that just one dollar invested in sanitation yields a return of nine dollars. So, in this era of global financial instability, sanitation technology and infrastructure is one of the most reliable investment opportunities around! Safe sanitation also affords human health and dignity, the value of which is immeasurable. During our sessions, our Board would like to explore how to increase funding and action on safe sanitation in Black Sea countries with the regional Development Banks.

As mentioned earlier, last year was the International Year of Sanitation and we've been truly gratified by the increased action and political will. Now, we see an opportunity to build on this enthusiasm to promote what we call 'the other side of sanitation', in particular water re-use and wastewater treatment.

At the Fifth World Water Forum, last March in Istanbul, the re-use of treated wastewater was emphasized. The lack of adequate sanitation services threatens the health of millions of children. And also coastal and marine ecosystems are affected because of sewage flowing directly into streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands.

But, of course, wastewater treatment is expensive. That is one reason so little waste water is treated in the world. But efforts to increase waste water treatment are underway around the globe. There are different reuse opportunities with different social, economic and environmental values.

During our dialogue this afternoon, I am sure that we will learn many useful lessons about how Black Sea countries are coping with the water and sanitation challenges in their rural settlement areas. I sincerely hope you will agree on a set of concrete actions at the end of the dialogue.

Throughout our UNSGAB sessions we will closely assess our work against the Hashimoto Action Plan. I am pleased with our progress, and yet there is still so much to be done. We must develop clear workplans and goals so we all have our marching orders when we leave Sofia!

Looking ahead, we will need to prepare for advancing our work with the regional development banks and the African partners as well. We also have to make our mind up with regard to the long term roadmap of the Board, focusing on the MDG summit in September 2010 and beyond.

I could easily go on, but we are here to work, learn and make progress as a team. I am delighted to be with my UNSGAB family again and to be here with so many respected representatives of the Black Sea Region. Once again, I thank our gracious hosts, the Republic of Bulgaria and I look forward to making great strides while we are together here in Sofia.

Thank you very much.