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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Urges Sanitation Be at Heart of Post-2015 Dev Framework
Press Release
In Message for World Toilet Day, Secretary-General Urges that Sanitation Be at Heart of Post-2015 Development Framework
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World Toilet Day, observed on 19 November:
Each year, more than 800,000 children under five die needlessly from diarrhoea — more than one child a minute. Countless others fall seriously ill, with many suffering long-term health and developmental consequences. Poor sanitation and hygiene are the primary cause. Worldwide, some 2.5 billion people lack the benefits of adequate sanitation. More than 1 billion people practise open defecation. We must break the taboos and make sanitation for all a global development priority.
This first official observance by the United Nations of World Toilet Day is an opportunity to highlight this important topic. Sanitation is central to human and environmental health. It is essential for sustainable development, dignity and opportunity. Poor water and sanitation cost developing countries around $260 billion a year — 1.5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP). On the other hand, every dollar invested can bring a five-fold return by keeping people healthy and productive. When schools offer decent toilets, 11 per cent more girls attend. When women have access to a private latrine, they are less vulnerable to assault.
Despite the compelling moral and economic case for action on sanitation, progress has been too little and too slow. That is why I launched a Call to Action on Sanitation this year to end open defecation by 2025 and build on existing efforts, such as Sanitation and Water for All and the Sanitation Drive to 2015, the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
We are a long way from achieving the MDG target of reducing by half the proportion of people lacking adequate sanitation. We must urgently step up our efforts, with all actors working together for rapid, tangible results. And, as we look beyond 2015, it is essential that sanitation is placed at the heart of the post-2015 development framework. The solutions need not be expensive or technology driven. There are many successful models that can be replicated and scaled up. We must also work to educate at-risk communities and change cultural perceptions and long-standing practices that have no place in our modern world.
By working together — and by having an open and frank discussion on the importance of toilets and sanitation — we can improve the health and well-being of one third of the human family. That is the goal of World Toilet Day.
Learn more at the World Toilet Day Site:
What is World Toilet Day ?
World Toilet Day is observed annually on 19 November. This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw attention to the global sanitation challenge.
Can you imagine not having a toilet? Can you imagine not having privacy when you need to relieve yourself? Although unthinkable for those living in wealthy parts of the world, this is a harsh reality for many – in fact, one in three people on this globe, does not have access to a toilet! Have you ever thought about the true meaning of dignity?
World Toilet Day was created to pose exactly these kind of questions and to raise global awareness of the daily struggle for proper sanitation that a staggering 2.5 billion people face. World Toilet Day brings together different groups, such as media, the private sector, development organisations and civil society in a global movement to advocate for safe toilets. Since its inception in 2001, World Toilet Day has become an important platform to demand action from governments and to reach out to wider audiences by showing that toilets can be fun and sexy as well as vital to life. more…
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Sections of the Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
The UN report is out with Download PDF here with the Herculean title of
Chapter 1: A Vision and Framework for the post-2015 Development Agenda
- Setting a New Course
- Remarkable Achievements Since 200
- Consulting People, Gaining Perspective
- The Panel’s Journey
- Opportunities and Challenges in a Changing World
- One World: One Sustainable Development Agenda
Chapter 2: From Vision to Action—Priority Transformations for a post-2015 Agenda
- Five Transformative Shifts
- Ensure More and Better Long-term Finance
Chapter 3: Illustrative Goals and Global Impact
- The Shape of the Post-2015 Agenda
- Risks to be Managed in a Single Agenda
- Learning the Lessons of MDG 8 (Global Partnership for Development)
- Illustrative Goals
- Addressing Cross-cutting Issues
- The Global Impact by 2030
Chapter 4: Implementation, Accountability and Building Consensus
- Implementing the post-2015 framework
- Unifying Global Goals with National Plans for Development
- Global Monitoring and Peer Review
- Stakeholders Partnering by Theme
- Holding Partners to Account
- Wanted: a New Data Revolution
- Working in Cooperation with Others
- Building Political Consensus
Chapter 5: Concluding Remarks
ANNEX:
- Annex I Illustrative Goals and Targets
- Annex II Evidence of Impact and Explanation of Illustrative Goals
- Annex III Goals, Targets and Indicators: Using a Common Terminology
- Annex IV Summary of Outreach Efforts
- Annex V Terms of Reference and List of Panel Members
- Annex VI High-level Panel Secretariat
Annex 1: While no one section should overshadow the others, The Illustrative Goals and Targets of Annex 1 is one of the ones that will be most debated (thus the safe adjective of “illustrative” ?)
