The physical availability of water is being endangered by a rash of new threats, including climate change, increase in global population and the sudden growth of the water-hungry bioenergy sector.

Addressing the 17th annual World Water Week, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) Anders Berntell warned that 1.4 billion people now live in regions where there is a real, physical water scarcity, and an additional 1.1 billion live in regions where there is water stress due to over-consumption.

"Clearly, these figures will increase in the future, due to population growth, intensified agriculture and climate change," he told a meeting of over 2,000 water professionals, technicians, scientists and policy makers.

The annual five-day meeting, to conclude Friday, is described as the world's largest single gathering of water experts, including officials from more than 150 organisations.

The Hip Hop Summit Youth Council will host the United Nation's 4th Annual Youth Assembly Send Off Party at Fusion 215, located at 215 West 28th St. (between 7th and 8th avenues), on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 @ 9PM. The gala will be in celebration of the above mentioned groundbreaking event.

Dr. Elaine Valdov; Secretary General of the United Nations Youth Assembly, a project of The Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, has stated that "There are 500 Youth Representatives from 192 countries participating in The United Nations 4th Annual Youth Assembly, which is taking place at the United Nations from August 8th to 18th ".

The goal of the assembly is the advancement of the Development of Global Partnerships to eradicate racism, poverty and conflict, while promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. This event addresses youth leadership, world politics, the Hip-Hop industry as well as career development.

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham called on Asia's youth to assume the mantle of leadership and foster sustainable, peaceful and harmonious societies, at the International Youth Leadership Conference in Bangkok last week. The conference theme was developing youth networks for peace and achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

In his keynote address at the U.N Conference Center Wattanasiritham told the gathering of some 150 young leaders, "Thailand's principle of national reconciliation and national peace can be introduced to motivate youths to become leading actors in fostering regional peace that can be leveraged into world peace." He emphasized human rights, human dignity, the expansion of opportunities for low-income families, social cohesion, and the development of rural communities as potential areas where youths could play a role.

International Youth Day is an annual opportunity to recognize the world's 1.2 billion young people, to celebrate their achievements, and to push for their participation in all areas of society.

This year's commemoration - Be Seen, Be Heard: Youth Participation for Development - focuses on the enormous contributions young women and men everywhere can and do make towards national uplift. They are valuable and committed partners in the global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty and hunger in half by 2015. They remain at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS. And they bring fresh, innovative thinking to longstanding development concerns.

Improving access to clean water and sanitation are crucial in enabling Asia to achieve sustainable economic prosperity and effectively eradicate poverty, Asian Development Bank Vice President Liqun Jin said during his speech before participants of the steering committee preparing for the first Asia Pacific Water Summit scheduled in December.

"Last year, ADB commissioned an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to assess the development prospects of the Asia and Pacific region and provide recommendations on its course of actions," said Jin in his remarks before the second steering committee meeting held in Tokyo. "The EPG report concludes that by 2020, Asia will be dramatically transformed, free of pervasive extreme poverty, with 90% of the continent's people living in "middle income" countries, and a regional economy comprising 45% of global GDP and 35% of world trade."