A central role for government in monitoring sustainable WASH services

Participants at the IRC Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery symposium, Addis Ababa, April 2013. Photo: Ermias Woldeamlak

Governments are not only investing more in national monitoring systems, but their leadership in country monitoring is also now generally accepted. With this acceptance, however, come expectations about good governance and transparency. Monitoring is politics: agendas and power influence what is monitored and how the results are used. National systems, too, go beyond WASH sector monitoring and should include data from donors and NGOs as well.

Photo: IRC/Petra Brussee

These are some of the conclusions we can draw from a symposium attended by over 400 participants from UN agencies, government, donors, NGOs and research institutes.  Hosted by the Government of Ethiopia and organised by IRC and its partners, the Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery symposium was held from 9 to 11 April 2013 in Addis Ababa.

Symposium presentations and discussions focussed on six main themes: monitoring finance, government-led and country-wide monitoring, project monitoring, ICT for monitoring, monitoring sanitation & hygiene, and global-regional-national WASH monitoring.

2013 Budapest Water Summit, 08-11 October 2013, Budapest, Hungary

The objective of this high-level summit is to take stock of the various developments, in and outside the UN system, in preparing water-related goals for the post Rio+20 development agenda. The expected outcome is one overarching SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water and sanitation that corresponds and responds to multidimensional challenges.

Confirmed speakers include  Hungarian President Mr János Áder, UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, the heads of OECD, UNEP, UNIDO, WMO, WHO, UNDP and FAO, Prof. Jamie Bartram, Ms Catarina de Albuquerque, Andris Piebalgs, Prof. John Briscoe and Julia Bucknall.

Organised by: Government of Hungary in collaboration with the World Water Council and UNESCO

Theme: The Role of Water and Sanitation in the Global Sustainable Development Agenda

Europe: one million signatures for Water as a Human Right

The first up and running European Citizens Initiative (ECI) ‘Water is a Human
Right’ made history as also being the first ECI in the history of the European Union to have collected over 1 million signatures.  The water initiative aims to get the European Commission  to propose legislation on the human right to water covering the following three issues:

• guaranteed access to water and sanitation services for all EU citizens, including the 2 million currently without access and those threatened with disconnection because they can’t afford to pay their bills
• no liberalisation of water and sanitation services
• more European action to ensure that everyone in the world can enjoy the human right to water and sanitation

While the one million signatures are enough to get the proposals on the European political agenda, a further requirement is to reach a minimum number of signatures in at least seven EU countries. Up to 12 March, five countries have  met this requirement: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Slovakia and Slovenia.  The organisers have collected 1.35 million signatures so far, and aim to get 2 million signatures by September 2013

The organisations behind the water is a human right campaign include the following trade unions and NGOs:

• Aqua Publica Europea
• European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN)
• European Environmental Bureau (EEB)
• European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)
• European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
• European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
• Public Services International (PSI)
• Social Platform and 
• Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF).

The ECI is the first transnational instrument of participatory democracy in world history. It is considered to be one of the major innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Watch the campaign video.

Related websites:

• Water is a human right campaign - www.right2water.eu
• Initiative for the European Citizens’ Initiative - www.citizens-initiative.eu

Source: EPSU, 11 Feb 2013 ; EurActiv, 12 Feb 2013 ; right2water, 07 Mar 2013

Have your voice heard, water in the post-2015 development agenda

The Thematic Consultation on Water (the water consultation) in the post-2015 development agenda is now open for inputs on the www.worldwewant2015.org/water website.

The water consultation is part of the UN-system led “global dialogue” comprising of 50 – 100 Country Consultations and eleven global Thematic Consultations, among them the one on water. It is co-led by UN-Water, UNDESA and UNICEF.

Another, but more technical consultation process started in 2011 to develop target and indicator proposals for post-2015 global monitoring of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Leader of this technical consultation is the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP).

The water consultation aims to contribute to a shared vision on key future challenges in water and a new global water goal in the post-2015 development agenda.

