VOA双语新闻 Non-Government Groups Launch Safe Water Campa

A consortium of more than 60 international non-governmental organizations says it will launch a global campaign on the Right to Water on March 22, which is World Water Day. The activists 1 say they want the United Nations to begin negotiations 2 for a legally binding 3 Convention to provide safe, clean water for millions of people around the world.

60多个国际非政府机构说，它们将在3月22号，也就是“世界水日”当天，发起一场全球性的用水权利运动。活动人士说，他们希望联合国开始谈判，争取达成为世界各地千百万人提供安全清洁用水问题的国际公约。

The non-governmental organizations say plans for a citizens' campaign to provide safe, clean water for more than a billion deprived people began more than three years ago. The President of Green Cross International, Alexander Likhotal, says the campaign will officially kick off next Tuesday on World Water Day.

这些非政府机构说，它们在三年多前就开始计划发动为十多亿人提供安全、清洁用水的公民运动。国际绿色十字会主席亚利山大·利霍塔尔说，这个运动将在下星期二的世界水日正式启动。

He says through the use of "People power", the campaign hopes to persuade governments they must do more to provide their people with clean, safe water. Currently, he says, no legal instrument exists which can force governments to do this.

利霍塔尔说，希望通过这次运动，以“人民的力量”劝导各国政府为它们的人民提供清洁和安全的用水。他说，目前还没有一部法律文件能够强制要求各国政府这样做。

"The only practical way of addressing the water crisis is through consolidation 4 of civil society and the creation of a legally binding mechanism 5 for resolving all water-related issues," he said. "This is why Green Cross International together with other international, national and local organizations has launched an international public campaign to urge the national governments to start the negotiations of the global treaty on the right to water."

利霍塔尔说：“解决水危机唯一行之有效的办法是通过联合公民社会以及创建一套法律约束机制等方式来解决所有与水相关的问题。这也就是为什么国际绿色十字会和其他国际性以及各国和地区性的机构共同发起了这次公众性的运动，以敦促各国政府开始协商，制订全球性的用水权利协议。”

Mr. Likhotal says there is no doubt that such a treaty is needed. He says the statistics speak for themselves.

利霍塔尔说，不容置疑，这样一个协议是必需的。他说，统计数字说明了一切。

"Every day, 10,000 people die because of the water-related diseases and problems and shortages," he added. "Every eight seconds, a child dies as a result of water contamination. In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II."

他说：“每天大约有一万人因为与水相关的疾病和问题，以及缺水等原因而死亡。每八秒钟就有一个儿童因为水污染而死亡。在过去10年里，因患痢疾死去的儿童的数量，比第二次世界大战以来在军事冲突中丧生的所有人还要多。”

Mr. Likhotal says it would take 10 years to resolve the world's water crisis if the governments of the developed world allocated 6 $20 per capita toward fighting this problem.

利霍塔尔说，如果发达国家政府从它们的人均产值中拨出20美元用于对付这个问题，那也将需要10年的时间才能解决世界水危机。

He says obtaining an international water treaty will take the same kind of mobilization by civil society which achieved the Ottawa Convention, banning the production and use of landmines 7. He says so far, Morocco, Tajikistan and Uganda support the movement and South Africa and Brazil are showing great interest.

他说，需要象禁止生产和使用地雷的渥太华公约那样将公民社会动员起来，才能达成一部国际性的用水公约。他说，目前已经有摩洛哥、塔吉克斯坦和乌干达对这个运动表示支持，南非和巴西也表示有很大兴趣。

Over the next three years, he says the campaign hopes to gather millions of signatures through an online petition in support of the Convention. He says the signatures will be presented to the United Nations as a rallying call for it to begin negotiations on a Framework Convention on the Right to Water.

利霍塔尔说，在今后三年时间里，将通过这个运动在网络上就支持制订这样一项公约征集数百万个签名。他说，这些签名将被递交给联合国，用以呼吁它就制订一部用水权利框架公约开始进行协商。