Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2005, Report to Congress

摘要

President Bush signed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (the Act) on December 1, 2005. The Act sets out as a central goal the provision of affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries as a key component of U.S. foreign assistance programs. It requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other U.S. Government (USG) agencies, to develop a strategy to provide affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries within the context of sound water management. It also requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the USAID Administrator, to submit a report to Congress describing that strategy not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Act, and annual reports thereafter. The legislation also asks for a report to Congress on efforts that the United States is making to support and promote programs that develop river basin, aquifer, and other watershed-wide mechanisms for governance and cooperation. This is the second report to Congress under the Act. It builds upon the 2006 Report to Congress, which laid out the U.S. strategy on water, overarching principles towards programming, and six key areas for U.S. activities.1 In Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, USG agencies obligated, bilaterally and through multilateral institutions, more than $844 million in official development assistance for water, sanitation, and related activities around the world. From USAIDs investment alone in FY 2006, over nine million people received improved access to safe drinking water, and close to 1.5 million people received improved access to sanitation. USAID has also increased aid in some of the hardest-hit areas of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa. In a significant step since last year, the 2007 Report to Congress lays out region-specific strategies and specifies countries for FY 2007 investments. This report also addresses several emerging issues, including climate variability and climate change, wastewater treatment, land-based sources of pollution and coastal issues, and the special needs of urban populations.