|
|
| EXPO ZARAGOZA 2008 AND AFRICA |
10/3/2008 |
|
Water Expo in Zaragoza 2008 is an International 3 month exposition (14th June-14 September) that will bring together many concepts and views that revolve around water and its management, in an effort to shed light on new directions for confronting issues linked to water- sustainable development and social well being. The Expo 84 in New Orleans, USA, had as its theme “The World of Rivers-Fresh Water as a Source of Life.” In the Expo98 in Lisbon-Portugal, “The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future”
was chosen as the theme. Thus the choice of “Water and Sustainability” in this year’s Expo ‘08 in Zaragoza, Spain only highlighted the critical nature of water to our survival. The choice of Water-related issues is not a subject to be exhausted; rather, it is a matter of great importance and urgency to all.
This Expo is billed to be the biggest water festival on earth. It will provide a platform for over 2,000
international experts in the field of water. That is why the Expo has received high patronage and wide participation from the highest level of government. Over 106 countries are represented at Expo 08. The magnificent plazas and pavilions designed by world renowned architects on the theme of water adorned the Zaragoza Fair landscape. In line with the war on global warming, most of them were constructed with eco-friendly materials and will be powered by wind and solar energy. The major issues would address the regulation, financing models and management practices to promote sanitation
and distribution services targeted primarily to rural areas. The Expo is just one of the several examples of the way the water conservation is actually changing in the media and elsewhere. At the Fair, professionals and stakeholders would take a sensitive, intelligent and deliberate look at one of the greatest challenges facing the human race: water as a main support for life and a strategic resource for human development. It would range from the ethical commitment to sustainability to the intelligent goal of innovation in water related issues.
Almost everywhere, people are depleting aquifers faster than they are being replenished. At current rates of consumption, and population growth, twothirds of the world’s population will face water scarcity in twenty years’ time. Water-borne diseases kill over 5million people each year, which is almost more than the toll from AIDS and war combined. It is not being pessimistic but there are indications that the future of water supply is poor, if the existing care-free attitude about water is not checked. Fortunately, we don’t have to. Unlike other global problems as war and poverty, the water crisis stands a good chance of being solved in our lifetime, through the human effort and ingenuity. The lessons and activities at this Expo is a confirmation of this optimism.
African Countries and the Expo 08: The African continent’s region from the Sahelian to Sahara has been the epicenter of acute water problem. The global warming and other forces only help to worsen an already bad situation. If there is a region that needed the lessons of the on-going fair, it is Africa. The situation of Lake Chad would give insight into the African predicament. Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon share the Lake Chad water resources, but the poor Lake has apparently shrank by 20 times in the last 35years. This is a worrisome and gloomy picture. Climate change and human demand for
water are the forces behind this phenomenon. This might be the justification for the high turn out of African countries at this Fair. The participants from these countries would have the opportunity of knowing, first hand, the causes and consequences of this problem from experts at the Expo. The sad truth is that hundreds of millions of people in poor countries do not get enough water. Women and sometimes children walk miles carrying and balancing heavy buckets, jerry cans and pots on their heads, just to bring water to the house. Most third world cities have uneven rates of water coverage,
often serving less than half the population. In most cases, the carried water is not just the pain. It is expensive, costing 5 and 20 times more than piped water. This does not include the time and effort.
Oftentimes, the small amount of water brought home is quickly exhausted in domestic chores and the cycle or ordeal continues. The worse aspect is that these water sources are often dirty and thus carry diseases. Each year, hundreds of thousands of children die of diarrhea, and many of them got it from drinking bad water. Unfortunately, despite the importance of water to the populace, water policy
is played down by governments notwithstanding that bad water is one of the world’s biggest
problems. The Expo with an underlying serious intellectual and community gathering to solve the worlds water problems. Thus the need to analyze options and opportunities for scaling up agricultural water development in Africa would be expounded. There will be focus on the identification of imediate and long run measures that can be taken in getting closer to sustained agricultural water development and economic growth. In the whole of the continent, there is the dearth of strategic vision linking/
integrating agricultural water development to poverty reduction and growth. The United Nations UN has repackaged its policy on the International Decade for Action- “Water for Life”-2005 to 2015 with a center stage at the Expo. The need to ensure coherence between the implementation of the water and sanitation agenda and other development as well as communication and advocacy to raise awareness
of the challenges and opportunities to solve global water and sanitation issues.
To allow for profitable exchanges of experience and opinions between the professionals and decision makes of the water sector. It is a unique occasion not just to highlight the magnitude of the problem, but also to bring all stakeholders together to apply solutions that work. The commitments include the Millennium Development Goals to reduce by ½ the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 and to stop unsustainable exploitation of water sources. Our Managing Editor who was at the on-going fair was impressed with the immense technological edifice on display as well as the
number of African countries’ stands at the Fair. He is particularly excited with a display of excellence by the Nigeria delegation led by Mrs. Elizabeth B. P. Emuren. The Nigeria pavilion has an uncommon input in both architechtual layout and the unique interior. This undoubtedly, accounts for the reason it was highly patronized by visitors at the fair. He noted that the expert knowledge and reports gathered from the Expo should not be used to decorate Government’s file cabinets, but be utilized positively and aggressively to tackle the African water crisis.
|
|
|
|
| Comments | Post your comment |
|
|
|
