January 1, 1980:  International Decade of Water and Sanitation Begins. "The UN conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT) held in June 1976 at Vancouver, Canada, concluded that nearly two-thirds of the population of the developing world lacked access to safe drinking water and that a larger proportion lacked the means for hygienic human waste disposal. The conference urged governments to give priority to these two areas in their development process. In March 1977, the UN Water Conference, held at Mar del Plata, Argentina, called for establishing the 1980's as the Decade for Drinking Water and Sanitation. The goal would be to bring clean water and sanitation to all peoples in the world by 1990. Since March 1979, four separate UN bodies have passed resolutions supporting the Decade and calling on all governments to support the Decade's goals. The U.S. Government, other OECD member states, and the private sector must combine to make this Decade a success."