Human beings are the most intelligent inhabitants of the Earth who can make good use of the Earth's resources to fulfil their needs. But, human needs are insatiable. Mankind in their endless quests and endeavours for meeting their ever-growing needs, have done great damage to the environment. As many of you are aware, the world has been facing serious environmental problems in the past fifty years due to human actions. Overwhelmed with greed, mankind have overexploited nature and have upset the Earth's ecological balance.

Ranging from indoor air pollution to atmospheric pollution; from deforestation to species extinction; and from global warming to climate change;- the environmental problems have disrupted the proper functioning of the ecosystems. Unless human beings change their behaviour and their unsustainable lifestyles, the future of our planet is indeed very bleak.

Public understanding about the environmental issues is therefore very crucial. It is necessary for every person to realize that man and nature are interdependent and that the deterioration of one, would lead to the deterioration of the other. Caring for the environment should thus become an ingrained habit of everyone. In this respect, the World Environment Day celebration is an important activity to draw public attention on environmental matters.

The theme chosen for this year is "Water: Two Billion People Are Dying For It". The majority of these people live in the developing countries. Their life is indeed hard and miserable. UN statistics have indicated that there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor in terms of water use. People in the industrialized countries use an average of 400 to 500 litres of water each day while people in the developing countries barely get 20 litres of water per person only after walking for nearly a kilometre to fetch water.

Access to safe water supply and sanitation has become so acute that the international community has now focused their development assistance towards providing water, to meet the basic needs in the developing countries. To highlight the need for immediate action for water security, the United Nations has designated this year as the International Year of Freshwater.

We are happy to note that the United Nations has also set targets; to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of people who have no access to safe drinking water, and to halve also by the year 2015, proportion of people without proper sanitation.
Myanmar has a large potential of freshwater resources. The four major rivers-Ayeyawady, Chin-dwin, Sittoung and Thanlwin- and a large number of minor rivers, streams, creeks, lakes and ponds, as well as underground aquifers can provide adequate amount of water for human use, irrigation and industries.

There is a need to properly tap, use and manage these freshwater resources in order to sustain the supply of freshwater. Due partly to climatic and geographical conditions, and partly to the lack of water supply facilities, some areas in Myanmar still lack sufficient supply of water. These areas include Magway, Mandalay and Sagaing Divisions in central Myanmar. About 34 per cent of the total population live in the regions and 80 per cent of the dry zone population live in rural areas. Farm households in the area are constrained by low and unreliable rainfall.

To address this situation, the government has been implementing the 10 years water supply project. In providing water, the first priority is given to those villages where water is extremely scare, the second priority to those villages where water supply is insufficient, third to those villages lacking safe drinking water and fourth to those villages where water is sufficient but needs action for ensuring constant supply. Water supply works include underground water tapping projects, irrigation works and river water pumping projects which are being collectively carried out by all the ministries concerned. Water is the basic need of the people, and it is also essential for agriculture, and draught animals.

Therefore, providing sufficient water supply would enhance rural development in these areas and would reduce poverty. It is heartening to note that wellwishers are generously donating cash to the water supply projects.
Special greening projects are also being carried out in the three divisions.

The project activities include establishment of forest plantations, protection and rehabilitation of natural forests, promotion of fuelwood substitutes and development of water resources. Greening of mountains are also being carried out so that, Taungtha, Popa, Tuyin and Tantkyi mountains, Sagaing Minwon mountains, Kyaukkar Shwe Myintin and Phowin mountains, have become lush and green. As trees conserve soil and water, the ecological systems in these areas have also improved.

In celebrating this year's World Environment Day, the National Commission for Environmental Affairs has held painting, cartoon and poster competitions. I'm very proud to say that Myanmar has won the first prize in the painting competition (for age 10-16 years) organized by the United Nations Environment Programme for Asia and the Pacific Region.
Myanmar has also won the second prize for poster competition for 2003 ASEAN Environment Year. In commemorating the World Environment Day, tree planting and clean-up activities are also carried out across the country.

Myanmar National Working Committee for Women's Affairs has also been organizing annual tree planting activities during the months of June and July to commemorate the Myanmar Women's Day which falls on the 3rd of July. The Women and Environment Conservation Subcommittee is also conducting talks on environment conservation. All these indicate that Myanmar people are aware of the environmental issues and have great interest in protecting and conserving the environment.