A 10 YEAR STORY
THE WATER FOR LIFE DECADE 2005-2015
AND BEYOND

Josefina Maestu

FOREWORDINTRODUCTION

26DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION,WOMEN´S PARTICIPATION AND LOCAL COOPERATION

10INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
AND TRANSBOUNDARY WATER COOPERATION

28

THE ROLE OF GLOBAL PROCESSES AND ACTORS

44

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE WATER FOR LIFE 2005-2015 DECADE
Looking to the end of the Decade and beyond

64

EPILOGUE: A NEW DECADE FOR ACTION
ON WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT84

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As the curtain falls on the Decade it is difficult to avoid feeling frustrated. Since 2005, we have been managing complexity
on a global scale; interactions have increased exponentially thanks to social media and the Internet, but we can’t help but
regret the missed opportunities. There were many. But now we have a full stop – a time to reflect.
What has the Decade achieved?
After 10 years, we’re finally approaching the end of the UN Decade for Water 2005-2015, and the office is reviewing,
sifting, collating and editing 10 years of action on water into a form where we can report on and present it – all of it.
Ten years have passed! For almost as long as we can remember, 2015 has been considered a critical year for the international water and sanitation agenda. Not least because we anticipated – and it has come to pass – the General Assembly
has agreed the Sustainable Development Goals in its 70th session, which includes specific targets for water and sanitation.
The proposal includes a more ambitious agenda on universal access to basic services of water and sanitation, on
improvements on water resources management – including improved efficiency – on water quality and disaster risk
reduction.
There has been much progress in the last decade. Having clear and traceable objectives to spread the benefits ofglobalization to the world’s poorest citizens (guided by the Millennium Development Goals) has contributed substantiallyto this. There have also been major milestones that have given impetus to the implementation of the global agenda. This
includes the 2008 International Year of Sanitation, 2010 Resolution on Water as a Human Right and the 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation.
The Millennium Declaration in 2000 (the largest-ever gathering of world leaders) led to the Millennium Development
Goals. Target 10 was to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water. These time-bound targets havebeen the anchor of our work. At the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development, in 2002, this target was
expanded to include basic sanitation, and water as a resource was recognized as a critical factor for meeting all the Goals.
The sanitation objective became an integral part of target 10. But it meant the task was growing. In December 2003, theUN General Assembly recognized this and proclaimed the period 2005-2015 would be the International Decade for Action‘Water for Life’. The Decade began officially on March 22, 2005, World Water Day.
Our goal during the Water for Life Decade has been to promote efforts to fulfill international commitments in the water
sphere by 2015. We’ve tried to raise the profile of water in the global agenda, and to focus the world’s attention on the
groundbreaking, lifesaving, empowering work done by those implementing water programs and projects. We’ve tried to
be a bridge, to further cooperation between governments and other stakeholders, between nations and diverse communities, between economic interests and the needs of ecosystems and the poor. And we’ve promoted efforts to ensure theparticipation of women in water and sanitation. We’ve done all this to achieve the water goals of the Millennium Declara-

tion, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit
for Sustainable Development and Agenda 21. Ten years.
The question is: what has changed? Has it been useful? In September 2014 in Stockholm during World Water Week 2014 I was able
to discuss this with a decade’s worth of colleagues, collaborators andfriends from all over the world.
Progress? “The big thing has been the growth and developmentof UN-Water,” said Gordon Young, of the International Association of
Hydrological Sciences. So the strength of the MDGs and the global
political will to empower the UN and associated organizations is also
the result of unprecedented progress for water and sanitation.
The 2013 Millennium Development Goal Report (MDG) shows that
the MDG drinking water target was met fiveyears ahead of schedule by halving the proportion of people without access to improved
drinking water sources despite significant
population growth.
Yet 663 million people still drew waterfrom an unimproved source in 2015, and forthese people our statistics mean nothing: We
have to keep working. And the world remains
off-track in meeting the MDG sanitation target,
leaving some 2.4 billion people still lacking access to improved sanitation facilities. This goalmeans reducing the proportion of people without access from 51% in1990 to 25% in 2015. From 1990 to 2015, 2.1 billion people gained
access to a latrine, flush toilet or other improved sanitation facilities,
helping to comprise a total of 68% of the global population. We missed
the MDG target by 9 percentage points. We’ll keep working.
Andre Liebaert, Programme Manager in Water Policy: Water, Energy, Infrastructures, European Commission, told me that “We are
now really looking at water, the contribution of water to the wider

picture…more and more we’re looking at energy, agriculture in particular because energy and agriculture are key to development policies
and we’re addressing the water link with these.” Ania Grobicki, Global
Water Partnership, added that: “Ten years ago with the level of fragmentation in the water community, people weren’t talking to eachother. There wasn’t a lot of cooperation. That I think has definitelychanged in the last 10 years, particularly with this push toward getting
a global water goal.”Since 1992, 80% of countries have embarked on reforms to enable
the environment for better water resource management. This is based on
the application of integrated approaches as stated in Agenda 21, and affirmed in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. Countries that haveadopted these integrated approaches report more advanced infrastructuredevelopment, but even more efforts are needed to ensure appropriate
levels of coordination. Countries report a gradualbut positive trend in financing for water resources development and management with morediverse sources of finance, but little progress on
payment for water resources services.
Countries report improvements to the institutional framework together with improved
policies, laws, and systems over the past 20
years. This has led to better water resourcesmanagement practices bringing importantsocio-economic benefits.
Still, water-related risks and competition for water resources areperceived by a majority of countries to have increased over the past
20 years. Businesses report the challenge of water security to be oneof the top risks to their operations. So it is fitting that we are now
engaging with the private sector directly. Dan Bena of PEPSICO attended World Water Week. He told me: “It is amazing to me how
many different partners are starting to collaborate now. I remember
when I first started, the idea that the private sector could engage with
the United Nations was taboo, but more and more the private sector

is being invited to different round tables by
the UN. It’s not that any one actor holds thesolution, but together is where the solutions
will arise.”
Attention for water as a global issue isvital if the world is to achieve the MDGs
and the post 2015 goals. It’s happening. In
2013, of the 11 topics raised in the campaign The World We Want, ‘water’ attracted
by far the most views.
It is always inspiring to hear about what the Decade has meantfrom persons such as Fritz Holzwarth, Germany’s former Water andMarine Director. He told me: “I think the Water Decade made a significant change in the public debate environment. Water was more or lessmarginalized, locked in technical words and technical discussions, butthere was no clear understanding of how water is interlinked with otherareas. And what I find very important in this context, if you see when
the discussion started in Mar del Plata [1977] continued in the Dublin
Principles [1992], followed up in the Bonn Freshwater Conference in
2000, then finally with the Nexus Conference that accompanied thisWater Decade, the way that the Water Decade had been able to deliverand create more understanding not only about the human dimension ofwater, but also about the political dimension of the water. So I think
the Water Decade made a significant difference and also, during the
Decade, the Conferences, both official and unofficial, all these activities created this difference and made clear that water can no longer beignored on the political agenda and on the agenda of the local level.”
In September 2015, the General Assembly finally agreed on astand-alone water goal (number 6), “Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” This reflects thatwater and sanitation has become a key priority for member states.
UN and stakeholders, experts and the water community at large havecontributed, engaging with politicians, policy makers, governments
and water managers in water and sanitation programs and projects,

in knowledge generation and management, in advice based on goodpractices and appropriate technologies.
This has included activities aimed at the general public including
educational activities and campaigns such as World Water Day, the Water for Life Logo Campaign, focused campaigns such as World Toilet Day
and the Sanitation Drive to 2015, coordinated themes with the MDGs
campaign. It has included efforts through information and knowledge
management in the UN-Water and sanitation Documentation Centerand the Water For Life Decade Web/knowledge hub, the Water forLife Award and other activities to engage experts, stakeholders andgovernment decision makers directly – not just about the water andsanitation problems many face around the world, but also showing
them the opportunities sustainable development provides and what allof us can do for a better standard of living and economic development.
Over the Decade, more and more water and sanitation projects
and programmes have been implemented. This has been supported byinternational aid. National governments continue to be major sourcesof funding for water and sanitation. The Open Defecation campaign
is bringing much needed attention to the health issues raised by the
problem of inadequate sanitation. The Decade is drawing to a close,
but the work goes on.
“One of the differences is that things that were crazy ideas 10
years ago are now being discussed as quite sensible solutions,” said
Clarissa Brocklehurst, Senior Advisor, Sanitation and Water for All Secretariat. “Now we’re not talking about whether excreta reuse is a goodidea or not, we’re talking about all the different ways to do it, including some quite crazy ways but it’s all good. Sanitation is a far bigger
issue – it’s now accepted as the big issue – and I think also this issueof eliminating inequalities, focusing not just on the poor but certain
pockets of vulnerable people has also become very mainstream within
the conversation.”
Despite this, funding levels for WASH remain insufficient, especiallyfor sanitation. Drinking water continues to absorb the majority of WASH