It list “5 Transformative Shifts” required to move forward
We believe five transformative shifts can create the conditions – and build the momentum – to meet our ambitions.•Leave No One Behind.We must ensure that no person – regardless of ethnicity, gender, geography, disability, race or other status – is denied basic economic opportunities and human rights.•Put Sustainable Development at the Core.We must make a rapid shift to sustainable patterns of production and consumption, with developed countries in the lead. We must act now to slow the alarming pace of climate change and environmental degradation, which pose unprecedented threats to humanity.•Transform Economies for Jobs and Inclusive Growth.A profound economic transformation can end extreme poverty and promote sustainable development, improving livelihoods, by harnessing innovation, technology, and the potential of business. More diversified economies, with equal opportunities for all, can drive social inclusion, especially for young people, and foster respect for the environment.•Build Peace and Effective, Open and Accountable Institutions for All.Freedom from violence, conflict, and oppression is essential to human existence, and the foundation for building peaceful and prosperous societies. We are calling for a fundamental shift to recognize peace and good governance as a core element of wellbeing, not an optional extra.•Forge a New Global Partnership.A new spirit of solidarity, cooperation, and mutual accountability must underpin the post-2015 agenda. This new partnership should be built on our shared humanity, and based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.
1. End Poverty
1a. Bring the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to zero and reduce by x% the share of people living below their country’s 2015 national poverty line
1b. Increase by x% the share of women and men, communities, and businesses with secure rights to land, property, and other assets
1c. Cover x% of people who are poor and vulnerable with social protection systems
1d. Build resilience and reduce deaths from natural disasters by x%
2. Empower Girls and Women and Achieve Gender Equality
2a. Prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against girls and women
2b. End child marriage
2c. Ensure equal right of women to own and inherit property, sign a contract, register a business and open a bank account
2d. Eliminate discrimination against women in political, economic, and public life
3. Provide Quality Education and Lifelong Learning
3a. Increase by x% the proportion of children able to access and complete pre-primary education
3b. Ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, completes primary education able to read, write and count well enough to meet minimum learning standards
3c. Ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has access to lower secondary education and increase the proportion of adolescents who achieve recognized and measurable learning outcomes to x%
3d. Increase the number of young and adult women and men with the skills, including technical and vocational, needed for work by x%
4. Ensure Healthy Lives
4a. End preventable infant and under-5 deaths
4b. Increase by x% the proportion of children, adolescents, at-risk adults and older people that are fully vaccinated
4c. Decrease the maternal mortality ratio to no more than x per 100,000
4d. Ensure universal sexual and reproductive health and rights
4e. Reduce the burden of disease from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases and priority non-communicable diseases
5. Ensure Food Security and Good Nutrition
5a. End hunger and protect the right of everyone to have access to sufficient, safe, affordable, and nutritious food
5b. Reduce stunting by x%, wasting by y%, and anemia by z% for all children under five
5c. Increase agricultural productivity by x%, with a focus on sustainably increasing smallholder yields and access to irrigation
5d. Adopt sustainable agricultural, ocean and freshwater fishery practices and rebuild designated fish stocks to sustainable levels
5e. Reduce postharvest loss and food waste by x%
6. Achieve Universal Access to Water and Sanitation
6a. Provide universal access to safe drinking water at home, and in schools, health centers, and refugee camps
6b. End open defecation and ensure universal access to sanitation at school and work, and increase access to sanitation at home by x%
6c. Bring freshwater withdrawals in line with supply and increase water efficiency in agriculture by x%, industry by y% and urban areas by z%
6d. Recycle or treat all municipal and industrial wastewater prior to discharge
7. Secure Sustainable Energy
7a. Double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
7b. Ensure universal access to modern energy services
7c. Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency in buildings, industry, agriculture and transport
7d. Phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption
8. Create Jobs, Sustainable Livelihoods, and Equitable Growth
8a. Increase the number of good and decent jobs and livelihoods by x
8b. Decrease the number of young people not in education, employment or training by x%
8c. Strengthen productive capacity by providing universal access to financial services and infrastructure such as transportation and ICT
