DUSHANBE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has stressed the need for preserving water and said it is one of main pre-requisites to succeed in the global march towards a prosperous and sustainable future.

Addressing the International Conference on Implementation of International Decade for Action, `Water for Life 2005-2015,` in the capital of Tajikistan on Wednesday, he emphasised the need for enhanced national, regional and global cooperation on challenges related to water and sanitation.

The event was attended by President of Tajil(istan Emomali Rahmon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other dignitaries.

`We will need an integrated, coordinated and balanced approach with strengthened regional and global partnership to ensure achievement of the renewed water-related goals, targets and commitments,` he said. In this regard, provision of enhanced means of implementation will be critical and resource mobilisation, capacity building and technological assistance will require special attention.

While the sources of water were finite, Mr Sharif said, global demand for it was ever increasing and urbanisation and climate change added to complexities of the challenge.

He said water played a vital role in poverty eradication, economic growth, environmental sustainability and food and energy security.

He said provision of safe and affordable water to all, sanitation, sustainable management of water resources, investment in water infrastructure and trans-boundary cooperation had been some of the issues on the global agenda for quite some time.

The prime minister recalled that Pakistan was one of the co-sponsors of the UN resolution that had established the international decade.He said the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of `halving, by 2015, the proportion of population without safe drinking water and sanitation,` had been met ahead of time.

`There is now much better awareness at national, regional and global levels about water`s impact on life and our planet,` he said.

He supported President Rahmon`s proposal to launch a new `international decade for action: water for sustainable development` and suggested that it should be called `international decade for enhanced action: water for sustainable development for all.

He said efforts made by the UN system, including UN-Water and other international and regional organisations, deserve d acknowledgment.

The conference was a reminder that the challenge was yet to be overcome, he said.

`We must learn from the experience of the decade, particularly the gaps in implementation.

`Our work is still not complete. Millions remain without access to water while for billions access to sanitation facilities continues to be an out-of-reach luxury,` he said.

By 2025, the prime minister said, two third of the world`s population might be facing water stress as water demand would rise by 40 per cent by then.

He said the challenge was expected to be more intense for least developed countries and small island states.

`We need to promote new ways of transboundary cooperation on water, accommodate mutual interests and build trust and confidence.

Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistan had some of the world`s biggest glaciers but at the same time it had one of the most vulnerable climates and was a water-stressed country. -APP