Participants can engage directly on the web (www.worldwewant2015.org/water), via Twitter  @WaterPost2015 using the hashtag #waterpost2015 and on the Facebook page WaterPost2015.

The water consultation is divided into two parts: a global water consultation (21 November 2012 – 3 March 2013) and thematic sub-consultations on WASH, water resources, waste water management and water quality (mid-January – 3 March 2013). The final outcome in the form of policy recommendations will be transmitted to the High-level Panel on Post-2015 appointed by the UN Secretary General at the end of March 2013.

For more information read the full announcement and a one pager on how to engage.

Related web sites:

• The World We Want – The Post-2015 Water Thematic Consultation
• WHO / UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation – Post-2015 Monitoring
• UN – Beyond 2015

Is the UK’s recognition of right to sanitation half-hearted?

In a statement issued on 27 June 2012, the UK Government officially recognises sanitation as a human right under international law. However, in their interpretation of this right, the government excludes “the collection and transport of human waste”. It also does not accept, in their entirety, specific U.N. documents on the right to water and sanitation.

The UK had originally abstained from voting on the resolution on the right to water and sanitation at the UN General Assembly in 2010. It stated then that it did not believe that there was a sufficient legal basis under international law to declare sanitation as a human right.

Facing growing international pressure by NGOs and UN Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque, the UK announced on 15 June 2012 that it would support the inclusion of commitments to the right both to safe drinking water and to sanitation as a human right in the Rio+20 outcome document.

What the implications are of the UK’s interpretation of the right to sanitation is unclear. Maybe the government should send their legal advisers to a slum during the rainy season to see what happens when there is no adequate collection and transport of human waste.

Related news:

• Rio+20: Canada finally recognises human right to water and sanitation, E-Source, 13 Jun 2012
• Right to water and sanitation: finally declared legally binding in international law, E-Source, 19 Oct 2010

Related web sites:

• FAN – Realizing the rights to water and sanitation
• OHCHR –Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

Source:

• UK recognises right to sanitation, UK FCO, 27 Jun 2012
• Isabella Montgomery, UK Government supports right to sanitation inclusion at Rio+20, FAN, Jun 2012

Rio+20: Canada finally recognises human right to water and sanitation

In the run-up to Rio+20, Canada became one of the last Western nations to drop its opposition to a reference to water and sanitation as a human right in the zero draft outcome document The Future We Want [1]. This was achieved by an international lobby led by the likes of Maude Barlow’s Council of Canadians and UN Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque.

Maude Barlow. Photo: Council of Canadians

Until a month ago, Canada was the only country to publicly claim there was no legal basis for the right to water and call for deletion of paragraph 67, which referred to this right, from the Rio+20 document, said Anil Naidoo of the Council of Canadians’ Blue Planet Project.

The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in July 2010 recognising water and sanitation as a basic human right [2] and on 30 September 2010, the UN Human Rights Council recognised the right as legally binding in international law [3].

At the initial Rio+20 negotiations last year, several human rights and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) warned that the human right to water and sanitation was under threat. This started when the UK, working inside the European Union (EU), first proposed to delete paragraph 67 from the zero draft.

Catarina de Albuquerque. Photo: OHCHR

After pressure from several international NGOs and an appeal [4] by Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation Catarina de Albuquerque, the EU backed down and other governments pushed back against the UK, notably Spain, said Naidoo.

But still, Canada, later joined by the United States and Israel, continued to call for deletion of paragraph 67. Intense lobbying, supported by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, who called for human rights to be protected in the Rio negotiations [5], finally convinced Canada to drop its opposition to the recognition of water and sanitation as a human right.

