Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Prince Hassan of Jordan as chairman of his advisory board on water and sanitation, replacing King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands who resigned on April 30 when he assumed the throne.
Ban said Hassan, who was Jordan's crown prince from 1965 to 1999, will help spearhead international efforts to meet U.N. Goals to improve access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by the target date of 2015.
Ban said today that 2.5 billion people still lack access to proper sanitation and 768 million don't have access to clean water.
The board was established in 2004 and its honorary president is Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan.
The secretary-general commended Hassan for his leadership in championing a wide range of global causes and in supporting inter-cultural dialogue.
