Ambassador Perry's Speeches

Earth Day Celebration (15 April 08)

Ladies and gentlemen, Good Morning

Thank you all for coming today to celebrate Earth Day.  Though our celebration is a little bit early, we are pleased to be increasing the awareness of the importance of environmental protection.  As the leaders of Sierra Leone, you set the course on responsible natural resource management and environmental protection.  The people of Sierra Leone put their faith in you to protect the nation’s abundant natural resources and ensure their continued availability to all members of society.  Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress.

Environmental health is directly linked to the health of the population.  Availability of clean, healthy water for domestic use is a serious problem here in Sierra Leone as it is in much of the world.  Today, over one billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water.  Over two and a half [2.6] billion people – almost half the total population in developing countries – lack access to proper sanitation and clean water.  Approximately 50% of the world’s hospital beds are filled with patients suffering from water and sanitation related diseases. 

Each year 1.8 million children in developing countries die from diarrhea, which is the second leading cause of death.  Globally, diarrhea kills at least as many people as tuberculosis or malaria, and strikes five times more children than HIV/AIDS.  Most of those suffering contracted these illnesses because they lack access to safe, healthy and clean water.
Environmental preservation is essential to both health and education.  Without clean water people can’t take medications safely and weak immune systems are exposed to water-borne illnesses.  Pollution-related illnesses keep children from attending school.  In particular, the daily tasks of finding clean water for households, usually assigned to women and girls, keeps girls out of the classroom.  The global reliance on oil for fuel has had a profound impact on the environmental safety of the world.  Here, the increasing demand and cost for oil has been felt in the sharply increasing fuel prices for cars and generators.  The search for alternative and sustainable fuel is critical for the safety and security of our nations in the future.

The United States has made considerable progress in developing a strategy and laying out a framework for how the U.S. approaches environmental issues. This strategy includes ensuring access to safe water for people all over the world, providing proper sanitation in developing countries, finding alternative sources of energy, and similar efforts.  Specifically, the U.S. is working diplomatically and through projects and programs to address critical needs and help achieve these important goals.

The United States has demonstrated our commitment to helping millions of Africans access clean water through two public-private partnerships. The goal of the partnerships is to help 10 million people achieve consistent access to safe water through the installation of 4,000 pumps in schools and communities.  This initiative, called the "PlayPumps Alliance," connects playground toys to water pumps and storage tanks, using the energy of children’s play on merry-go-rounds to turn pump wheels and bring clean water above ground.  PlayPumps is only one example of partnerships receiving U.S. support for sustainable international development and for addressing the environmental challenges facing the world today.  In countries like Sierra Leone, where providing basic services and improving quality of life are the primary concerns of the development community, it is important to remember that environmental sustainability is a crucial component of any project.

The U.S. works closely with intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, foundations, and faith-based groups to address natural management issues and catalyze global action.  In the United States, the air, and water ways are much cleaner today than they were at the first Earth Day celebrations in 1970, and progress will continue.  In addition, the trend towards annual loss of wetlands has been reversed.  In addition, abandoned industrial sites are increasingly being restored and redeveloped.  President Bush is committed to enhancing the efforts of our National Park Service to maintain and preserve our greatest national treasures – our national parks, which each year are enjoyed by millions of Americans and international visitors. 

Outside our borders, we seek to work in close partnership with our friends to enable them to safeguard their treasures.  The governments in developing countries, however, must take primary responsibility.  Governments need to prioritize environmental protection in their national development plans and strategies and create an environment supportive of public-private partnerships.  Domestic investment is vital to ensure sustainability of services and programs. 

For all of you here today, your role is crucial in developing and implementing a strategy to improve natural resource management and access to clean water.  The United States government is committed to helping you develop useful methods and policies. We are pleased to have with us today a number of distinguished participants.  Thank you again for coming to this celebration.  I encourage you to take the time to view the beautiful posters and read the essays and poems that were submitted to the Earth Day contest, for which we will award prizes after the keynote address.

Thank you all for coming to this important celebration.  Please enjoy our gift of a plant for you to take home with you.  Let it be a reminder of the sanctity of Mother Nature and the need to protect her on a global scale as well as in our own back yards.