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World health chief right to slam EU governments' betrayal of poor
October 9, 2003 12:00 AM
London's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Baroness Sarah Ludford has supported the criticism of EU governments by the head of the World Health Organisation for blocking the spending of a €1 billion (£700 million) fund designed to bring fresh water and sanitation to millions of the world's poor.
She said: "EU leaders are actually letting down Europe's citizens who were proud of the EU pledge of a 'Water for Life' programme at last year's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. It is our reputation they are sabotaging."
With more than two million people, mostly children, dying each year from water-related diseases, the EU-led agreement to halve by 2015 the 1.1 billion number of people without access to safe drinking water and 2.4 billion without adequate sanitation was a high point of the Johannesburg summit.
While European officials have identified hundreds of potential projects in Africa, the EU Council of Ministers (of national governments) is refusing to release any new funds so not a single new project is actually underway. Ministers claim they need assurances that the money will be used effectively, pointing to the EU's poor record in the past at delivering development projects.
But European Commission officials argue that reforms now underway will ensure that their performance is as good as many Member States. MEPs accuse governments of filibustering because finance ministers coping with budget deficits at home want to avoid spending the money.
Sarah Ludford added: "If the ambitious targets are to be met, wells must be dug, pipes laid and septic tanks built for 250,000 people every day, or the population of Greater London every month. Every week of delay makes the grand gestures of EU governments a year ago look emptier."
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