First Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol on Water and Health to the UNECE Water Convention

The Protocol aims to protect human health and well being by improving water management, including the protection of water ecosystems, and by preventing, controlling and reducing water-related diseases. The Protocol is the first international agreement of its kind adopted specifically to attain an adequate supply of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for everyone, and to effectively protect water used as a source of drinking water. It entered into force in 2005 and counts now 20 Parties from across the pan-European region. Sixteen more countries have signed it and more are welcome to join. The Protocol provides countries with an effective international mechanism for curbing the harm caused by unsafe water and sanitation and by the unsustainable use of water resources, for implementing the Millennium Development Goals related to water and sanitation, and for taking concrete steps to implement the human right to water. The Protocol is therefore a pioneering multilateral agreement linking social and environmental aspects and addressing development and poverty issues. The first Meeting of the Parties will mark a milestone in the history of the agreement and pave the way for future joint work. At this meeting, Parties will make the needed institutional arrangements to support the Protocol’s implementation. They will adopt their programme of work through 2009, which will be the basis for their cooperative efforts to jointly implement the Protocol and reduce the burden of water-related diseases through national action and mutual international assistance. The draft programme of work includes activities related to: the support to Parties and non-Parties in the definition of targets and target dates; the development of a mechanism to facilitate the preparation of international assistance projects and the coordination between donors and recipient countries; surveillance of water-related disease and response systems; the human right to water and equitable access to safe drinking water; water supply and sanitation and climate change adaptation strategies; and public awareness and capacity building activities.