Latin America; in English (pdf) - Transboundary Freshwater Dispute ...

FOREWORD
During the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Forum of Ministers of Latin America
and the Caribbean adopted the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development
(ILAC), which provides the basis for collective action for environmental conservation and sustainable
development among Latin American and the Caribbean countries. The ILAC highlights the integrated
management of water resources as one of eight priority issues to be addressed in the region. Recognising
that “natural richness constitutes a potential source for sustainable development and poverty eradication
… based upon the development of inner capacities and international cooperation,” the Forum of
Ministers at its XV Meeting in Caracas in November 2005 further cited regional cooperation on water
as “a space for the integration and consolidation of peace among peoples of the region.”
More recently, at the Latin American Parliamentarians Meeting on Water Resources in Panama in
September 2006, the region’s lawmakers adopted the Panama Declaration on Water, which confirms
the sovereignty of each country over its water resources, and access to sufficient good quality water as
a basic human right. The declaration specifies that there is a clear need in Latin America and the
Caribbean to establish a permanent framework for the management of shared water basins and to
develop common strategies for their sustainable management, including the protection of water
catchments, groundwater aquifers, wetlands, and transitional waters.
It is in this context that I, as the Regional Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Latin America
and the Caribbean, welcome the publication of Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International
Waters: Latin America and the Caribbean. The close collaboration among the governments of Latin
America and the Caribbean, UN agencies, and the international community continues to generate
increased awareness of the vulnerabilities affecting the region’s shared water resources, as well as the
resilience emerging from collective actions at national, sub-regional, and regional levels to confront
these challenges. This publication should inspire the continuing development of intergovernmental
dialogue and collective action to halt and reverse the water challenges facing this part of the world.
RICARDO SÁNCHEZ SOSA
Regional Director
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNEP
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