funding, even in countries with relatively high drinking water supply
coverage and relatively low sanitation coverage. The breakdown ofexpenditure for WASH in rural and urban areas appears only weakly
correlated with needs.
But progress is being made. Jack Moss, Senior Water Advisor,
Aquafed, told me: “For me what has changed is the significance of waterto all forms of sustainable development. It’s much better understood thanit was 10 years ago. Ten years ago nobody was really talking about it, orvery few people were, now the majority of people are really getting it.”
It’s true that international aid for water and sanitation increased overthe International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (19801990), and has nearly increased by that amount again since 2002. The
total amount of development aid for sanitation and water increased by
3% from 2008 to 2010, to 7.8 billion (USD), and this continues.
Gender and water was a topic of much importance even before
the Decade began, and the Water for Life Decade has made it apriority to call for women’s participation and involvement in waterrelated development efforts. A UN-Water Task Force on Gender andWater was also created, and in 2013 the Gender Forum took place inTajikistan, at the Decade’s Water Cooperation Conference.
In achieving the targets of the MDGs, the fact that, globally, rural
women are worse-off than rural men and urban women and men forevery MDG indicator available was at the forefront of the Decade’s
concerns. While data collection along these lines has improved in recent years, there remains a general lack of data disaggregated by sex,
but also by rural and urban location. We know that universal access isunlikely to be reached unless gender perspectives are integrated intoplanning and implementation activities.
Moving forward, the world’s great fear is that with a growing population and a continued appetite for water, the future will see an increasein competition over water. Yet as with my old friends at Stockholm’s
World Water Week, common goals make common ground, despite ourdifferences. More than 200 water treaties have been negotiated. Someof them have remained in operation despite times of armed conflict, forexample, the Indus Basin Treaty between India and Pakistan (ratified
1960). It is clear that Institutions created for water cooperation display
the ability to avert conflict even in times of increased political pressure. But the considerable time taken to negotiate the establishmentof these institutions shows the sensitivity to the issues surrounding
maintenance and distribution of shared water sources. For example,
the Indus Treaty took 10 years, the Nile Basin Initiative took 20 years,
and the Jordan agreement took 40 years.
And we continue working. We heard from practitioners, learningwhat’s possible and what works for water and sanitation on governance, technologies and capacity development during the UN-Water
Zaragoza Conference on the 15-17 of January 2015. We spoke to UN
delegates and policy makers at our exhibition in New York on March 30
2015. We have a lot of stories, testimonies of our success and failures.
And we keep working.
I wonder if it’s trite to talk of progress when all I have before
me are printed words and images. I wonder if it’s robotic to talk of
successes in terms of numbers while so many still lack access to cleanwater and basic sanitation, when so many refugees and citizens in war
zones and disaster prone areas, live dramatic situations, and do nothave access to these basic services for a dignified life.
But we keep working. I ask you to add your voices to the global
discussion. I implore you to keep thinking, researching, sharing ideasthat can make the world a more sustainable place, and thus a better
place to live.
The Decade is ending. The post 2015 agenda is on the horizon. It’s
working. And we’re not finished yet.

Josefina Maestu

I.T. N.o 68. 2004

5

Introduction

On the 23 December 2003, the United Nations General Assembly, in resolution A/
RES/58/217, proclaimed the period 20052015 the International Decade for Action‘Water for Life’. International decades are proclaimed by
the General Assembly of the United Nations on subjects
that require long-term action and sustained attention at
the international or regional level and at national level.
The General Assembly agreed in 2003 that a Water
Decade was needed to sustain attention and promoteaction-oriented activities and policies that ensure thelong-term sustainable management of water resources, interms of both quantity and quality, and include measures
to improve sanitation accelerating implementation of theinternationally agreed water goals.
It was decided that the primary goal of the ‘Water forLife’ Decade was to promote efforts to fulfil international
commitments made on water and water-related issues by
2015.The commitments included the water-related goalsof the Millennium Declaration, and those agreed in the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development, and Agenda 21 and,as appropriate, those identified during the twelfth andthirteenth sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development. The commitments included those of the 2000
Millennium Declaration, Goal 7 (MDG7) Target 10

6“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

which establishes the need to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water. At the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development, in 2002, the target was expanded toalso include basic sanitation.
In order to achieve the internationally agreed waterrelated goals, the resolution of the Decade specified theneed to promote a greater focus on water related issues at
all levels, a greater focus on the implementation of water
related programmes and projects, and the furtheranceof cooperation at all levels, calling for ensuring women’s
participation in water-related development efforts.
Since the year 2015 terminates the International
Decade for Action “Water for Life”, a comprehensive
assessment of the activities carried out during thisperiod, identifying the difficulties and problems in theimplementation of the goals of the Decade, as well asplanning further activities for the post-2015 period is of
crucial importance. To that end, on 19 December 2014
the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/69/215, entitled “International Decade for
Action, “Water for Life”, 2005-2015, and further efforts
to achieve the sustainable development of water resources”, calling upon member countries, UN system institutions, including “UN-Water” and other organizations, to© UN Photocomprehensively evaluate progressachieved in the implementation of
the Decade.
The impetus of the Decade at
the start was immense. The global
water community saw the Decade
providing the framework for bringing
together the many fragmented initiatives both within the UN and by non
UN actors. The fact that the Decade
was agreed through a Resolution of
the General Assembly provided the
mandate for the UN agencies to support, and for the member countries
to engage in it. This initial impetus
lead to the preparation of a complex
plan of action of the UN Secretary
General, with pledges from UN entities and some non-UN entities, withan initial decision on the priority
themes for the Decade. The Secretary
General Plan, the A/60/158 2005
Report, outlined who would be involved, how it would be coordinatedand listed a number of specific activities pledged to support the Decade

by UN entities, comprising WHO,
World Bank and UNICEF.
The first 2003 World Water
Development Report (WWDR)
was entitled Water for People, Water
for Life and through this UNESCO
provided the knowledge-base at thestart of the Water Decade for IWRM
but also on WASH by analyzing theimpacts on health of waterborne
diseases and the indicators to measure progress. In the UN system theWorld Health Organization (WHO)and UNICEF were also pioneersof the Water Decade and the major
driving force at the beginning. Oneof the first JMP reports was launched
the year the Decade commenced,
in 2005, providing early on a clear
focus on WASH for the Decade. It
was entitled: Water for Life: Making
it Happen. This report was an explicit
contribution to the Decade and highlighted that achieving the target of
the MDGs for access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation will bringa payback worth many times theinvestment involved. It argued that
it will also bring health, dignity andtransform the lives to many millionsof the world’s poorest people. Finallythe Human Development Report 2006
“Beyond Scarcity” also contributed toestablishing the baseline on actions
for the Water for Life Decade, especially on WASH.
What has been achieved? Whattypes of actions have been more effective over the Decade? How we canmove forward on the basis of what
we have learned? These questions are
addressed in this publication. We
would like to see what the value addedof the Decade has been; How andwhere the Water Decade has provided
an effective framework for promoting
and supporting water cooperation and
IWRM efforts, by providing political impulse and helping raise awareness and highlighting action oriented
activities (best practices and tools
for cooperation). We argue that the7

Decade has been helpfulin providing a politicalprocess for maintaining
attention and for taking
stock and regularly evaluating results - analyzing
the actions that havebeen effective specifically in promoting water
cooperation and IWRM.

We provide an answer to thesequestions in the following threechapters in relation to three separate
themes: a) Basic water, sanitation andhygiene services, women’s engagement and local water cooperation; b)
Integrated Water Resources Management and Water Cooperation;and global processes and actors. A
concluding section looks into thevalue added of the Decade and theremaining challenges and what isnext in relation to the necessary
actions. An Epilogue presents theongoing discussions on the proposals
for a new global water architecture
detailing a new Decade on Water andSustainable Development.

2003

2007

2010

t23 December: Resolution A/
RES/58/217 proclaiming 20052015 International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015.

tAugust: Opening of the UN-Water
Decade Programme on Capacity
Development (UNW-DPC) in
Bonn, Germany.
tOctober: Opening of the United
Nations Office to support theInternational Decade for Action“Water for Life” 2005-2015/
UN-Water Decade Programme
on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) in Zaragoza,
Spain.

t22 March: High-Level Interactive
Dialogue on the implementationof the International Decade for
Action ‘Water for Life’ 20052015. UN Headquarters, New
York. Four documents were presented:

DECADE’S MILESTONES

2005
t2 March: Start of the International Decade for Action “Water
for Life” 2005-2015 as established
in Resolution A/RES/58/217.
t11-22 April: 13th Session of the
UN Commission on Sustainable
Development. Report on thethirteenth session (E/2005/29),
which contains a matrix of actions to form a basis for the
Decade. It was called a ‘possible
framework of policy options for
Governments and for the UN
system’.
t25 July: Report of the UN Secretary-General on Actions taken
in organising the activities of
the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015(A/60/158). This inception reportof the Decade contains pledges ofactivities by the UN agencies, aswell as the proposed governancestructure.

2006
t20 December: Declaration of 2008
‘International Year of Sanitation’(A/RES/61/192).

8“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

2008
tJanuary-December: InternationalYear of Sanitation.
tDecember: Status of Implementation of CSD-13 Policy Actions on
Water and Sanitation. This document builds upon the decisions
reached during the 13th Sessionof the Commission on Sustainable
Development(CSD) in 2005.

2009
t21 December: Resolution callingfor a Midterm comprehensive
review of the implementation of
the International Decade for Action ‘Water for life’ 2005-2015(A/RES/64/198). This UNGA
decision announced the meetingin Tajikistan and requested information on the progress of theDecade.

1. Water, peace and security: transboundary water cooperation(A/64/692 and A/64/692/Corr.1).
2. Organization of the midterm
comprehensive review of theInternational Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015(A/64/693).
3. Water, climate change and disasters (A/64/695).
4. Water and the internationally agreed development goals(A/64/694).
t8-9 June: High-level International
Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the International
Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’
2005-2015. Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
t22 June: Dushanbe Declaration
on Water (A/65/88). This ‘nonnegotiated text’ lists a number of
focal areas for the remainder of theDecade.
t28 July: UN Resolution recognising access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitationas a human right (A/RES/64/292).

t16 August: Report of the UN
Secretary-General on the Midterm
comprehensive review of the implementation of the International
Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’
2005-2015 (A/65/297). This document was prepared by UNDESA,
provides an overview of the Decade to date, and gives an accountof activities by the UN system and
UN-Water partners , such as the
Global Water Partnership (GWP)
and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

2011t11 February: ‘Sustainable sanitation: the five-year drive to 2015’.
Follow-up of the InternationalYear of Sanitation, 2008 (A/RES/65/153). This is an initiativeby the UN Secretary-General’ Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB), UNICEF and
the Water Supply and Sanitation
Collaborative Council (WSSCC).
The resolution makes reference tothe Decade.
t11 February: Declaration of 2013
‘International Year of Water Cooperation’ (A/RES/65/154).
t21 June: Launch of UN Campaign“Sustainable sanitation: the fiveyear drive to 2015”.

2012t20-22 June: Rio+20. The Rio+20
Outcome Document highlights
the commitment to the 20052015 International Decade for Action “Water for Life”.

2013tJanuary-December: InternationalYear of Water Cooperation.
t24 July: UN Resolution A/
RES/67/291 designates 19 November as World Toilet Day inthe context of Sanitation for All.
tSeptember: UN Deputy SecretaryGeneral’s Call to Action on Sanitation.
t19 November: 1st UN celebrationof World Toilet Day.

