PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
EUROPEAN UNION'S WATER INITIATIVE (17 March 2006)

That this House notes with concern that 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe water and 2.6 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation; further notes that the European Union's Water Initiative (EUWI), established in 2002 as the EU's main contribution to meeting the water and sanitation millennium development goals, has not yet made any of the policy or practice changes which would have helped extra people to receive access to water or sanitation; further notes that clear commitments to increase aid effectiveness generally have been made in the donors' Paris Declaration; and urges the Government to work with its European counterparts to push for a radical overhaul of the EUWI by incorporating into it the Paris Declaration agenda, setting measurable targets for better donor co-ordination in each country where the Initiative operates and by providing regular reports of progress at country level to ensure that more people really are gaining access to safe water and sanitation.

Sponsored by:
Mr David Burrowes (Conservative)