He spoke about the urgency in addressing the sanitation needs of billions of people around the world: “More than 2.5 billion people do not have adequate sanitation – more than one third of humanity. Of these one billion people practice open defecation. This is largely a function of poverty, with serious human consequences.”

Mr. Eliasson said that “we must continue to break taboos. As was the case for the word “toilets” a few years ago. It is time to incorporate “open defecation” in the political language and in the diplomatic discourse today.”

• Read the official opening press release
• Jan Eliasson’s full speech

The Opening Plenary will introduce the theme “Water Cooperation – Building Partnerships” aiming to inspire the 2013 World Water Week participants to jointly and creatively present and discuss issues related to water cooperation, explore the potential of forging global partnerships for trans-formative water initiatives and propose concrete suggestions for implementation. The Opening Plenary Session will bring forward experiences and suggestions on how cooperation can enable us to make decisions and reach goals for a water wise world.