UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said more people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war, calling for better protection and sustainable management of one of the Earth's most precious resources. He said the growing population's need for water for food, raw materials and energy is "increasingly competing with nature's own demands for water to sustain already imperiled ecosystems and the services on which we depend."

"Day after day, we pour millions of tons of untreated sewage and industrial and agricultural waste into the world's water systems. Clean water has become scarce and will become even scarcer with the onset of climate change," added Mr Ban.

The General Assembly recognized 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action "Water for Life." In doing so, it called for a greater focus on water-related issues at all levels and for the implementation of water-related programs to achieve internationally agreed upon goals, including MDGs, eight globally-agreed targets to halve poverty, hunger, illiteracy and other problems by 2015.