Olympic Games Issue

Introduction
2003 is a year of opportunity. It is a year for us to focus our attention on protecting and respecting our water resources as individuals, communities, and countries and as a global family of concerned citizens. 2003 is a year for action and reflection. During this year we have a chance to mend our ways to take stock and make a difference. By protecting our freshwater, we help to ensure our future and our planets long-term prospects.

The International Year of Freshwater (2003) received its official launching at a ceremony at the United Nations (UN) in New York on 12 December 2002. The Year was declared by the UN General Assembly to galvanise action on the critical water problems the water faces. The aim of the Year is to raise awareness of the importance of protecting and managing freshwater.

“Lack of access to water – for drinking, hygiene and food security – inflicts enormous hardship on more than a billion members of the human family,” said the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. “Water is likely to become a growing source of tension and fierce competition between nations, if present trends continue, but the International Year of Freshwater can play a vital role in generating the action needed – not only communities, the business sector, and individuals all over the world.”

The UN Committee has declared for the first time that – Safe and secure drinking water is a human right. “Water should be treated as a social and cultural good and not primarily as an economic commodity”. The UN Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights took the unprecedented steps of agreeing on a General Comment on water as a human right saying, “Water is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a pre-requisite to the realisation of all other human rights.”

The Water Crisis
1.1 billion people (1/6th of the world’s population) do not have regular access to clean water supply. 2.4 billion people (2/5th of the world’s population) do not have adequate sanitation or proper sewerage disposal. In the Pacific, only 62% of the population have access to improved sanitation and just over 50% have access to improved water supply.

World Water Forum
Many meetings have been organised to talk about what is going wrong and what we should do about the water crisis. The most important meeting is the World Water Forum, which is held every 3 years where world leaders and government ministers can meet and agree on what actions the world should take to do something about the water crisis. This year the meeting took place from 16 - 23 March in Kyoto, Japan and special attention was given to Small Island Countries like ours in the Pacific region.

You may have also heard of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which was organised by the United Nations last year in South Africa. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, called attention to the Millennium Declaration which says that we should reduce the number of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water by half. By the end of the Summit, attended by more than 20,000 people from 191 countries, the world leaders agreed that we should halve the proportion unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and who do not have access to basic sanitation by the year 2005.

Water in the Pacific
In our region of many small countries, a group of people came together last year to prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the World Water Forum.

A regional competition was organised by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Sigatoka in July 2002. SOPAC is the regional agency mandated by Pacific Island Countries to provide technical support in the water sector.

As many as 20 Pacific and Asian countries’ government officials agreed on actions that they will undertake to help achieve the World Summit targets in all our countries. The so-called “Pacific Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management” describes how this can be done.

As part of the activities of the International Year of Freshwater, the United Nations declared 22 March 2003 to be World Water Day with the theme “Water for the Future”. SOPAC is organising an annual Awareness Campaign around World Water Day and information is distributed to schools and organisations throughout the Pacific.

There is a water crisis; the statistics show it, our leaders are talking about it and need to acknowledge it. The problem will not be solved overnight, but if we work together taking small steps, these small actions will soon become bigger actions. 2003 is a year of opportunity, an opportunity for action to be taken by individuals in many capacities.

The Stamp Issue
Post Fiji, in its efforts to promote the International Year of Freshwater, will release a miniature stamp sheet depicting a natural waterfall to commemorate the event.

Title	International Year of Fresh Water 2003
Values S/S	$4.00
Stamp Artist	George Bennett
Designer	Cadillac Production
Printer	Cartor Security Printing
Process	Offset Lithography
Stamp Size	30 x 48mm
Souvenir Sheet size	104 x 87 mm
Perforation Gauge	13 per 2cms
Paper	PVA Gum 110gsm

2003 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRESHWATER
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Introduction 2003 is a year of opportunity. It is a year for us to focus our attention on protecting and respecting our water resources as individuals, communities, and countries and as a global family of concerned citizens. 2003 is a year for action and reflection. During this year we have a chance to mend our ways to take stock and make a difference. By protecting our freshwater, we help to ensure our future and our planets long-term prospects. The International Year of Freshwater (2003) received its official launching at a ceremony at the United Nations (UN) in New York on 12 December 2002. The Year was declared by the UN General Assembly to galvanise action on the critical water problems the water faces. The aim of the Year is to raise awareness of the importance of protecting and managing freshwater. “Lack of access to water – for drinking, hygiene and food security – inflicts enormous hardship on more than a billion members of the human family,” said the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. “Water is likely to become a growing source of tension and fierce competition between nations, if present trends continue, but the International Year of Freshwater can play a vital role in generating the action needed – not only communities, the business sector, and individuals all over the world.” The UN Committee has declared for the first time that – Safe and secure drinking water is a human right. “Water should be treated as a social and cultural good and not primarily as an economic commodity”. The UN Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights took the unprecedented steps of agreeing on a General Comment on water as a human right saying, “Water is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a pre-requisite to the realisation of all other human rights.” The Water Crisis 1.1 billion people (1/6th of the world’s population) do not have regular access to clean water supply. 2.4 billion people (2/5th of the world’s population) do not have adequate sanitation or proper sewerage disposal. In the Pacific, only 62% of the population have access to improved sanitation and just over 50% have access to improved water supply. World Water Forum Many meetings have been organised to talk about what is going wrong and what we should do about the water crisis. The most important meeting is the World Water Forum, which is held every 3 years where world leaders and government ministers can meet and agree on what actions the world should take to do something about the water crisis. This year the meeting took place from 16 - 23 March in Kyoto, Japan and special attention was given to Small Island Countries like ours in the Pacific region. You may have also heard of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which was organised by the United Nations last year in South Africa. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, called attention to the Millennium Declaration which says that we should reduce the number of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water by half. By the end of the Summit, attended by more than 20,000 people from 191 countries, the world leaders agreed that we should halve the proportion unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and who do not have access to basic sanitation by the year 2005. Water in the Pacific In our region of many small countries, a group of people came together last year to prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the World Water Forum. A regional competition was organised by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Sigatoka in July 2002. SOPAC is the regional agency mandated by Pacific Island Countries to provide technical support in the water sector. As many as 20 Pacific and Asian countries’ government officials agreed on actions that they will undertake to help achieve the World Summit targets in all our countries. The so-called “Pacific Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management” describes how this can be done. As part of the activities of the International Year of Freshwater, the United Nations declared 22 March 2003 to be World Water Day with the theme “Water for the Future”. SOPAC is organising an annual Awareness Campaign around World Water Day and information is distributed to schools and organisations throughout the Pacific. There is a water crisis; the statistics show it, our leaders are talking about it and need to acknowledge it. The problem will not be solved overnight, but if we work together taking small steps, these small actions will soon become bigger actions. 2003 is a year of opportunity, an opportunity for action to be taken by individuals in many capacities. The Stamp Issue Post Fiji, in its efforts to promote the International Year of Freshwater, will release a miniature stamp sheet depicting a natural waterfall to commemorate the event.