8d. Increase new start-ups by x and value added from new products by y through creating an enabling business environment and boosting entrepreneurship
9. Manage Natural Resource Assets Sustainably
9a. Publish and use economic, social and environmental accounts in all governments and major companies
9b. Increase consideration of sustainability in x% of government procurements
9c. Safeguard ecosystems, species and genetic diversity
9d. Reduce deforestation by x% and increase reforestation by y%
9e. Improve soil quality, reduce soil erosion by x tonnes and combat desertification
10. Ensure Good Governance and Effective Institutions
10a. Provide free and universal legal identity, such as birth registrations 1,2
10b. Ensure people enjoy freedom of speech, association, peaceful protest and access to independent media and information
10c. Increase public participation in political processes and civic engagement at all levels
10d. Guarantee the public’s right to information and access to government data
10e. Reduce bribery and corruption and ensure officials can be held accountable
11. Ensure Stable and Peaceful Societies
11a. Reduce violent deaths per 100,000 by x and eliminate all forms of violence against children
11b. Ensure justice institutions are accessible, independent, well-resourced and respect due-process rights
11c. Stem the external stressors that lead to conflict, including those related to organised crime
11d. Enhance the capacity, professionalism and accountability of the security forces, police and judiciary
12. Create a Global Enabling Environment and Catalyse Long-Term Finance
12a. Support an open, fair and development-friendly trading system, substantially reducing trade-distorting measures, including agricultural subsidies, while improving market access of developing country products
12b. Implement reforms to ensure stability of the global financial system and encourage stable, long-term private foreign investment
12c. Hold the increase in global average temperature below 20 C above pre-industrial levels, in line with international agreements
12d. Developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7% of gross national product (GNP) as official development assistance to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20% of GNP of developed countries to least developed countries; other countries should move toward voluntary targets for complementary financial assistance
12e Reduce illicit flows and tax evasion and increase stolen-asset recovery by $x
12f. Promote collaboration on and access to science, technology, innovation, and development data
Annex2: Over 20 pages are given to provide some substance to each of the 12 Illustrative goals above.
Annex 3: It focuses on the challenges of global targets (while titled Goals, Targets and Indicators: Using a Common Terminology)
The mechanic of creating targets that are pragmatic rather than dogmantic, and address each countries social economic political profile will be daunting. Here are some excepts from the annex, but it should be read in its entirity.
Targets translate the ambition of goals into practical outcomes. They may be outcomes for people, like access to safe drinking water or justice, or outcomes for countries or communities, like reforestation or the registration of criminal complaints. Targets should always be measurable although some may require further technical work to develop reliable and rigorous indicators…
The target specifies the level of ambition of each country, by determining the speed with which a country pursues a goal. That speed can be a function of many things: the priorities of the country, its initial starting point, the technical and organizational possibilities for improvement, and the level of resources and number of partners that can be brought to bear on the problem.
We believe that a process of allowing countries to set their own targets, in a highly visible way, will create a “race to the top”, both internationally and within countries. Countries and sub-national regions should be applauded for setting ambitious targets and for promising to make large efforts. Likewise, if countries and sub-national regions are too conservative in their target setting, civil society and their peers can challenge them to move faster. Transparency and accountability are central to implementing a goals framework.
In some cases, there may be a case for having a global minimum standard for a target, where the international community commits itself to do everything possible to help a country reach a threshold level. That applies to the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030, for example. This could be extended in several other areas, including ending gender discrimination, education, health, food, water, energy, personal safety, and access to justice…
It is important to be clear that allowing countries to set the speed they want for each target is only one approach to the idea of national targets. The other suggestion considered by the Panel is to have a “menu”, whereby a set of internationally agreed targets are established, and then countries can select the ones most applicable to their particular circumstances. For example, one country might choose to focus on obesity and another on non- communicable disease when thinking about their priorities for health.