2014t18-19 February: UN General Assembly thematic debate on Water,
Sanitation and Sustainable Energy
in the Post-2015 Development
Agenda. UN-water presents recommendations for a global goal onwater in post-2015 agenda.
t11 March: Special Event “Taking
Stock of the International Year of
Water Cooperation and Advancing the Global Water Agenda
Post-2015”.
t19 July: UN Open Working
Group adopts its final proposal for
Sustainable Development Goals.
t17 August: The 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (United
Nations Watercourse Convention)enters into force.
t6 November: UN Human Rights
Council appoints Léo Heller as
2nd Special Rapporteur on the human right to water and sanitation.
t4 December: UN Secretary-General
presents advanced version Synthesis Report on Post-2015 Agenda.

t19 December: UN General Assembly adopts resolution on International Decade for Action ‘Water
for Life’ 2005-2015, and further
efforts to achieve the sustainable
development of water resources(A/RES/69/215).

2015
t30 March: High-level Interactive
Dialogue ‘The International Decade for Action: Progress achieved
and lessons learned relevant to theachievement of sustainable development’.
t9-11 June: High Level International Conference on the implementation of the International Decadefor Action “Water for Life”, 20052015 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
t13-16 July: 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
t25-27 September: United Nations
Summit to adopt the post-2015
development agenda.
t30 November - 11 December:21st Session of the Conferenceof the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change and the 11th
session of the Conference of theParties serving as the meeting of
the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol(COP21/CMP11)9

Drinking Water Supply
and Sanitation, Women´sParticipation and Local
Cooperation
Progress and lessons learned
over the United nations international decade
for action ‘Water for life’ 2005-2015

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population.

t2.4 billion people in developing
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t663 million people lack access to
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water.
t946 million people practice open
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t%BUBGSPNDPVOUSJFT SFQSFTFOUJOH GBDJMJUJFTTIPXUIBU 
38% of healthcare facilities do nothave an improved water source,

The sanitation goal has lagged
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Facts and Figures

19% do not have improved sanitation BOEEPOPUIBWFXBUFS
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11

VSCBOSVSBMEJTQBSJUJFTBOEJOFRVBMJUJFTBOEEJTDSJNJOBUJPOJOBDDFTTUPXBUFSBSFWFSZTIBSQBOEPGWFSZ
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access to water and sanitation has
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water and sanitation.
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that inequalities in targeting the
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addressed; and interventions should
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Although several countries have reQPSUFEFêPSUTUPSFEVDFJOFRVBMJUJFTCZNBLJOHTFSWJDFTNPSFBêPSEBCMF
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to reduce disparities in access to
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GPSESJOLJOHXBUFSw<>“The Decade has seen an explosive increase in water discussions – has this created action? It’s
beyond discussion! Maybe, probably, certainly. It has pulled the trigger for creating initiatives. If you
compare the Decade with the prior ten years when there was no progress. The momentum is there. 500
million children wash hands and have taught their parents, and this clearly is having a cascading effect.
In the regions as well with sanitation meetings in many places, with the campaigns, etc. Regional banks
have increased investments for water and sanitation 2x, 5x, 10x. We are better positioned than when
we started the MDGs as then we did not have a methodology. We know the Joint Monitoring Programme
has created a solid basis for monitoring progress. We have more clearly beneficial indicators for ourgoals and targets.”
Kenzo Hiroki, UNGSGAB

12“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

WE ARE NOW FINALLY FOCUSING MORE AND TALKING
MORE OPENLY ABOUT SANITATION AND OPEN DEFECATION
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solution.

© UN Photo/Marco Dormino

13

HAVING CLEAR TARGETS AND MONITORING THEM
HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN DRIVING ACTION© UN-DESA/UNW-DPAC

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to access to access to drinking water

14“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

and sanitation services and on the'JOBODJBM'MPXTHPJOHUPUIPTFTFSWJDFT.POJUPSJOHPGQSPHSFTTBHBJOTUPVUDPNFTPOESJOLJOHXBUFSBOE
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it stated that “the Decade provided
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indicating where additional support
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and reporting are still inadequate.
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BENEFITS OF IMPROVING ACCESS TO WATER AND SANITATIONARE NOW BETTER DOCUMENTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED
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HIGH LEVEL GLOBAL ADVOCACY EFFORTS HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT
MORE AWARENESS AT POLITICAL LEVEL OF THE IMPORTANCE
OF WASH INVESTMENTS, DRIVING DONOR COORDINATIONAND COMMITMENTS FOR WASH
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water issues and advocating action
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to advocate greater attention and

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“Without political commitment we cannot achieve anything.
Declarations are key, implementing them on the ground is moredifficult. In Africa this includes the Ministerial Declaration on “Water Security for All”; the “eThekwini Declaration” about sanitation.
The Sharm-el Sheikh Declaration on Water and Sanitation which
put water and sanitation high in the agenda. The advocacy role
played by the Decade has increased awareness on water andsanitation in Africa. Before the Decade very few countries in Africa
had ministries of sanitation, after the eThekwini Declaration this haschanged: Now there are several countries with ministers of sanitation, such as Senegal, Nigeria, Republic of South Africa. You cansee sanitation in the ministries now with a budget line, before you
could not see that.”
Bai Mass Tal, Executive Director of African Ministers’ Council on Water

WE KNOW ‘ONE SIZE FITS ALL’ DOESN’T WORK FOR WASH SOLUTIONS NEED TO BE ADAPTED TO LOCAL CONTEXTS
8IJMFUIFSFIBTCFFOTVCTUBOUJBMQSPHress in developing technological soluUJPOTUPTVQQPSUUIFJNQMFNFOUBUJPO
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required to ensure that such solutions
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the right social choice.
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population. Poor capacities to operate
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involves providing adequate training
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gap regarding knowledge and learning
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Conclusions from the Civil Society Session
at the UN-Water 2015 Zaragoza Conference
Implementation challenges identified included:tFinancial challenge: Current funding systems do not give due consideration to social empowerment
and capacity strengthening to address the local needs and to work within the local context.
tDecentralization: this is required when working in rural areas and under highly variable local circumstances in different cultures is a challenge. Thus tailor made approaches are needed, as well as aprocess of coaching and continuous support that allows for a lasting change.
tThe upscaling challenge: it is a package, a holistic approach including technology, skills, knowledge
and information, mind-set change, confidence, cultural sensitivity: a combination of hard and soft
tools that are often the domain of different institutions/organizations.

16“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS), now supported by UNICEF in 50 countries aroundthe world, including crucial ones in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, have already 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. UNICEF estimates that with support from governments and otherpartners, an additional 88 million people now live in communities free of open defecation.
Source: http://www.unicef.org/media/media_66390.html

UPTVTUBJOUIFTFSWJDFTBGUFSUIFJOJUJBMJOWFTUNFOUT$PVOUSJFTIBWFBMTPUIFPQQPSUVOJUZUPBEWBODFSBQJEMZCZIBSOFTTJOHOFXUFDIOPMPHJFTBOE
BWPJEJOHGPMMPXJOHUIFVOTVTUBJOBCMF
EFWFMPQNFOUQBUIXBZTPGUIFQBTU
8FIBWFTFFOIPXUFDIOPMPHJDBMMFBQGSPHHJOHIBTBMMPXFEDPVOUSJFTUP
NBLFCFUUFSDIPJDFTCFUXFFOUSBEJtional and new technologies. A preUFTUPGUFDIOPMPHJFTTPMVUJPOTDPVMEJODSFBTFUIFFêFDUJWFOFTTPGOBUJPOBM
8"4)QMBOT/BUJPOBM8"4)QMBOTBSFGSFRVFOUMZJNQMFNFOUFEXJUIPVUFWBMVBUJOHUIFFêFDUJWFOFTTPGUIF
alternative solutions on-the-ground.
1SFBTTFTTNFOUPSFYBOUFFWBMVBUJPOPGUPPMTBOETUSBUFHJFTXJMMMBSHFMZCFOFëUUIFPWFSBMMTVDDFTTPGQMBOT
BOEXJMMDPOUSJCVUFUPBMMPDBUJOH
ëOBODJBMSFTPVSDFTNPSFFêFDUJWFMZHYGIENE CAN BE ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE(AND COST-EFFECTIVE) ACTIONS AGAINST DISEASE"UUIFFOEPGUIF%FDBEFPOFPGUIFCJHHFTUDIBMMFOHFTTUJMMQFOEJOH
JTIZHJFOF)ZHJFOFBOEBDDFTTUPFEVDBUJPOBOEJOGPSNBUJPOBCPVUUIFUSBOTNJTTJPOPGCBDUFSJBUPXBUFSTPVSDFTJTBWJUBMQBSUPGUIFQSPDFTT)ZHJFOFQSPNPUJPOUIBUGPDVTFTPOLFZIPVTFIPMEQSBDUJDFT XBTIJOHIBOETXJUITPBQBGUFSEFGFDBUJPOBOE

CFGPSFIBOEMJOHGPPE BOEUIFTBGF
EJTQPTBMPGDIJMESFOTGBFDFT JTBOFGGFDUJWFXBZUPQSFWFOUEJBSSIPFB FTQFDJBMMZBNPOHZPVOHDIJMESFO XIP
TQFOENPTUPGUIFJSUJNFBUIPNF
Adequate water and sanitation as
QBSUPGBIFBMUIZTDIPPMFOWJSPONFOUTJHOJëDBOUMZJNQSPWFTBDIJMET
prospects to develop and thrive. TheQSPNPUJPOPGHPPEIZHJFOFCFIBWJPVSBUTDIPPMDBOJOJUJBUFCFIBWJPVSDIBOHFTUIBUMBTUBMJGFUJNFɨFDPNNVOJDBUJPODBNQBJHOBSPVOEHMPCBMIBOEXBTIJOHEBZBOENPSF
SFDFOUMZPONFOTUSVBMIZHJFOFJT
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CFIBWJPVSDIBOHFWE KNOW ABOUT THE NEED TO ADDRESS INEQUALITIESAND THE NEED FOR INCENTIVES AND CAPACITY BUILDING TO DO SO*OUIFXBUFSBOETBOJUBUJPOTFDUPS BTJOPUIFSTFDUPST TDBMJOHVQUP
achieve universal access to deal withJOFRVBMJUJFTJTFTTFOUJBM*ODFOUJWFTBOEDBQBDJUZCVJMEJOHBOEDBQBDJUZFOIBODFNFOUBSFDSJUJDBMGPSUIFTVD-

