Water crisis: world needs water leadership say former heads of government

Former heads of government have agreed to establish a new panel to help fill a "serious void in leadership related to global water issues". Saying that "international water leadership is virtually nonexistent," the retired leaders apparently have little faith in existing international organisations and forums such as UN-Water, the World Water Council (WWC) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP). The panel will work to elevate the issue's political prominence in an effort to avert a looming "water crisis."

The formation of the new water panel was announced at the 29th meeting of the InterAction Council held from 29-31 May 2011 in Québec City, Canada. Participants included former presidents Bill Clinton (USA) and Vicente Fox (Mexico) and former prime ministers Yasuo Fukuda (Japan) and Gro Brundtland (Norway). Co-chairing the meeting were former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and former Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky.

In the final communiqué of the meeting, the group urged a new international water ethic and offered policy makers some 17 recommendations to move world water management forward, including increased investment in sanitation and access to safe water supply, making the right to water legally enforceable and raising the price of water to reflect its economic value while making provisions for people in poverty.