SOCIAL ISSUES—WORLD WATER DAY

Senator Rhiannon, also on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Bob Carr) and Senator Boyce, amended general business notice of motion no. 735 by leave and, pursuant to notice of motion not objected to as a formal motion, moved—That the Senate—

 (a) notes that:

  (i) 22 March 2012 is World Water Day - a day to acknowledge that the world has now met the Millennium Development Goal target for drinking water, and 2 billion people have gained access to drinking water since 1990,

  (ii) around 800 million people still live without access to drinking water and that around 2.5 billion people, which is 37 per cent of the world's population, still live without access to basic sanitation,

  (iii) the Millennium Development Global Goal target for sanitation will not be met,

  (iv) around 2.5 million children die each year as a result of unclean water and poor sanitation, and that diarrhoea is the leading cause of death in Africa and the second leading cause of child death globally,

  (v) access to clean water and sanitation are the foundation for progress on other development outcomes, especially child health and education, and

  (vi) the high level meeting of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership will take place on 20 April 2012 in Washington; and

 (b) calls on the Government to:

  (i) continue and increase aid funding for water and sanitation, with a special emphasis on investing in sanitation, in the 2012-13 budget and beyond, and

  (ii) support the work of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership and other initiatives to bring an end to this global crisis.

Question put and passed.

At 2 pm—