DFTTGVMJNQMFNFOUBUJPOBOETDBMJOH
VQPGEFWFMPQNFOUQSPHSBNNFT%FWFMPQNFOUFYQFSJFODFEFNPOstrates that the concept encapsulates
BiEJWFSTFBSSBZPGGVODUJPOBMDBQBDJUJFToGSPNQMBOOJOH PWFSTJHIU BOE

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EFWFMPQFEBOEQVUJOQMBDFw<>

17

Statements at the High Level Interactive Eventon the Water for Life Decade at UN HQ March 30“We need to consider how we multiply the effect to cover more
people, not necessarily making it bigger. In some cases as in Chile
there have been economic push factors that have facilitated upscaling: trade in high value agricultural products. Coupled with arealistic view of the problem, and a stable government.”
Jack Moss (Aquafed)“Incentives for scaling up will vary. In USA, and many othercountries, the incentives have been the significant financial savings
from water conservation.”
Daniel Bena (Pepsico)“Upscaling in itself will be an incentive. The strongest incentive
is to be acknowledged and learning at the same time from otherpartners. Investments are not going in the right direction if people
are not involved or asked. Financing has gone to waste because it
has not reached the intended beneficiaries. A proper investment tosocial capital, particularly to women and young to upscale createsthe conditions for replication.”
Alice Bouman-Dentener (GWP)WE HAVE LEARNED THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS
ON EFFECTIVE ASSET MANAGEMENT – SUSTAINABILITY OF SERVICES
8FLOPXUIBUGPDVTJOHPOFêFDUJWF
BTTFUNBOBHFNFOUUPTVTUBJOTFSWJDFTJT
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GBDU HBJOTDBOFBTJMZTMJQCBDLVOMFTTBUUFOUJPOJTHJWFOUPPQFSBUJPOBOENBJOUFOBODF'JHVSFTEJêFSGSPNPOFDPVOUSZUPBOPUIFSCVU POBWFSBHF PS
NPSFXBUFSQPJOUTBSFOPOGVODUJPOBMBUBOZHJWFOUJNFBOEBOPUIFS
BSFPOMZQBSUJBMMZGVODUJPOBM
4VTUBJOBCJMJUZPGPQFSBUJPOTSFNBJOTBTFSJPVTDIBMMFOHFCPUIGPS
UIFQSPHSFTTBMSFBEZNBEFPONFFU-

18“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

JOHUIF.%(TGPSXBUFSBOETBOJUBUJPOBOEGPSUIFOFDFTTBSZBEWBODFTUPXBSETVOJWFSTBMBDDFTTUPTBGF
ESJOLJOHXBUFSJOUIFQPTUFSB"DDPSEJOHUPUIF(-""4
3FQPSUPOFUIJSEPGDPVOUSJFTSFQPSUUIBUVSCBODJUJFTMBDLSFWFOVFUPGVOEPQFSBUJPOBOENBJOUFOBODFBOEPOMZ
PGBJEJTEJSFDUFEBUNBJOUBJOJOH
services. Making water progress last is
BSFBMDIBMMFOHFUIBUNVTUCFDPOTJEFSFEGSPNUIFPVUTFUJOEFTJHOJOHOFXXBUFSQSPKFDUTBOEQSPHSBNT“There are key steps to
success for sustainable community initiatives, the mostimportant of which is to build
projects on local evidence andknowledge and not on perceptions of needs or context.”
Corinne Wallace,
United Nations University

AND THE NEED TO INCREASE AND IMPROVE FINANCING… there is still a need toincrease budget allocations
to WASHɨFJNQMFNFOUBUJPODIBMMFOHFT
GPSBDIJFWJOHVOJWFSTBMBDDFTTUPXBUFSBOETBOJUBUJPOBSFJNNFOTF$PTUT
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and providing access and services
to scattered populations in distant
SVSBMPOFT*UBMTPJOWPMWFTJNQSPWJOHBDDFTTUPTBGFXBUFS TBOJUBUJPOBOEIZHJFOF CFZPOEIPVTFIPMETUPIFBMUIDFOUFSTBOETDIPPMT BOENBLJOHTFSWJDFTPQFSBUJPOBMMZTVTUBJOBCMF
*UXJMMSFRVJSFJOOPWBUJWFBQQSPBDIFT
that take into account the lessons
MFBSOUEVSJOHUIF%FDBEFBOEBEESFTTUIFTQFDJëDSFRVJSFNFOUTPGEFDFOUSBMJ[FETZTUFNT
“Funding is a problem. But, for a
new Decade, what is most important isthat we cannot find money for outreachand investment – hardware vs. software. We are not yet building on what
has gone before.” - $PSJOOF8BMMBDF 
6OJUFE/BUJPOT6OJWFSTJUZ"DDPSEJOHUPUIF(-""4
SFQPSUJOPGUIFDPVOUSJFTQVCMJDëOBODFJTJOTVïDJFOUUPNFFUUIFUBSHFUTGPS8"4)(FOFSBMMZUIFOBUJPOBMCVEHFUBMMPDBUJPOTUPTBOJUBUJPOBOEESJOLJOHXBUFSBSFJOTVGëDJFOUUPNFFUHPWFSONFOUUBSHFUT
to provide services to the unserved as
XFMMBTUPNBJOUBJOFYJTUJOHTFSWJDFT'SPNBOFX8PSME#BOL
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… And to improve targeting of funds"DDPSEJOHUPUIF8PSME#BOL5IFXPSMEIBTBDIJFWFEBQQSPYJNBUFMZBJODSFBTFJO8BUFS
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harder to reach and located inslow progress countries. Slow or
OFHBUJWFQSPHSFTTSFHJPOTBSF"GSJDB $$" 0DFBOJB"UIPSPVHIBOBMZTJTPGXIBUEFUFSNJOFTTMPX
progress is needed to shape the
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TUJMMEJTQSPQPSUJPOBUFMZUBSHFUFEGPSFYUFOEJOH
TFSWJDFTJOVSCBOBSFBT even in countries where
VSCBOBSFBTBSFSFMBUJWFMZ
well served and rural
BSFBTPêUSBDL"NBKPSJUZPGDPVOUSJFTJOEJDBUFUIBUSVSBMXBUFSTVQQMZQSPHSBNTBSFOPUFêFDUJWFEVFUPMBDLPGGVOEJOH*OBEEJUJPO JOWFTUNFOUEFDJTJPOTPGUFOEPOPUSFTQPOEUPOFFET BOEJTTVFTPGFRVJUZBSFPGUFO
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drinking water is targeted to the.%(SFHJPOTJOTVC4BIBSBO"GSJDB 
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… there is poor absorption
capacity, delays and funddiversion
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BCTPSCBIJHIQFSDFOUBHFPGEPOPSDBQJUBMDPNNJUNFOUTGPSTBOJUBUJPOGPSJOTUBODF

19

8IFOGVOETBSF
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1SPCMFNTPGiMFBLBHFw
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5SBDLJOH4VSWFZ 1&54 NFUIPEPMPHZUPJEFOUJGZMFBLBHFT

… results oriented financing frameworks can beeffective
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at the sector level.
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sanitation.
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sanitation.

… Cost recovery combinedwith pro-poor financing canhelp sustain services andserve the poor"UUIFFOEPGUIF%FDBEFXFSFBMJ[FUIBUFYQBOEJOHTFSWJDFTBOEFOTVSJOHJUTPQFSBUJPOBMWJBCJMJUZJOUIFMPOHSVO
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20“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015%BUBBMTPHJWFTVTBDMFBSQJDUVSF
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and choosing low-cost grassroots
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warranties designed to attract private
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provide essential services.
t#FUUFSUBSHFUFEQVCMJDTVQQPSU*UJT
JNQPSUBOUUPTIJGUQVCMJDGJOBODF
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and those living in distant rural
BSFBT5IJTNBZJODMVEFUBSHFUFEUSBOTGFSTGSPNJOUFSOBUJPOBMEPOPSTt *NQSPWJOHVTFPGEPOPSBOEQVCMJDGJOBODJOHUISPVHISFTVMUTCBTFEDPOUSBDUTBOEPVUQVUCBTFEBJE
1FSGPSNBODFCBTFEDPOUSBDUTDBO
JODSFBTFFGGFDUJWFOFTTBOESFEVDFGVUVSFGJOBODJBMCVSEFOT“I hope in the future water will be regarded as a basic service which has to beproperly priced and properly
funded. And I think a lot of
the emotion and the religion
should be taken out of waterand it be treated in a more
pragmatic way, because weneed to raise the money tokeep water flowing.”
James Winpenny, Wychwood
Economic Consulting

IMPROVING GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
0WFSUIF%FDBEFXFIBWFMFBSOFEUIBUUPNFFUUIF4VTUBJOBCMF%FWFMPQNFOU(PBM CFTJEFTHBUIFSJOHOFXëOBODJBMSFTPVSDFT XIJDIXJMM
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and not wasted.
*UTDMFBSUIBUPQQPSUVOJUJFTFYJTUGPSJODSFBTJOHBMJHONFOUXJUIDPVOUSZQSJPSJUJFTBOETUSFOHUIFOJOHOBUJPOBM8"4)TZTUFNTUISPVHIJODSFBTJOHTFDUPSCVEHFUTVQQPSU"HBJO XFNVTUFOTVSFUSBOTQBSFODZ
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'JOBODJBMQMBOOJOHDBOIFMQBOE
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*OPSEFSUPBUUSBDUNPSFëOBODFo
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and to ensure that the poorest and
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will achieve results.
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resources.

