22 Mar 2012

FAO / WORLD WATER DAY

UN officials stressed today that ensuring universal access to water and using it wisely in agriculture is essential to end famine, drought and political instability, adding that countries must strive to provide this vital source to all their citizens to achieve a sustainable future. FAO

Posted at: March 22, 2012 5:57 pm

Duration: 02:34

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: UN / WORLD WATER DAY 
TRT: 2.34
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 22 March 2012, ROME, ITALY

SHOTLIST:

1. Med shot, World Water Day banner at FAO headquarters in Rome 
2. Wide shot, woman in atrium of FAO headquarters looking at the poster 
3. Med shot, woman looking at the display, "And you… What do you do for World Water Day"
4. Wide shot, FAO event to mark World Water Day
5. SOUNDBITE (English) José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization:
"Due to population growth and economic development, cities and industries will demand more water. By 2025, two thirds of the world's population could be living in water-stressed areas."
6. Med shot, FAO Goodwill Ambassador Anggun
7. Med shot, other panel members
8. Cutaway, audience members
9. Med shot, audience members
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Anggun, Singer and FAO Goodwill Ambassador: 
"Unless we increase our capacity to use water wisely in agriculture, we will fail to end hunger and we will open the door to a range of other ills, including drought, famine and political instability."
11. Cutaway, audience members
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Chair, UN-Water:
"Food security indeed has been very high on the international agenda, since the peak food prices of 2008 – population growth, urbanization, development pressure have also contributed to food and water scarcity."
13. Cutaway, audience members
14. SOUNDBITE (French) Loïc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council (WWC):
"Access to these rural resources, access to basic water and food needs are a right which – with respect – confer dignity and security."
15. Cutaway, audience members
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Kanayo F. Nwanze, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
"For more than two decades now, IFAD has worked with farmers to change their farming practices, to introduce micro-irrigation, to improve on traditional water-harvesting methods such as digging traditional planting pits before the onset of the rains, and to nurture native trees and plants that lock moisture and nutrients into the soil."
17. Med shot, audience members
18. Wide shot, event

STORYLINE:

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) observed World Water Day at its headquarters in Rome today as UN officials stressed that ensuring universal access to water and using it wisely in agriculture is essential to end famine, drought and political instability.

The UN-Water partnership of 28 different UN organizations celebrates World Water Day Every year on 22 March to focus attention on the needs of a world thirsty for water.

Opening today's panel event, José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization underlined the pressures posed by population growth and economic development, stressing that cities and industries would demand more water in the future.

"By 2025, two-thirds of the world's population could be living in water-stressed areas," he said.

Reading out a statement on the behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, FAO Goodwill Ambassador Anggun said that "unless we increase our capacity to use water wisely in agriculture, we will fail to end hunger and we will open the door to a range of other ills, including drought, famine and political instability."

Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Chair of UN-Water noted that food security had been a critical international issue since the peak in food price sin 2008 and that since then, "population growth, urbanization, development pressure have also contributed to food and water scarcity."

Loïc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council (WWC), said access to basic water and food needs were a right that conferred dignity and security.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Kanayo F. Nwanze testified that his organization had worked for more than two decades to help farmers modernize their farming practices through micro-irrigation, better water-harvesting methods and the planting of native trees and plants that lock moisture and nutrients into the soil.

The theme of this year's observance was water and food security. Currently, nearly one billion people suffer from hunger and some 800 million still lack a safe supply of freshwater. By 2050, the world population is projected to reach 9 billion and water security and quality will be required to meet world food needs.