III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 466 

Supporting the goals and ideals of World Water Day. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2010 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. DODD, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. CARDIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of World Water Day. 

Whereas United Nations Resolution 47/193, adopted by the 

General Assembly on December 22, 1992, designates 

March 22 of each year as World Day for Water; 

Whereas a person needs a minimum of 20 liters of water per 

day to live; 

Whereas a person can live weeks without food, but only days 

without water; 

Whereas diseases related to inadequate water, sanitation, and 

hygiene trigger 4,000,000,000 cases of diarrhea and 

2,000,000,000 infections by parasitic intestinal worms 

annually; 

Whereas 50 percent of childhood malnutrition in the world is 

caused by water- and sanitation-related diseases; 


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•SRES 466 IS 

Whereas a child dies from a water-borne disease every 15 seconds; 

Whereas water- and sanitation-related diseases are the leading cause of death for children under 5 years of age; 

Whereas millions of women and children spend several hours 

a day collecting water from distant, often polluted 

sources; 

Whereas women and children bear disproportionate economic 

and educational costs associated with unsafe drinking 

water and poor sanitation; 

Whereas every dollar spent on water and sanitation saves an 

average of $8 in costs averted and productivity gained; 

Whereas water- and sanitation-related diseases account for 

80 percent of the sicknesses in developing countries; 

Whereas 884,000,000 people lack access to an improved 

water supply; 

Whereas 2,500,000,000 people in the world lack access to improved sanitation; 

Whereas the 263 transboundary lake and river basins in the 

world include territory in 145 countries and cover nearly 

1⁄2 of the Earth’s land surface; 

Whereas climate change may cause more extreme floods and 

droughts, increasing tension and potential clashes over 

transboundary freshwater resources; 

Whereas the global celebration of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro to draw attention to the global water, sanitation, 

and hygiene crisis; 


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•SRES 466 IS 

Whereas the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on 

Sustainable Development, adopted by the 2002 Johannesburg summit participants, including the United 

States, sets forth the goal to reduce by 1⁄2, between 1990 

and 2015, ‘‘the proportion of people who are unable to 

reach or to afford safe drinking water’’ and ‘‘the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation’’; and 

Whereas the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 

2005 (Public Law 109–121) required the Secretary of 

State to develop a strategy to ‘‘elevate the role of water 

and sanitation policy in the development of U.S. foreign 

policy and improve the effectiveness of U.S. official programs undertaken in support of the strategy’’: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of World 

3 Water Day, which will be observed on March 22; 

4 (2) urges the Department of State, the United 

5 States Agency for International Development, and 

6 all relevant Federal departments and agencies to in7 crease the efforts and resources dedicated to— 

8 (A) providing sustainable and equitable ac9 cess to safe drinking water and sanitation; and 

10 (B) improving the capacity for water re11 source management for the poor and the very 

12 poor; and 


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•SRES 466 IS 

1 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

2 to observe the day with appropriate activities that 

3 promote awareness of the importance of— 

4 (A) access to clean water and adequate 

5 sanitation; and 

6 (B) stakeholder cooperation on 

7 transboundary water management. 

Æ 


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