WE HAVE LEARNED WHAT DIFFERENCE THE HUMAN
RIGHT TO WATER AND SANITATION HAS MADE
0OFPGUIFNPTUTJHOJëDBOUBDIJFWFNFOUTBOENJMFTUPOFTPGUIF8BUFS%FDBEFGSPNUPXBTUIFFYQMJDJUSFDPHOJUJPOPGUIFhumanright to water and sanitation CZUIF
(FOFSBM"TTFNCMZJO*OJUT“The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation establish a legal framework, which clearly defines rights and obligations, in order to promote pro-poor and non-discriminatory
provision and to avoid retrogressions in the level of access. They
decisively have the potential of contributing to the empowermentof individuals by transforming them from passive recipients to active agents of change.”
Leo Heller, Special Rapporteur for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation

21

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clean drinking water and
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also helped all stakeholders to treat
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22“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

5IFIVNBOSJHIUTGSBNFXPSLGPSDFTVTUPRVFTUJPOXIZDFSUBJOHSPVQTPGQFPQMFBSFexcluded
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groups we will not achieve access
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incorporating targets into national
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and sanitation suggest that it is the
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SFDFJWJOHADIBSJUZ“Transparency establishes openness of access to information
without the need for direct requests; for example, through thedissemination of information via the radio, internet and official
journals. Participation must be an integral part of any policy, programme or strategy concerning water or sanitation, and concerned
individuals and groups must be made aware of participatory processes and how they function.”
Catarina De Albuquerque in ‘
Realizing the human right to water and sanitation: A handbook’WE HAVE LEARNED WHAT WOMEN HAVE GAINEDAND HOW ESSENTIAL WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IS
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and entrepreneurship.
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inclusive water governance.
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Gender in the context of UN initiatives since 2005
- The International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ (2005-2015)
calls for women’s participation and involvement in water-related
development efforts- UN-Water Task force on Gender and Water- Water and Gender Forum in Tajikistan, 2013 International Yearof Water Cooperation- Water and Gender Forum in Tajikistan 2015 lessons of the decade and way forward

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services. Viewing sanitation solu-“Having access to water is key to all other forms of empowerment for women. In rural areas, it is only when a woman has waterat home that she is able to invest some time in an economic activity.
If a woman is engaged in the daily routine of searching for waterby walking miles and miles away from home, it is practically impossible to engage in anything that brings in money for her! If she
has to search for water, she has to let other forms of empowerment
go because then they are a bit unrealistic for her to attain! This isevident in Katosi among the women groups.”
Rehema Bavuma, KWDT

24

“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

tions through a gender lens canensure that sanitation services are
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level as well.
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is still large.
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indigenous knowledge to prevent
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approach.
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to adopt institutional policies andstrategies that address gender at two
MFWFMTJOUFSOBMXPSLQMBDFQPMJDJFT 
BOETFSWJDFEFMJWFSZTUSBUFHJFTHeikeyu Gravity System in Mweteni, Tanzania
Organization: Tegemeo Women Group; Women for Water Partnership; Marie Stella Maris
Mweteni village consist of 4 sub-villages that have all faced an acute shortage of safe and cleanwater for a long time leading to the increase of water related diseases, poverty, long walking distanceand excessive time spent on fetching water. A grassroots women’s group in Mweteni, called Tegemeo
Women Group, has initiated a water project in order to improve access to water and sanitation in
Mweteni. The Mweteni water project is a larger program implementing 5 separate gravity schemes anda rainwater harvesting system. The project that is supported by Marie-Stella-Maris concerns the Heikeyu
scheme. The creation of this scheme ensures access to safe and sustainable drinking water for approximately 1900 people. Making it easier for women to fetch water stimulates local economic development
as a result. Hygiene education will be provided as well, which improves the overall community health.
The community of Mweteni isn’t part of the government water plan. Because the water situation has
become increasingly grim, the Tegemeo Women Group (TWG) took the initiative to ensure access toclean drinking water for its people. They gained the support of the whole community and its leaders aswell as district authorities and the national government.
The government sees the WfWP and TWG water & sanitation project in Mweteni as a prime example
of decentralized and participatory water management. The same district wants the project to expand tocover the entire district. To share their knowledge and experiences, both within and outside their community, the women in Tegemeo Mweteni built a water & sanitation communications centre. Here they
provide the community information and advice about sanitation and hygiene.

25

THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND LOCAL STAKEHOLDERSAS WE SCALE UP AND ASCEND THE LADDER
OF WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
There is an increasJOHSFDPHOJUJPOPGUIFJNQPSUBODFPGPSHBOJ[FE
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regions and countries local governNFOUTIBWFLFZSFTQPOTJCJMJUJFTJOUIFQSPWJTJPOPGXBUFSTVQQMZBOE
sanitation services.
*OUIFEFWFMPQJOHDPVOUSZDPOUFYUXIJMFEFDFOUSBMJ[BUJPOIBTJODSFBTFEPQQPSUVOJUJFTGPSUBJMPSJOHXBUFSNBOBHFNFOUBQQSPBDIFTUPMPDBMOFFETBOEJOUFSFTUT UIFSFRVJSFEDBQBDJUJFTPGMPDBMHPWFSONFOUTJODMVEJOHUIFëOBODJOHGPSUVSOJOHQMBOT
JOUPBDUJPOXFSFPGUFOBOEBSFTUJMM
MBHHJOHCFIJOE.PSFTVQQPSUGPS
local level actors is needed.
"XBSFUIBUDPNNVOJUZXBUFSTVQQMZJTLFZJOSVSBMBSFBTBOEUIBUCPUIdeveloping and developed countries
BSFNPSFGSFRVFOUMZBTTPDJBUFEXJUIPVUCSFBLTPGXBUFSCPSOFEJTFBTFT
8)0BOE841 8PSME#BOL IBWF
CFFOUBLJOHEJêFSFOUJOJUJBUJWFT
*OUIFDSFBUJPOPGUIF8)0
QSPNPUFE*OUFSOBUJPOBM4NBMM$PNNVOJUZ8BUFS4VQQMZ/FUXPSL NBLJOHFYQMJDJUUIBUJUXBTBOJOJUJBUJWFTVQQPSUJOHFTUBCMJTIFEiBUUIFPVUTFUPGUIF6/%FDBEFi8BUFSGPS-JGFw
 BTUIFSFXBTBOFFEUPQVUJOQMBDFBWBSJFUZPGDPOUFYUBOE
DVMUVSFTQFDJëDNFBTVSFTTVJUBCMFUPEFMJWFSTBGFXBUFSUPTNBMMPSSFNPUF
DPNNVOJUJFTXPSMEXJEFw4JODFUIFO$PNNVOJUZ8BUFS4VQQMJFT/FUXPSLNFNCFSTIBWFXPSLFEUPHFUIFSUP
EFWFMPQBEWJDFBOE&YDIBOHFFYQFSJFODFT"NPOHPUIFSJOJUJBUJWFTUIF
841QSPHSBNNFPGUIF8PSME#BOL

26“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

has reviewed and provided guidelines
CBTFEPOUIFQSJWBUFDPNNVOJUZPQFSBUPSTFYQFSJFODFJOSVSBMBSFBT5PEBZXFTFFUIBUUIFSFJTBUFOTJPOCFUXFFOFYQMPSJOHUFTUJOHBQQMZJOHNPSFEFDFOUSBMJTFEMPDBMMZBEBQUFETNBMMTDBMFTPMVUJPOTJOUIFXBUFSTFDUPSBOEIPXUIFTFTIPVMECFQSPWJEFE DPOTJEFSJOHTPDJBMDPODFSOT
and its linkages with other sectors
TVDIBTXBTUFNBOBHFNFOUPSQVCMJDIFBMUINBOBHFNFOUFUD5SVMZXPSLJOHNPEFMTPGDPMMBCPSBUJPOCFUXFFOUIFQVCMJDBOEQSJWBUFTFDUPSXIJDIZJFMEXJOXJOTJUVBUJPOTPOCPUITJEFTTUJMMOFFEUPCFCFUUFSDPNNVOJDBUFEUPPUIFSMPDBUJPOTXIFOBQQFBSJOHUPCFTVDDFTTGVM

8BUFSJTBEFMJDBUFJTTVF DPODFSOJOHWJSUVBMMZBMMTUSBOETPGMJGF 
NFBOJOHUIBUJUJTBMTPBNBUUFSPG
DPNQFUJOHVTFTBOEJOUFSFTUTɨFOFDFTTJUZGPSMPDBMXBUFSDPPQFSBtion and working with all relevant
stakeholders at local level has now
USJDLMFEEPXOJONPTUQMBDFT CVU
NBLJOHJUXPSLJTTUJMMBEJêFSFOUTUPSZɨFOFFEGPSCVJMEJOHUIFDBQBDJUZPGMPDBMHPWFSONFOUTUP
act as the convener and coordinator
PGMPDBMTUBLFIPMEFSQSPDFTTFTTUJMM
OFFETNPSFFêPSU"UUIFFOEPGUIF
%FDBEF IPXFWFS JUDBOCFTBJEUIBUMPPLJOHCBDL UIF-PDBM"HFOEB-PDBM"DUJPONPWFNFOUIBTMFEUPBDPSOVDPQJBPGOFXTFUVQTNFDIB-“With the intensification of work on water we’ve come to therealization how much more complicated things are than we thought
they were 10 years ago, but also we have been able to see howmuch more interconnected they are and so the idea of the nexus is
not just water, energy and food but it’s also within the water sector
looking at these various issues and I think that was the basis onwhich the SDGs now embrace a much bigger water picture thanthey would have 15 years ago.”
Robert Bos, International Water“It appears as if sustainable urban water management has benefited from social innovation spurred by Local Action 21 in the last
decade: more decentralised/localised approaches, more grassroots engagement, more recognition of smaller-scale solutions.
There are also promising developments that the understanding of
the strengths of an integrated approach, rooted in a good governance environment, works best. It will be up to the Decade of
implementing the water-related SDGs to proof whether these observations hold true.”
Barbara Anton, ICLEI, at the UN-Water 2015 Zaragoza Conference

The EU-funded SWITCH (Sustainable Water Management Improves Tomorrows Cities Health) research programme set out to achieve more sustainable and integrated urban water management inthe ‘City of the Future’. It brought stakeholders from a range of institutions together in multi-stakeholder
platforms (‘learning alliances’) at neighbourhood, city and in some cases national and global levels.
The stakeholders jointly discussed problems and developed and tested ideas for improved integrated
urban water management. SWITCH was carried out in 2006-2011 by a consortium of 33 partners from15 countries, coordinated by the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. This model is now being
expanded to cities in India. (Butterworth ed. 2011).