In the terminology used in this report, national targets refer only to the national differences in the speed with which targets are to be achieved. As an example, every country should set a target to increase the number of good or decent jobs and livelihoods by x but every country could determine what x should be based upon the specific circumstances of that country or locality. Then these can be aggregated up so that you can compare achievements in job creation across countries and over time…
panel:
- His Excellency Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, Co-Chair
- Her Excellency Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, Co-Chair
- The Right Honorable David Cameron,MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Co-Chair
- H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Gisela Alonso, Cuba
- Fulbert Amoussouga Gero, Benin
- Abhijit Banerjee,India
- Gunilla Carlsson, Sweden
- Patricia Espinosa, Mexico
- Maria Angela Holguin, Colombia
- Naoto Kan, Japan
- Tawakkol Karman, Yemen
- Sung-Hwan Kim, Republic of Korea
- Horst Köhler, Germany
- Graça Machel, Mozambique
- Betty Maina, Kenya
- Elvira Nabiullina, Russian Federation
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria
- Andris Piebalgs, Latvia
- Emilia Pires, Timor-Leste
- John Podesta, United States of America
- Paul Polman, Netherlands
- Jean-Michel Severino, France
- Izabella Teixeira, Brazil
- Kadir Topbas, Turkey
- Yingfan Wang, China
- Amina J. Mohammed, Ex-Officio member of the Panel
UN: 2.4 billion people will lack improved sanitation in 2015
press release
2.4 billion people will lack improved sanitation in 2015
World will miss MDG target
GENEVA/NEW YORK, 13 May 2013 – Some 2.4 billion people – one-third of the world’s population – will remain without access to improved sanitation in 2015, according to a joint WHO/UNICEF report issued today.
The report, entitled PRogress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water 2013 Update, warns that, at the current rate of progress, the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of the 1990 population without sanitation will be missed by eight per cent – or half a billion people.
While UNICEF and WHO announced last year that the MDG drinking water target had been met and surpassed by 2010, the challenge to improve sanitation and reach those in need has led to a consolidated call for action to accelerate progress.
“There is an urgent need to ensure all the necessary pieces are in place – political commitment, funding, leadership – so the world can accelerate progress and reach the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director for Public Health and Environment. “The world can turn around and transform the lives of millions that still do not have access to basic sanitation. The rewards would be immense for health, ending poverty at its source, and well-being.”
The report echoes the urgent call to action by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson for the world community to combine efforts and end open defecation by 2025. With less than three years to go to reach the MDG deadline WHO and UNICEF call for a final push to meet the sanitation target.
“This is an emergency no less horrifying than a massive earthquake or tsunami,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, global head of UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme. “Every day hundreds of children are dying; every day thousands of parents mourn their sons and daughters. We can and must act in the face of this colossal daily human tragedy.”
Among the key findings from the latest 2011 data, the report highlights:
- Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of the world’s population had access to improved sanitation facilities, an increase of almost 1.9 billion people since 1990.
- Approximately 2.5 billion people lacked access to an improved sanitation facility. Of these, 761 million use public or shared sanitation facilities and 693 million use facilities that do not meet minimum standards of hygiene.
- In 2011, 1 billion people still defecated in the open. Ninety per cent of all open defecation takes place in rural areas.
- By the end of 2011, 89 per cent of the world population used an improved drinking-water source, and 55 per cent had a piped supply on premises. This left an estimated 768 million people without improved sources for drinking water, of whom 185 million relied on surface water for their daily needs.
- There continues to be a striking disparity between those living in rural areas and those who live in cities. Urban dwellers make up three-quarters of those with access to piped water supplies at home. Rural communities comprise 83 per cent of the global population without access to improved drinking- water source and 71 per cent of those living without sanitation.
Faster progress on sanitation is possible, the two organizations say. The report summarizes the shared vision of the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector including academia, human rights and global monitoring communities for a post-2015 world where:
- No one should be defecating in the open
- Everyone should have safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home
- All schools and health centres should have water, sanitation and hygiene
- Water, sanitation and hygiene should be sustainable
- Inequalities in access should be eliminated
***
Download the entire report and get more information at:
- http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2013/jmp_report/en/index.html
- http://www.unicef.org/media/media_69091.html
- http://www.wssinfo.org
- http://www.who.int/phe/en/
About the JMP
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation is the official United Nations mechanism tasked with monitoring global progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to access to drinking water and sanitation. The JMP data helps draw connections between access to clean water and private sanitation facility and quality of life.
About WHO
The World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. From its inception, WHO has recognized the importance of water and sanitation. Visit www.who.int for more information.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS), now being supported by UNICEF in 50 countries around the world, including crucial ones in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, have led to more than 39,000 communities, with a total population of over 24 million people, being declared free of open defecation within the last five years.
