December 13, 2006

The Netherlands was appointed as the Chairperson of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on December 12th, 2006.
The post has been vacant since passing away of Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan, on July 1st, 2006.

HRH Willem-Alexander has been playing prominent role in raising awareness and galvanizing actions in international efforts to improve global water and sanitation situation, since he took the post of Patron of Global Water Partnership in 1998. He chaired 2nd World Water Forum in the Hague in March 2000, a pivotal event that helped world s attention drawn to the need to change business as usual on water and sanitation management into more coherent, integrated approach. In 2002, he was appointed as Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons convened at the request of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to issue recommendations for the UN conference on sustainable development in Johannesburg.
The Prince served on the Panel as an expert on water management.

As the Chairperson, His Royal Highness Willem-Alexander will lead the Board comprising a wide range of dignitaries, technical experts, and individuals with proven experience on water and sanitation in order to, among other things, help the UN and international community to achieve Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation.

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