OJTNTJOMPDBMHPWFSOBODF PGUFOJOJUJBUFEGSPNCPUUPNVQɨFSFIBT
CFFOUSFNFOEPVTDSFBUJWJUZTPDJBMJOOPWBUJPOGSPNXIJDIBMTPOFX NPSFQBSUJDJQBUPSZGPSNTPGXBUFSNBOBHFNFOUDBOCFFYQFDUFEUPCFOFëU
ɨFSFBSFNBOZPVUTUBOEJOHFYBNQMFTUPEBZBUMPDBMMFWFMPGFNCBSLJOH
PODPNQSFIFOTJWFIPMJTUJDQBSUJDJQBUPSZBQQSPBDIFTUPNBOBHJOHUIFJSVSCBOXBUFSTZTUFNTBOENPSFDBOCFHBJOFECZVTJOHTNBSUUFDIOPMPHJFTOFX*$5TFUDNotes[1]. From Mr Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief WASH,
UNICEF at the High Level Conference inDushanbe, June 2015.
[2]. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation – 2014 update http://www.wssinfo.org/
fileadmin/user_upload/resources/JMP_report_2014_webEng.pdf.
[3]. Water, sanitation and hygiene in health carefacilities Status in low- and middle-income
countries and way forward http://www.
who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/wash-health-care-facilities/en/.
[4]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC4255778/.
[5]. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/glaas_report_2014/en/.
[6]. UN Water GLAAS 2014 Report http://www.
who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/glaas_report_2014/en/.
[7]. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/endopendefecation.shtml.
[8]. GLAAS 2013/2014 Country Survey.
[9]. GLAAS 2013/2014 Country Survey.

[10]. World Health Organization (2004), “Costs
and benefits of water and sanitation at
the global level”. Available at http://www.
who.int/water_sanitation_health/wsh0404summary/en/.
[11]. Aquafed at the UN-Water 2015 Zaragoza
Conference.
[12]. UNDP and AEPC (2010), “Capacity Development for Scaling Up Decentralized Energy
Access Programmes: Lessons from Nepal
on its role, costs, and financing”. Available
at http://www.undp.ro/download/capacity_dev_energy_access%20full%202010.
pdf.
[13]. Guy Hutton at the 2015 UN-Water Zaragoza
Conference.
[14]. Source: UN Special Rapporteur on the
Human Right to Safe Drinking Water andSanitation (2014).
[15]. GLAAS Country Survey 2013/2014.
[16]. The World Bank Group (2013). “Financing for Development Post-2015” available
at: https://www.worldbank.org/content/

dam/Worldbank/document/Poverty%20
documents/WB-PREM%20financing-fordevelopment-pub-10-11-13web.pdf.
[17]. http://www.unicef.org/wash/files/Accountability_in_WASH_Explaining_the_Concept.pdf.
[18]. These suggestions draw from the contributions of stakeholders at the 2015 UN-Water
annual international Zaragoza conference,
available at http://www.u.org/waterforlifedecade/waterandsustainabledevelopment2015/.
[19]. WHO Monitoring Water and Sanitation:for evidence based policy and intervention http://who.int/phe/events/wha_66/
flyer_wsh_monitoring.pdf.
[20]. Leo Heller at the HLE on the International
Decade for Action. March 30, 2015.
[21]. No Ceilings Report on Women’s Global
Participation (2015) http://noceilings.org/
report/report.pdf.

27

Integrated Water
Resources Management
and Transboundary Water
Cooperation:
Progress, Achievements, And Lessons LeArned
over the United nAtions internAtionAL decAde
for Action ‘WAter for Life’ 2005-2015
INTRODUCTIONThe Implementation of Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) and Water
Efficiency Plans are among the internationally agreed goals to insure sustainable use
and management of water resources.
Over the Decade we have seen progress in the implementation of Integrated Resources Management and in
the development of transboundary water cooperation,
including in the framework of the Watercourses Convention and the UNECE Water Convention. The Decade’s
highlight for both water cooperation and the focus on
integrated water resources issues in general was 2013. In
a resolution specifically recalling the “Water for Life” Decade, the United Nations declared 2013 to be the Inter-national Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC) - The United
Nations General Assembly noted the role water plays as
an instrument of peace, recognizing that “cooperation isessential in order to strike a balance between the different needs and priorities and share this precious resource
equitably.”In this chapter we present what progress we have seenin IWRM; how progress has been supported through theWater Decade themes; the greater recognition of the planetary limits and of interdependencies: the nexus approach.
We also look at what has changed in water cooperationand specifically in the context of the Water Conventions;
why agreements and institutionalization matter; and thelessons and tools for water cooperation.

THERE HAS BEEN PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATIONOF INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENTThe Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
approach has now been accepted internationally as theway forward for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of the world’s limited water
resources and for coping with conflicting demands.

28“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Over the Decade it has been recognized that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and
Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) dependon the input and involvement of a range of stakeholders
operating at different levels, including local water users,

The IWRM concept is based on the Dublin Principles and propagates: a) a holistic approach, taking
into account the different water uses, including adequate concern for ecosystems and the environment;b) a participatory approach, taking into account the different users and their different roles and responsibilities in ensuring water security and in managing the resource sustainably.
IWRM was defined as “a process which promotes the co-ordinated development and managementof water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare inan equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.”
Global Water Partnership, 2000

government agencies, industry, basin
authorities, and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs).[1] Stakeholder involvement ensures thatthose reliant on water resources will
be involved in water management
decisions, and that information will
be readily exchanged.
There has been important progress according to the UN-Water
Rio+20 report on implementationof WRM:[2]t4JODF PGDPVOUSJFT
embarked on reforms to enable
the environment for better water
resource management based on
the application of integrated ap-

proaches as stated in Agenda 21,
and affirmed in the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation.
t5IFSFBSFEJGGFSFODFTBDDPSEJOHUP
development of countries: overall
PGDPVOUSJFTEFWFMPQFEJOUFgrated water resource management
QMBOT BOESFQPSUBOBEWBODFEstage of implementation. However,progress appears to have slowed,
or even regressed, in low and medium Human Development Index(HDI) countries since the last
TVSWFZJO.VDISFNBJOTUP
be done to finance and implement
plans in many HDI countries.
t$PVOUSJFTUIBUIBWFBEPQUFEJOtegrated approaches report moreadvanced infrastructure development, but even more efforts areneeded to ensure appropriate levelsof coordination.
t$PVOUSJFTSFQPSUBHSBEVBMCVUQPTJtive trend in financing for water resources development and management with more diverse sources offinance, but little progress on payment for water resources services.
t$PVOUSJFTSFQPSUJNQSPWFNFOUT
to the institutional framework
together with improved policies,
laws, and systems over the past 20
years. This has led to better water
resources management practices
bringing important socio-economic benefits.

TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION HAS INCREASED OVER TIME
Cooperation on transboundary water
resources has evolved. Importantnegotiations in the 50s and 60s,
such as the agreements made on the
Mekong, Indus, and Senegal rivers,
helped gain experience on how tomake cooperation successful. Whilesome of these were bilateral agreements, institutions like the TennesseeValley Authority, the World Bank,and United Nations were called upon
to bring expertise and help settle adeal. Since then, more internationalframeworks and knowledge sharing
have developed, and negotiations
have moved more from being bilat-eral to multilateral, basin-wide. Long
term World Bank experience in theGanges (between Bangladesh, India
and Nepal), the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), and work in the Aral Sea

Basin, have shown the critical importance of water cooperation development taking into account each country’s ambitious development goals
particularly in areas such as growth,“There was an enormous push (WWF, Green Cross International, University of Dundee and many others) during the Decade to
get the Watercourses Convention into force. It was the 1st global
Convention but the challenge was the need for ratifications. We
need to highlight the level of ratifications during the Decade.”
Karin Krchnak World Wide Fund for Nature29

poverty alleviation, sustainable development,
and food, energy andwater security.
*OUIF6/&$&
Convention on theProtection and Use of
Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UNECE Water
Convention) was adopted. Five years
MBUFS JOUIF6/(FOFSBM"Tsembly adopted the Convention on
the Law of the Non-Navigational
Uses of International Watercourses.
These Conventions have developed
during the Decade, and particularlyin the Pan-European region. In 2015
we celebrated that the UNECE WaUFS$POWFOUJPOIBTCFFOJOGPSDF
years and has provided a framework
and an intergovernmental platform
for the promotion of cooperationand sustainable management ofwater resources. The Convention
was amended in 2003, opening it
for accession by any Member Stateof the United Nations and in February 2013, this convention can be
JNQMFNFOUFECFZPOE&VSPQF
non-UNECE States took part in thesixth Meeting of the Parties in Rome,/PWFNCFSThe International Convention on
the Law of the Non-Navigational Usesof International Watercourses was
BEPQUFEJOɨFBJNXBTUPDSFate an equitable and reasonable treaty
that could be universally applied; aframework convention that is flexible
to apply to different international watercourses. It established agreed uponprinciples to use for dispute resolution
and seeks to prevent harm to otherstates sharing the watercourse. It entered into force in August 2014.

The development of water cooperation in the framework of the twoconventions has facilitated the adoption by countries of better policies forthe management of water resources,
resulting in many cases in an overall
improvement of their water status. In
the pan-European region almost all
the countries have taken measures toestablish cooperation on shared waters under this common framework,
many have entered into bilateral andmultilateral agreements and established joint bodies for transboundarywater cooperation.
The Decade has seen considerable
advances in concretizing water cooperation building on the principles of
the two conventions. After 2005, theconventions and developments thatbegan before the Decade have been
nurtured and we can see positive developments also on the global level.