For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
For further information, please contact:
Rita Ann Wallace, Communications Officer, UNICEF New York,
Tel: + 1 212 326 7586 / Mobile: + 917 213 4034, rwallace@unicef.org
Nada Osseiran, Communications Officer, WHO Geneva,
Tel: + 4122 791 4475 / Mobile: + 4179 445 1624, osseirann@who.int
source http://www.unicef.org/media/media_69091.html
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When Sanitation Does Not Have Clear Institutional Home or Accountability, Progress Lags: UN Deputy Secretary-General
Deputy Secretary-General DSG/SM/661 DEV/2984
When Sanitation Does Not Have Clear Institutional Home or Accountability, Progress Lags, UN Deputy Secretary-General Tells High-level Panel
——PRESS RELEASE——-
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at a high-level panel on investing in sanitation, in Washington, D.C., 19 April:
I am pleased to see so many familiar faces from last year’s Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting.
Last year we talked about commitments. Today I want to talk about action. But first let me ask a question recently directed to me by Kate Norgrove of Water Aid. Have you ever been caught short and wondered where to find a toilet? Probably a painful or embarrassing moment. Let us then remember that 2.5 billion people do not have toilets! This is their daily situation.
In New York, where I live, you will only find public toilets in Central Park. It is a problem common to most towns and cities.
Recently I was in Addis Ababa. I visited a small sanitation project called Feyenne in the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis. Feyenne, which is supported by UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund] and the Oromia Bureau of Youth and Sports, is run by three young men who used to live on the streets. In their small office was a chalk board with one word written on it. “Sustainability”.
Their approach to sustainability was to tackle the sanitation problem as a business. They had identified a need, and they had decided to fill it. The concept was simple — to provide a safe, clean public facility at low cost near the main market. With money from the toilet project, Feyenne has been able to open additional income generating activities that provide employment opportunities for vulnerable young people. It is a model that is needed — and replicable.
Sanitation is the Millennium Development Goal on which we have made least progress. Yet, it is among the most important. Success on sanitation has a direct bearing on the other Goals, and it will be central to the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. It is an issue of fundamental human dignity and the health of people and the environment. Out of the 2.5 billion people without sanitation, more than 1 billion people defecate in the open.
That is why, last month, I launched a call to action for sanitation on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General. The objective is to galvanize major players to do more by building on two key ongoing initiatives — the United Nations General Assembly Sanitation Drive and the Sanitation and Water for All partnership. The Sanitation Drive calls on all Member States to intensify efforts and focuses on communication and advocacy. It is essential to get people to think about and openly discuss sanitation and open defecation. We need to break the taboos.
The other initiative, Sanitation and Water for All, has over 91 global partners. Last year I moderated the second Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting held here. More than 50 ministers attended and some 400 commitments were tabled. In June, we will have the results of these commitments, with a full report next year. Heads of State, members of Government and other actors need to know what has been achieved and what remains to be done.
We have already seen the results of some of these commitments. For example, in Ethiopia, the Government has endorsed a unified water supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. And in Madagascar the Government has created a Directorate of Sanitation. Someone is made responsible.
That is one of the problems that has been holding back progress. Sanitation often does not have a clear institutional home or clear accountability. In 2014, UNICEF and the World Bank will convene the third Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting. I look forward to registering progress and new commitments.
There are three things we can do to speed up progress on sanitation. First, we can scale up the projects that work. Simple, affordable action has already proved its worth. Between 1990 and 2010, about 1.8 billion people gained access to sanitation — a significant achievement. Many countries have tackled this problem within a generation. They have shown that we can achieve our targets.
Second, we must speed up the elimination of open defecation — country by country, community by community, family by family. We need to ensure that everyone has access to a clean and safe toilet. We need to change attitudes and generate demand. We need to talk about the problem, not turn our heads.
And finally, we need to strengthen cooperation and boost investment. The cost of poor sanitation can be counted both in human lives and lost productivity. According to a study undertaken for the Water and Sanitation Programme and the World Bank, inadequate sanitation costs the Indian economy an estimated $53.8 billion a year, equivalent to 6.4 per cent of GDP [gross domestic product]. On the other hand, we know that every dollar spent on water and sanitation can bring a five-fold return. The economic benefits for developing countries are estimated at $260 billion a year.
