"At this meeting we discussed how local and national coalitions can be established between governments, NGOs, community organisations, the private sector and local governments. There were two general agreements: the first is that governments cannot do this alone. We also agreed that one of the parties has to take the lead in building such a national coalition. A government could catalyse this role, but by doing so must not take over the coalition", says Dr. Jan Pronk, new Chair of the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council WSSCC and former Minister for Development Co-operation and Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment of The Netherlands.

The meeting marked the formal handover of the Chair of WSSCC from Sir Richard Jolly to Dr. Pronk. The outgoing Chair, Sir Richard Jolly has successfully led and served at the helm of the Collaborative Council since 1997. He will now concentrate on a 14-volume history of the UN’s involvement in economic and social development and also continue to work as an active member of the UN Task Force on the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation.

The new Chair Dr. Jan Pronk was in the spotlight during the negotiations in preparation for and at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Appointed as Special Adviser for the WSSD by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mr. Pronk skillfully moderated the discussion on the priority « WEHAB » themes of Water and Sanitation, Health, Environment and Biodiversity at the Johannesburg Summit. Born in The Hague in 1940, Mr. Pronk was a member of the Lower House of Parliament for the Labour Party several times during the period from 1971-1989. Mr. Pronk also had a distinguished career with the United Nations serving as Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD (1980-1985) and Assistant Secretary-General of the UN (1985-86). He was appointed Minister for Development Co-operation three times under different government administations before he was appointed Minister for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in 1998.

WSSCC launched the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene "WASH" campaign in 2001 on a global level in order to address the issue of billions of un-served people. At the dawn of the 21st century, some 1.1 billion people on Earth are still without sustainable access to a safe water supply and over 2.4 billion are without adequate sanitation. The main objective of WASH is to contribute to and accelerate progress at the country level towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on water and sanitation.

"The WSSCC needs to foster water, sanitation and hygiene issues for, of and by the people. This implies a priority for poverty reduction and community-based approaches", explains the incoming Chair Dr. Jan Pronk.

The Water Supply and Sanitation and Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is a leading international organisation that enhances collaboration in the water supply and sanitation sector, specifically in order to attain universal coverage of water and sanitation services for poor people around the world. WSSCC was set up in 1990 through a mandate by the United Nations General Assembly to maintain the momentum of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990). Numbering over 2000, its members, comprising professionals from over 140 countries are working to make safe water and adequate sanitation a reality for everyone. The WSSCC Secretariat is located in Geneva and is headed by its Executive Director Mr. Gourisankar Ghosh.

Further information:
Sören Bauer, WSSCC, Tel.: +41-22 917 8657, Fax: +41-22 917 8084, Email: bauers@who.int