THE UNECE WATER CONVENTION
HAS DEVELOPED IN THE COURSE OF THE DECADEOver the Decade the parties haveincreasingly seen the UNECE
Water Convention as a framework
to improve implementation on the
ground. This has been reflected ina proliferation of projects on the

ground in specific river basins thathave developed under the convention
as well as increased opportunities
to exchange experiences. This focus
on supporting implementation has
culminated with the adoption of amechanism to support implementation, which is the implementation committee. This committee
facilitates, promotes and safeguards
implementation and compliance withthe convention. It’s very novel and“Through the Decade, there’s been more and more awareness of the complexity which affects thewater sector, and there have been several areas in which the Water Convention has really developed.
This has included the focus on implementation and the work at national level. The implementation Committee is very novel and it’s one of the most promising tools for the future.”
Attila Tanzi, UNECE“The recognition of the links between national water governance and transboundary cooperation
is something that has been there since the beginning of the Convention – if you look at the legal textof the Convention the focus on national measures is very strong and it’s been something growing
throughout the Decade.”
Francesca Bernadini, UNECE

30“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

it’s one of the most promising tools
for the future. There are other areasthat also support implementation but
through other means, such as technical support and work in specificthematic areas.
A second area of development is
the work at the national level. Parties
have recognized that transboundary cooperation relies very muchon national water management. At
the beginning of the Decade UNECE and OECD started work on
EU Water Initiative National Policy
Dialogues (NPDs); an activity at thenational level to support national water governance. NPDs were initiatedin 2006 in two countries and now
there are nine ongoing in countries
in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus andCentral Asia.
The UNECE Water Convention
has also engaged in issues emerging
during the Decade such as climatechange and the growing demands onwater driven by other sectors, likefood production, energy production,
also ecosystem preservation in thewater/food/energy/ecosystem nexus.
So the Convention more and more
became involved in analyzing andrecognizing these connections driven
by global changes such as population
growth, production and distribution patterns and climate change.
This is important for water management in general, but even more fortransboundary cooperation, where
issues of inter-state relationships add
to the complexity. Work on adaptation to climate change started under
the convention in the beginningof the Decade and now tools havebeen developed to facilitate work intransboundary basins. Similarly, themore recent work on water-foodenergy-ecosystems nexus (work began
in 2012) was initiated.
Transboundary water cooperation
extends beyond the water sector. A
good example is the focus on water and human health, which wasa dominant topic in the UNECE
Convention during the Decade. The“The main achievement [of the Water Convention] has been theimpact on the ground where the Convention provided the legal
framework for developing transboundary water cooperation. In
many cases, the Convention’s institutions facilitated concrete legal,
technical and practical assistance to establish transboundary water agreements and joint institutions. The major successes of theConvention include the advancement of the integrated approach totransboundary water management, based on the basin (catchmentarea) approach. The Convention actively promoted cooperation on
both surface and groundwaters. Among the successes, I would alsomention the Convention’s work on adaptation of water management to climate change. Although climate change is not even mentioned in its text, the Convention provides the framework for Parties
to address jointly this challenge from the policy point of view andto share their experiences in this area.”
Iulia Trombitcaia, Environmental Affairs Officer, UNECE

Protocol on Water and Health under
the Convention entered into force atthe beginning of the Decade in 2005,
and now has 26 parties. This tool has
been key in promoting the understanding that access to water andsanitation is beyond building pipes
and building systems. It is linked to
the whole water cycle. The protocol
helps to analyze the links between
access to water and sanitation, how
to manage resources, and governanceissues - from interministerial cooperation to public participation - andthe role of the private sector. The
Protocol has also been instrumental
for translating into practice the human right to water and sanitation in
the UNECE pan-European region,
because it has a very strong focus on
all the dimensions of the right - thequality, availability, accessibility,
acceptability and affordability of access to water and sanitation without
discrimination. A particular strength
has been the participatory approachto the development of the Protocol,
involving civil society as important
stakeholders. This has led to theProtocol emerging as a concrete tool
for the translation of the rights into
reality, and effective cooperation in
the implementation afterwards.

“The Protocol well reflects
what we see now in the discussion on the Sustainable Development Goals: the same pathhas been followed by negotiators moving from an MDG focused on access to water andsanitation to a much broader
SDG water goal. If you lookat the proposed water goal it
looks at all dimensions of water, in line with the Protocol.
So it’s certainly a modern way
of dealing with water issues.
And it’s something that willremain very important in the
future, including to support theimplementation of the SDGs.”
Attila Tanzi, UNECE

31

THERE HAS BEEN A GREATER RECOGNITION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO WATER THROUGH THE DECADE´S THEMESOver the Decade different themes have beenaddressed showing theneed for an integrated
approach to water management. This have ranged from scarcity to water quality and sanitation;from water cooperation between
stakeholders and between nations
to financing water and ensuring
women’s participation; from wherewater intersects with cities, energy
production, culture, food security todisaster risk reduction and adaptation
to climate change and overall sustainable development.
The following themes have beenaddressed in the course of the Decade
linked to World Water Day.
— 2005 Water for Life
— 2006 Water and Culture8BUFS4DBSDJUZ
4BOJUBUJPO5SBOTCPVOEBSZ8BUFST— 2010 Water Quality— 2011 Water for Cities— 2012 Water for Food Security— 2013 Water Cooperation— 2014 Water and Energy— 2015 Water for Sustainable Development“One of the biggest differences is that we have become increasingly aware that we have to talkwith people outside the water sector. And that water is not really managed by water people, rather
it is managed by the agriculture sector, by municipality governments. We have realized that we havebeen spending a lot of time talking to the converts and to each other, our closed circles, and realizingthat while we are talking others are using the water.”Flemming Winther Olsen, Senior Advisor, Department for Environment,
Energy and Climate. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Decade’s Initiatives:
For each theme the UNW-DPAC programme has prepared a dedicated web page updated with UN
publications, has prepared readers and information briefs on the subject, has organised since 2009 theannual UN-Water Zaragoza Conferences for engaging stakeholders and has organised the UN-Water
Best Practices Award. This has lead to the preparation of a platform of good practices and different
toolboxes and advise related to the themes.

We have seen the need to consider
water scarcity to ensure sustainable development
4JODFXIFOXBUFSTDBSDJUZ
was the theme of World Water Day
much has changed. There is now agreater recognition by global actors
and countries that water is a finite
and irreplaceable resource that isfundamental to human well-being.
It is only renewable if well managed.
The latest World Water Develop-

32“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

ment Report 2015 (on Water andSustainable Development) and
the Global Environment Outlook
recognized that if the present unsustainable trends of water use andmanagement continue then about
CJMMJPOQFPQMFXJMMCFMJWJOHJO
regions with absolute water scarcity
CZBOEBCPVUPGXPSME

population could be subject to water
stress. The private sector now regards
water risks to be the number one
threat to continued prosperity.[3]With its inextricable links to foodsecurity, economic development, andenergy production, water scarcity is
now recognized as one of the defining problems of the 21st century.

Decade’s Initiatives:
Capacity Development to Support National Drought Management Policies
Launched in 2013, the UN-Water’s Decade Programme On Capacity Development launched theinitiative on Capacity Development to Support National Drought Management Policies brings together
WMO, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), FAO, the Convention on
Biodiversity (CBD) and UNW-DPC with the aim to improve the abilities of relevant stakeholders to formulate and adopt national drought management policies. Its online project platform in the UNW-AIS canbe accessed at www.ais.unwater.org/ drought management.
Outreach initiatives
Since 2009 the UNW-DPAC programme has a dedicated web page on water scarcity updated with
UN publications and other materials regularly. The office has supported UN-DESA project on CD forDrought Management

Water-related risks and competition for water resources are perceived
by a majority of countries to haveincreased over the past 20 years. At
the end of the Decade we are moreaware than even that water can posea serious challenge to sustainable
development but when managed efficiently and equitably, water can playa key enabling role in strengthening
the resilience of social, economic andenvironmental systems in the light of
rapid and unpredictable changes.

t5PEBZ NPSFUIBOCJMMJPO
people live in river basins wheredepletion through use exceeds natural recharge, a trend that will see
two-thirds of the world’s population living in water-stressed counUSJFTCZ"SPVOENJMMJPO
people in 43 countries suffer today
from water scarcity.
t#Z CJMMJPOQFPQMFXJMM
be living in countries or regionswith absolute water scarcity, andtwo-thirds of the world’s popula-tion could be living under water
stressed conditions.
t8JUIUIFFYJTUJOHDMJNBUFDIBOHF
scenario, almost half the world’s
population will be living in areasof high water stress by 2030, inDMVEJOHCFUXFFONJMMJPOBOE
250 million people in Africa. In
addition, water scarcity in somearid and semi-arid places will disQMBDFCFUXFFONJMMJPOBOE
million people.

There is more awarenessof the importance of water quality
and the opportunities derived from its improvement
In addition to issues of water quantity there are also problems with water
quality. The 2010 World Water Day
theme helped highlight how pollution of water sources is posing major
problems for water users as well as formaintaining natural ecosystems.
Globally, the most prevalent water
quality problem is eutrophication,a result of high loads of nutrients(mainly phosphorus and nitrogen),which substantially impairs beneficial

uses of water. Major nutrient sources
include agricultural runoff, domestic
sewage (also a source of microbial
pollution), industrial effluents andatmospheric inputs from fossil fuelburning and bush fires.
During the Decade we have seen
progress on the drinking-water component of the Millennium DevelopNFOU(PBM .%( 5BSHFUDIBT
been reached. However, at the end of
the Decade we are now more aware“The water sector has
become a lot more professional over the last 10 years.
A small concrete example is
Water Quality, which is now
in most places monitored in atransparent manner with performance indicators, whichallow tracking and shows improvements.”
Dominique Gatel, Veolia

33

of the need to assess thesafety of drinking-water
beyond whether or notit comes from an improved source. It is likely
we may be overestimating both the proportionof the population withaccess to safe drinking-water at baseMJOFBOEQSPHSFTTUPXBSET5BSHFUD
because many improved sources will
not provide safe water, particularly indeveloping countries. Water quality
considerations are now becoming
a priority when assessing progress
made in access to water worldwide.