The public sector has major stake to play. But, the private sector also has a major stake. There is a considerable market — millions of customers need an essential service. Opportunities abound for everyone from multinationals to local entrepreneurs. If we all do our part, we can achieve substantial results. So, let us commit now to provide adequate sanitation and safe water for all and stop open defecation — so that women and girls can live with dignity; so that our children can survive and communities can thrive.
Investing in sanitation is a win-win proposition — ensuring that millions of people can live productive lives, the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved and healthy societies can be built. There are only winners if we all mobilize. Nobody can do everything — but everybody can do something. Thank you.
video of his speech:“A Matter of Life: Investing in Sanitation – a Conversation with Jan Eliasson, Tony Lake, & Global Decision-Makers”
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- Jan Eliasson: Everyone Needs a Place to Go (huffingtonpost.com)
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- New Sanitation Figures Compete with Official UN Statistics: 6 in 10 Lack Proper Facilities (sanitationupdates.wordpress.com)
- UN seeks to end toilet ‘taboo’ (dawn.com)
“…The draft ministerial declaration of the 6th World Water Forum: Time for Solutions still does not recognize the human right to water and sanitation that has been explicitly recognized at the UN”
press release:(source)
GENEVA (9 March 2012) – United Nations Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque today warned that the right to safe drinking water and sanitation will be sidelined at the 6th World Water Forum, a key global gathering of delegates from 140 governments, international organisations, civil society and the scientific community, representing more than 180 countries.
“It comes as an unwelcome surprise that the draft ministerial declaration of the 6th World Water Forum: Time for Solutions still does not recognize the human right to water and sanitation that has been explicitly recognized at the UN,” said the expert charged by the Human Rights Council with promoting, monitoring and reporting on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. “Governments are being inconsistent with their prior decisions on the recognition of the right to water and sanitation taken at the UN General Assembly.”
“If Governments spend one week discussing ‘solutions’ for water issues while failing to base them on the human right to water and sanitation, how could such solutions be for people who need water and sanitation most and are systematically neglected?,” asked Ms. de Albuquerque. “The outcome of the World Water Forum may become ‘solutions’ built on faulty foundations.”
In the final draft Ministerial Declaration of the 6th World Water Forum scheduled to take place in Marseille from 12 to 17 March 2012, governments – under a strong push by a very small minority of countries – have for the time being failed to explicitly affirm that the right to water and sanitation should be the basis for any solutions aimed at bringing sanitation and water for those still deprived of these essential services.
“The World Water Forum is not a gathering seen as a source for the creation of international law, but it is still unfortunate that this Forum’s Declaration does not respect the outcomes of long-standing thorough and comprehensive discussions at the UN,” Ms. de Albuquerque said. “I call upon the Governments participating at the World Water Forum to amend the text of the draft declaration. We still have time to do that.”
The independent expert further stressed that the international human rights standard on water and sanitation agreed at the UN must also guide the negotiations for upcoming Rio+20 and post-2015 development goals. “I am confident that UN Member States will integrate the human right to water and sanitation into future global agreements,” she said.
Catarina de Albuquerque is the first UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. She was appointed by the Human Rights Council in 2008. Ms. de Albuquerque is a Professor at the Law Faculties of the Universities of Braga and Coimbra and a Senior Legal Adviser at the Office for Documentation and Comparative Law, an independent institution under the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Learn more about the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/SRWaterIndex.aspx
For additional information and requests, please contact Madoka Saji (+41 22 917 9107 / email: msaji@ohchr.org) or write to srwatsan@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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Follow up to High Level Meeting (HLM) of Sanitation and Water for All
press release
High Level Forum Calls for Improved Targeting of Aid for Sanitation and Water, Donor Coordination, and Practical Solutions
Financial commitments and coordinated action needed to trigger positive outcomes for water and sanitation sector
Washington D.C. / USA, April 28, 2010 – Finance and Water Sector Ministers representing 18 countries met Friday with representatives of 13 donors, seven UN agencies and civil society for the First Annual High Level Meeting (HLM) of Sanitation and Water for All. The meeting, held at the World Bank, was hosted by UNICEF on behalf of the new Sanitation and Water for All partnership, and aimed to shape sector dialogue and to stimulate aid targeting, donor coordination, and on-the-ground action to ensure access to sanitation and safe drinking water for the billions who have none.