[1] Rio+20 - The Future We Want – Zero draft of the outcome document

[2] Right to water and sanitation: UN General Assembly passes landmark resolution, E-Source, 08 Sep 2010

[3] Right to water and sanitation: finally declared legally binding in international law, E-Source, 19 Oct 2010

[4] Rio+20: “Do not betray your commitments on the human right to water and sanitation”, OHCHR, 22 Mar 2012

[5] Navanethem Pillay, Open Letter, OHCHR, 30 Mar 2012

Related web sites:

• Council of Canadians – Right to Water – Blue Planet Project
• OHCHR – Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

Source: Thalif Deen, Canada, Last Holdout, Drops Opposition to Water as Human Right, IPS, 31 May 2012

Help shape the future of global water monitoring

Water sector stakeholders are invited to express their views on how to shape the future of global water monitoring after 2015.

The JMP Post 2015 Water Monitoring Working Group has launched an e-survey to let all stakeholders express their thoughts on:

1. the Group’s draft goal, targets and indicators and,
2. the best way to monitor the data.

The survey closes on the 18th June 2012.

The Water Working Group is one of four expert groups established in January 2012 by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) to develop alternative goal, target(s) and indicator options for post-2015 monitoring. The other three groups are on sanitation, hygiene and equity and non-discrimination. The outputs of all these groups will inform the various ongoing political processes led by the UN Secretary General and are expected to culminate in a post-MDG summit at the UN General Assembly in September 2013.

The Post 2015 Water Monitoring Working Group is comprised of a core group and resource group of experts, led jointly by WaterAid and the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

For more information go to the Water Working Group website where you will find a description of the proposed draft goal, target and indicators and a link to the e-survey.

Related news:

• Stef Smits, Is the glass half full or half empty?, E-Source, 31 Mar 2012
• Monitoring: new tools meet demand for more transparency in the water sector, E-Source, 05 Dec 2011
• First consultation on developing post-2015 monitoring indicators, Berlin: Refocusing the monitoring approach, E-Source, 26 Oct 2011

World Water Forums: seeking sustainable water management solutions

In March 2012, two global but contrasting forums in search of sustainable solutions to the water crisis took place in Marseilles, France.

The realisation of the human right to water and sanitation was prominent in the declarations of the both the 6^th World Water Forum (WWF) [1] and the Alternative World Water Forum (FAME 2012) [2].  In addition, the WWF6 declaration officially recognised disaster mitigation and emergency response as a priority. Where the WWF6 declaration fell short though, according to the Butterfly Effect, a group of 90 civil society organisations, was that it did not explicitly mention the commitment of states to implement the right to water and sanitation. [3]

Watch the video of the Public-Private debate at WWF6.

While the WWF was home to the water and development industry, FAME 2012 gave a voice to the uncompromising group of anti-privatisation water activists. Loïc Fauchon, head of WWF organiser, the World Water Council, dismissed the alternative forum as “insignificant at best and harmful at worst”. A commentator added that “the pro- and anti-privatisation debate grew stale a long time ago” [4]. As if the anti-privatisation activists anticipated claims that they present infinite criticisms but few alternatives, two new studies [5,6] promoting public management of services have been released.

Watch a video Prof. David McDonald of the Municipal Services Project (MSP) Canada talking about his new publication “Alternatives to Privatization“.

The WWF and FAME 2012 are taking their declarations to Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June. The next World Water Forum will take place in Daegu Gwangyeoksi, South Korea, in 2015.

For more commentaries on the two forums see:

• Babatope Babalobi, How Marseilles hosted two World Water Forums in one week, eWASH, 10 Apr 2012
• Daniel Moss, The right water debates in the wrong place, Huffington Post, 02 April 2012

[1] 6^th World Water Forum – Ministerial Declaration, 13 Mar 2012

[2] Alternative World Water Forum – Declaration, 13 Apr 2012

[3] Butterfly Effect reaction to the 6th World Water Forum ministerial declaration, Freshwater Action Network (FAN), 15 Mar 2012

[4] Claire Provost, No single course for providing water, Guardian Poverty Matters blog, 22 Mar 2012

[5] Pigeon, M. et al. (eds), 2012. Remunicipalisation : putting water back into public hands. Amsterdam: Transnational Institute. Available at: <http://www.tni.org/tnibook/remunicipalisation> [Accessed 14 May 2012]

