Water - it's the most basic human need and it will be the topic of an international conference beginning in Brisbane on Monday.
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) conference 2011 will bring together world WASH leaders including UNICEF, the World Bank, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, WaterAid and others to discuss one of the greatest challenges for water, sanitation and hygiene - sustainability.
Almost two in five people around the world do not have access to sanitation services and roughly one in eight do not have access to safe water.
The WASH conference will contribute to enhancing the knowledge and skills of people working in the sector.
"The absence of safe water and sanitation services and good hygiene means the poor remain stuck in grinding, abject poverty," Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement.
"This conference is an opportunity to think creatively and share knowledge and skills so that we all share the benefits of safe water, sanitation and hygiene - in a sustainable way," Mr Rudd said.
The WASH conference will consider the issues, including the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals relating to safe water access and sanitation; scaling-up local WASH activities so that greater numbers of people can benefit; and ways to encourage people to change their sanitation and hygiene behaviours.
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