The meeting was co-chaired by HRH Prince Willem-Alexander from the Netherlands, Chair of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation and Mr. Saad Houry, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. Event participants took stock of progress, shared best practices, explored the linkages between water, sanitation, economic growth and health, and committed to addressing appropriate allocations for these basic services.
Hon. Buyelwa Patience Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, South Africa and Chair of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), on behalf of the 15 water and sanitation Ministers in attendance, specifically urged donors to increase the percentage of sector aid allocations to basic services from the current 16% to 27% and the percentage of sector aid going to low-income countries from 42% to 50%.
She noted that sixty Africans die every hour because of water-related diseases, and an estimated 672 million have no access to safe drinking-water. To address what she described as an untenable situation with staggering health, social, and economic impacts, participants needed to “stop talking and start acting. We have the capacity and commitment to turn this situation around. It is a matter of life and death.”
Citing the Secretary of State Clinton’s recent “water defines our planet” statement, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero explained that for the US, water is a global imperative and one of the most pressing foreign policy challenges of the 21st century, and that the US is ramping up its efforts to build capacity, strengthen diplomatic efforts, build political will, mobilize support, and harness water and sanitation technologies, in addition to proposing a multi-donor technical assistance mechanism.
“No one country can address the challenges alone. Each must take responsibility for local and regional solutions, investing in people, infrastructure, and cutting-edge technologies. Sound water and sanitation sector planning and strategic donor planning and coordination are also needed,” she explained. She challenged donors to better align their assistance to national priorities and to work with partners, and she challenged all meeting participants to leave with greater resolve and to translate words into concrete action on the ground.
Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO) presented findings and analysis from the UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) to provide context and inform the deliberations. “Forty percent of the global population is without access to basic sanitation and 13% without access to safe drinking-water. This trend cannot continue. We need to improve and target investments, make the most of limited resources, and push for stronger partnerships and better donor coordination. It’s time for committed involvement by all parties,” she said. “The economic case for sanitation and drinking-water is no longer in doubt. It is the key to development, human progress and dignity. Water defines our health, and for WHO, there is no health without sanitation and drinking water.”
“There is clearly a shift in sector dialogue indicating that water and sanitation are the missing link in achieving many of the Millennium Development Goals. In preparation for this meeting, Ministries of Finance in 18 countries worked with Ministers responsible for sanitation and water to examine current progress, determine national budget allocations and identify investment gaps,” explained Clarissa Brocklehurst, UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). “This process has engaged government officials at the highest levels and increased their knowledge and understanding of the economic impacts of sector investments and the huge potential benefits for public health, gender equity, poverty reduction and economic growth,” she said.
Overall, the High Level Meeting participants called for more synergies and commitment, continued dialogue, better use of resources, capacity building, human resource development, increased water and sanitation sector planning, public-private partnerships, development of integrated approaches, and evidence-based decision-making.
As a framework for action, Sanitation and Water for All will serve as a means to coordinate efforts globally and link those efforts to country level dialogue and actions. Commitments from this first annual meeting have been documented and the GLAAS report will be one of the mechanisms partners use to monitor these commitments and progress over time.
“This event is a testament to the seriousness of our intention to chart a new course for the sector. Sanitation and water are a cornerstone of development and crucial to ensuring the survival and development of children. The sector needs more attention, more investments, and better targeting of those investments,” noted UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Saad Houry.
…
About Sanitation and Water for All SAN4ALL
Sanitation and Water for All is a global partnership aimed at achieving universal and sustainable access to sanitation and drinking-water for all, by firmly placing sanitation and water on the global agenda with an immediate focus on achieving the MDGs in the most off-track countries.
For further SAN4ALL information please visit:
http://www.unwater.org/activities_san4all.html
[also:]
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas
For further information please contact:
# UNICEF: Ms. Saira S Khan, UNICEF Media, New York, Tel: 1 212 326 7224, Email:sskhan@unicef.org
washlink notes:
for other perspectives see
- So, what happened at the High Level Meeting on Sanitation and Water? By fannetwork
- Impacts of neglecting investment in sanitation and water under-estimated, say 20 water ministers from Africa and Asia by WASH News International
Impacts of neglecting investment in sanitation and water under-estimated, say 20 water ministers from Africa and Asia
The Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) is out
UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS)
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The Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) is a UN-Water initiative implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO). The objective of UN-Water GLAAS is to provide policy makers at all levels with a reliable, easily accessible, comprehensive and global analysis of the evidence to make informed decisions in sanitation and drinking-water.
