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Sweden hosts conference to address water, hygiene

On the eve of an international water conference in Sweden, experts have urged officials to focus on the issue of poor sanitation in developing countries.

Each year, 1.4 million children die from diarrhea-related diseases and poor hygiene, organizers said on Saturday, describing the global sanitation crisis as “the world’s largest environmental problem.”

“It is a catastrophe that policy makers have chosen to ignore way too long,” said Cecilia Martinsen, a member of the Stockholm International Water Institute.

She is among the 2,500 scientists, politicians and officials from 140 countries meeting in the Swedish capital to discuss water issues at the conference, which was to open yesterday. The UN has named this year the International Year of Sanitation.

Participants at the weeklong seminar, which is organized by the Stockholm institute, include President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagascar, Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and this year’s winner of the Stockholm Water Prize, British professor John Anthony Allan.

Allan, from Kings College at the University of London, who won the prize for studies on how food production consumes vast volumes of water, is one of the key speakers at the conference.

Others include Ravalomanana, scheduled to speak on how Madagascar tackled sanitation problems by giving high priority to hygiene awareness, including increasing the supply of toilets and encouraging their use.

The water institute will also publish a report on global food waste and how overuse of water in producing food contributes to higher food costs.

Swedish Crown Princess Victoria will present Allan with his prize on Thursday, on behalf of her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, who is attending the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The institute grants the annual US$150,000 water prize to people or organizations for major contributions to the preservation, enhancement or availability of the world’s water resources.
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