[6] McDonald, D.A. and Ruiters, G., 2012. Alternatives to privatization : public options for essential services in the global south. Cape Town: HSRC Press. Available at: <http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/product.php?productid=2287> [Accessed 14 May 2012]

Related news: World Water Forum: water unites but forums divided, E-Source, 03 Apr 2009

Related web sites:

• 6^th World Water Forum – official website | Solutions for Water
• Alternative World Water Forum
• International Secretariat for Water – The Butterfly Effect
•  IRC at the World Water Forum 2012

Developing countries and donors agree to tackle the water and sanitation crisis

H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor - Former President of Ghana and Chair of Sanitation and Water for All

Ministerial delegations from 40 countries have announced serious commitments to tackle the global water and sanitation crisis. Developing countries have promised that they will provide safe drinking water to 60 million more people and improved sanitation to another 80 million people within two years. The governments of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom announced that they will collaborate to also get water and sanitation to millions of people.

Speech by Nigerian Finance Minister and World Bank Presidency candidate Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Convened by UNICEF and hosted by the World Bank and Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), the second High Level Meeting (HLM) on Water and Sanitation of the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Partnership took place on 20 April in Washington, D.C. On the previous day, ministers responsible for water and sanitation from 40 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America had met to prepare a joint statement.

At the High Level Meeting, the Netherlands Secretary of State for Development Cooperation Ben Knapen announced a new cooperation between the Netherlands and United Kingdom with UNICEF and local authorities to bring water and sanitation to an additional 10 million people in nine countries – mostly fragile, post-conflict states in West and Central Africa. The Dutch commitment is part of a four-year plan to bring safe drinking water and sanitation to 25 million people.

“I am very pleased with the fact that UNICEF is prepared to guarantee the operation of water systems, pumps and last but not least water quality for at least 10 years. It’s not just about installing water pumps but providing sustainable services to the user. Independent third parties will monitor a representative sample of water points on an annual basis and report back to us”. He added: “UNICEF greatly appreciates Dutch knowledge and expertise in the field of drinking water and sanitation. At least 20-25% of the Dutch support will therefore be used to deploy Dutch knowledge and expertise to achieve sustainable results and local capacity building.”

“By seeking guarantees for sustainability and water quality as a pre-condition for financial support, the Netherlands is an international leader in increasing aid effectiveness,” says Simavi Director Rolien Sasse, who is also a member of the SWA Steering Committee on behalf of End Water Poverty.

The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, announced that the UK is doubling the number of people they intend to reach with water, sanitation and hygiene education by 2015, from 30 million people to at least 60 million people globally.

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah (USA) en Director-General of AusAid  Peter Baxter (Australia) announced at the High Level Meeting that they would join the Sanitation and Water for All Partnership, which now has over 80 members.

Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) is a partnership of governments, donors, civil society and international organisations. It was established in 2010 as an initiative of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to help developing countries, especially those that are most off-track, to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for water and sanitation.

The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre is a member of SWA and of the SWA Steering Committee. IRC supported several countries, including Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa, to prepare their inputs for the SWA High Level Meeting.

For more information:

• Sanitation and Water for All – HLM 2012 Virtual Briefing Pack
• Sanitation and Water for All – Webcast
• IRC – Sanitation and Water for All

Right to water: new UN resolution supports sustainable service delivery approach

A new resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council at its 18th session calls on states to ensure enough financing for sustainable delivery of water and sanitation services. Passed by consensus on 28 September 2011, resolution A/HRC/RES/18/1 has taken last year’s landmark decision [1] to recognise the right to water and sanitation as legally binding in international law, a step further.

Catarina de Albuquerque. Photo: OHCHR

The new resolution is based on ongoing efforts by UN Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque to get states to go beyond Millennium Development Goals and strive for universal service provision.

States should maximise investments so that:

water and sanitation systems are sustainable and that services are affordable for everyone, while ensuring that allocated resources are not limited to infrastructure, but also include resources for regulatory activities, operation and maintenance, the institutional and managerial structure and structural measures, including increasing capacity