With over 2.6 billion people living without access to improved sanitation facilities, and nearly 900 million people not receiving their drinking-water from improved water sources, UN-Water GLAAS highlights where efforts stagnate in achieving the Millennium Development Goal Target 7.C.−to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking-water and basic sanitation. It also highlights the post-2015 challenges that need to be addressed by the United Nations system to collectively support its Member States.
The findings from the UN-Water GLAAS report will be presented at the first annual High-Level Meeting of Sanitation and Water for All, hosted by UNICEF on 23 April 2010 in Washington, DC. The High Level Meeting will provide a forum for Ministers of Finance from developing countries, accompanied by Ministers responsible for sanitation and water, and representatives from donor countries to gain a greater understanding of the linkages between water, sanitation, and economic growth, in order to commit the appropriate resources, as well as to promote a culture of mutual accountability, partnership and shared responsibility.
Watsan progress – OR NOT
The Guardian posted whats surly to be controversial article, speaking with Prof Asit Biswas, where he make the statements leading to the byline Water pollution expert derides UN sanitation claims. The artilce by Juliette Jowit guardian.co.uk, quotes Prof Biswas as saying:
"The shadow of a woman collecting drinking water from a communal tap is cast on a wall in the squatter suburb of Kliptown in Johannesburg. Photograph: Saurabh Das/AP"
“If somebody has a well in a town or village in the developing world and we put concrete around the well – nothing else – it becomes an ‘improved source of water’; the quality is the same but you have ‘improved’ the physical structure, which has no impact,” said Biswas. “They are not only underestimating the problem, they are giving the impression the problem is being solved. What I’m trying to say is that’s a bunch of baloney.”
This is in apparent frustration to reports fro the UN
according to Juliette Jowit : ‘In its latest report on the progress of the UN Millennium Development Goal to halve the proportion of people lacking access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, the World Health Organisation said that since 1990 1.3 billion people had gained access to improved drinking water and 500 million better sanitation. The world was on course to “meet or exceed” the water target, it said, but was likely to miss the sanitation goal by nearly 1 billion people.’
I assume people in the field will be backing Prof Asit Biswas, while I fear those in the mas media and in power will take the UN finding at face value, diminishing the focus of the on Watsan and millennium goals.
Gaza water crisis – UN call for immediate opening of crossings
map it
3 September 2009 – The top United Nations humanitarian official in the occupied Palestinian territory today joined aid agencies in calling for the immediate opening of Gaza’s crossings to allow the entry of spare parts and materials critical to restoring the area’s water and sanitation services.
Sewage floating off the coast west of Gaza City
“The deterioration and breakdown of water and sanitation facilities in Gaza is compounding an already severe and protracted denial of human dignity in the Gaza Strip,” Maxwell Gaylard said in a joint statement issued today with the NGO Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA).
“At the heart of this crisis is a steep decline in standards of living for the people of Gaza, characterized by erosion of livelihoods, destruction and degradation of basic infrastructure, and a marked downturn in the delivery and quality of vital services in health, water and sanitation,” added Mr. Gaylard, the Deputy UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Humanitarian Coordinator.
Israel’s closure of Gaza’s crossing points, imposed since June 2007, has meant that equipment and supplies needed for the construction, maintenance and operation of water and sanitation facilities have not been able to enter the area, leading to the deterioration of these services.
Currently, some 10,000 people do not have access to the water network, while another 60 per cent of Gaza’s population of 1.5 million do not have continuous access to water.
In addition, some 50 to 80 million litres of untreated and partially treated waste-water have been discharged daily into the Mediterranean Sea since January 2008, due to damage to sewage treatment facilities, lack of treatment capacity because of postponed plant upgrade projects, and a critical shortage of fuel and electricity necessary to operate them.
Mr. Gaylard and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called on the Israeli Government to take immediate steps to ensure the entry into Gaza of the necessary construction and repair materials to respond to the water and sanitation crisis.
“Without addressing both the immediate basic needs of the population and facilitating the longer-term development and management of the degraded water and sanitation sector, public health and the wider environment will remain at significant risk,” said the Humanitarian Coordinator.
“Pollution does not recognise borders or barriers, and communities throughout the region are threatened by the deficiencies of Gaza’s water and sanitation system,” he added.
source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31927&Cr=Gaza&Cr1=
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