“Singapore may be water scarce, but our water programmes
have made us attractive to business, because we can guarantee ahigh quality, very reliable water supply. We can’t afford any interruption to this supply, the jobs of Singaporeans depend on it. So
now when you see companies like Rolls Royce in Singapore, ourwater supply has played a major role in this and all Singaporeans
are benefiting”
George Madhaven,Director (3PN), PUB (Singapore’s National Water Agency) on NEWater“There must be agreement not just from those in charge of maintaining the city economy but also those charged with water conservation and the environment. For example, businesses which will
impact natural resources are obligated to compensate. They must
plant trees to safeguard the watershed, or take some equivalentaction. Because of our efforts, we use less chemical pesticides inagriculture which will hopefully improve people’s health. And wehave been planting broad-leafed trees to encourage biodiversity. In
the future, we hope to collect data to support this.”
Seio Utsunomiya, International Affairs Office,Tourism, Culture & Exchange Bureau, Kumamoto City, Japan

Clean water is not only vital forindustrial processes; its provision can
provide significant opportunities toeconomies chasing lucrative foreign
investment. What is necessary here isthat the supply be of quality: consistent and predictable.

Decade’s Initiative:
Safe Useof Wastewaterin Agriculture
Launched in 2011, thisproject brings together FAO,
WHO, UNEP, the UNU Institute for Water, Environmentand Health (UNUINWEH) and
UNW-DPC, in collaboration
with the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and the International Water Management Institute(IWMI). Together, these organizations have been building
national capacities in developing countries and countries intransition for the promotion ofsafe practices where wastewater is used in agriculture. The
project’s online platform is accessible at www.ais.unwater.
org/wastewater.

We have increased our understanding of the connection between water and energy
The 2014 World Water Development
Report and the activities of the year
on the theme of World Water Day
helped to highlight how all sources ofenergy require water in the production process: the extraction of raw
materials, thermal cooling processes,
cleaning processes, cultivation of

34“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

crops for biofuels and powering
turbines. Energy is itself required
to make water resources available
for human use and consumption(including irrigation) through pumping, transportation, treatment, anddesalination. Long overlooked, more
people are becoming familiar withthe water-energy nexus as demandfor electricity grows and water supplies are more uncertain in certain
regions across the world.
The 2014 UN-Water Zaragoza
Conference and World Water Week
were two key occasions that served tohighlight the need to avoid responses

“One of the themes [at Stockholm World Water Week 2014] is energy, and the in the last 10 years
the debate about hydropower has changed totally. We’re not talking about whether hydro should happen but where it should happen, what kind of hydro and so on, and I think that’s a big step forward. It’s
been accompanied by a massive increase in the amount of funding for hydro, particularly from Chineseloans and that’s a big difference.”
James Winpenny, Wychwood Economic Consultingthat fix one problem at the expenseof worsening another. The multiple
interdependencies between waterand energy mean that coordinatedresponses can take advantage of thesynergies between water and energy.
Moving towards less water intensive
energy sources and less energy intensive water sources, saving water andenergy in any production and con-sumption process, are all alternatives
that take advantage of these synergies.
Solutions can and have been implemented by building partnerships
between water and energy actors.

And we recognize how vital water is
to food security in all countries
2012 World Water Day served to
improve awareness on how waterand food security affected all countries, in different ways. It served tohighlight how water is key to foodsecurity. Livestock needs water,
needs feed that needs water to grow.
Agriculture requires large quantities of water for irrigation and ofgood quality for various production

processes. Demographic pressures,climate change and the increased
competition for land and water are
likely to increase vulnerability tofood insecurity. The challenge ofproviding sufficient food for a global
population has never been greater.
At the same time, urbanization
has led to new consumption patterns for the majority of the world

population, making the links between production and consumption
more complex, and calling for moresophisticated measures – to deal with
diets- and also infrastructure. Global
agricultural markets become more
integrated; with expansion of futurestrade, they also become more speculative and therefore risky.[4]“There’s been an important recognition that water is important in the food supply chain, and promoting that. 90% of the water that we need as a society as individuals is in this supply chain. The way that
we consume water is detached. And we’ve realized farmers can increase productivity with better water
management. We’ve got a global system and cheap food is of the highest priority. Society’s been deluded into thinking food just happens.”
Professor JA (Tony) Allan,
Department of Geography, King’s College London“The nexus with other sectors, eg. energy and food, is increasingly addressed in policy. In the future,
I hope for great transparency and that the involvement of affected populations will be key success factors for sustainability, and stronger river basin authorities will provide improved guidance on catchment
management and water allocation.”
Jean-Benoit Charrin, Executive Director, Waterlex

35

“We are now really looking seriously at the contribution of water
to the wider picture. In the organization of the European Union we
still have an eye on water and sanitation but more and more we’relooking at the links with energy, agriculture in particular because
energy and agriculture are key to development policies.”
Andre Liebaert, Programme Manager– Water policy Water, Energy, Infrastructures, European Commission“We engage much more now with other sectors, mostly the foodand energy sectors and in that process this nexus has been very
helpful. It has helped getting these others actors to the table.”
Torkil Jonch Clausen, DHI

THERE HAS BEEN A GREATER RECOGNITION OF THE INTERDEPENDENCIES.
THE NEXUS APPROACH HAS GAINED MOMENTUM
In 2011 the German Governmentorganized the Water-Food-Energy
Nexus Conference. It was a catalyst
for recognition of the need for policy
coherence, for coordinated actions
and for implementing measures thatcan build synergies and help achieving triple benefits for water, for energy
and food. Since then the nexus ap-

proach has lead to a myriad of global,
regional, country and local initiatives.
The World Water Development
Report 2014 has highlighted thatconsidering the competition overwater is central in the difficult policy
choices that are posed by the waterfood-energy. These three pillars of
any functioning society are closelyinterlinked, and choices made in
one area will inevitably impact the
choices and hence resources available in the others. Analyzing theinterdependences and the trade-offs
involved in managing each sector,
either separately or together can help
find mutually beneficial solutions.
(WWAP, 2014).

THERE IS NOW A GREATER RECOGNITION OF THE PLANETARY LIMITS.
THERE IS A CLEARER ROLE FOR AN ECOSYSTEMS APPROACH,
AND UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Over the Decade we have improved
our understanding of linkages between ecosystems, water, and foodproduction and how important they
are to the health of all three. Water
is a key driver of several ecosystem
functions, including biomass andcrop yields, as well as various supporting and regulatory ecosystemservices. The health of ecosystems
across the globe relies on a consistent
supply of safe water.

36“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Ecosystems also play a key role
in regulating the availability ofwater and its quality. We have now
improved awareness of how ecosystem management can contribute tosustainable water.
We now know how in many
places, changes in the global water
cycle, caused largely by human pressures, are seriously affecting ecosystem health and human well-being.
The increasing prominence of waterin the global dialogue has meant anincreased awareness of how healthy
ecosystems can bring concrete benefits to the people. In the discussions
on the post 2015 agenda the watercommunity is providing evidence on
how crucial is the transition to an
economy that not only improves human well-being and lessens inequality
but also reduces environmental risks,
ecological scarcities and brings ecosystems in as solutions for water security.

“10 years ago water ecosystems were something that were added on at the end. It was really difficult to bring enough water to accommodate the local people’s needs. The ability to fish or the ability
to be able to simply farm and have enough water. Now, 10 years later after, we’re talking about Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (5) and ‘ecosystems’ is becoming one of the recognized usesof water, along with energy, food, people’s drinking. There are four uses now that people are talking
about balancing. And not just ‘I want hydropower, I need water for the city. I need water to grow food’.
‘Ecosystems’ is part of the discussion now. 10, 15 years ago it really wasn’t. It’s really good to see this.
And that was really the goal of our facility.”
Albert Duda, former Global Environmental Facility

During recent years, and especially in the context of the Rio+20
conference in 2012, the importantconcept of a ‘green economy’ entered
the global discourse. Healthy people
need a healthy planet; preserving thedelicate balance of nature while providing enough water for an increasingly thirsty human population is ofparamount importance. The planet
is a living organism that must be
sustained so we can survive. This is
our greatest challenge.
The 5th Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change Report 2014, concludes that
fresh water resources are vulnerable
and will be strongly impacted byclimate change with wide-reaching
impacts on societies and ecosystems.
Due to global warming and associated hydrological changes on accountof changing precipitation patterns
and receding glaciers, most of theworld’s water-stressed areas will
get less water and water flows will

become less predictable and more
subject to extreme weather eventsand floods.
At the end of the Decade we haveincreasing evidence on how IWRM,
supported by systematic environmental assessment, provides a frameworkfor planning and allocating water atthe basin level that helps deal withplanetary limits and includes ecosystems as “natural infrastructure” to be
managed in order to achieve water
goals. The application of an ecosystems approach has been increasingly
recognized as essential in the courseof the Decade. It necessitates thevaluation and use of natural infrastructure, supported by tools that
include, for instance, Payment for
Ecosystem Services, remediation
through sustainable dam and reservoir management, and strategic river
basin investment.[5] While formal
Environmental Impact Assessments
can quantify the effects that production and water use have on theenvironment, IWRM can make anecosystem approach operational in
the context of green growth andoptimize the benefits of integrated
natural and built infrastructure.
There are other tools that came outof this Decade to help advance thisapproach to water management. This
includes the water footprint analysis
and the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) as this is the first everglobal water stewardship standard. It
set the baseline for what is consideredgood water stewardship and can beused and bring cooperation among
governments, business and civilsociety.[6] The International Resource
Panel work, a science-policy platform
DSFBUFECZ6/&1JO TIPXTUIF
opportunities for governments andbusinesses to work together to makethe case, create and implement policies to encourage sustainable resource
management and decoupling economic growth from resource use andenvironmental impacts.

“The big change in my community is that we’re not just doing
esoteric research, how rivers flow and how groundwater’s changing and so on, what we’re trying to make the hydrological researchthat we do relevant to the needs of society, we’re asking what are
the needs of society in terms of better prediction of floods anddroughts and better prediction of how much water is available inquantity and quality for all the various ways in which water is used.
We’re looking to try to satisfy the needs to society.”
Gordon Young, International Association of Hydrological Sciences

37

“Water cooperation is challenging but it is helpful for stakeholders to come together around a common understanding of sharedwater risks. We have found this in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo where
we are working across governments, private sector, and civil society on source water protection, improving agricultural management,
and restoration.”
Karin Krchnak World Wide Fund for Nature

WE LEARNED ABOUT WHAT WORKS FOR ENABLING WATER COOPERATION
Water Cooperation as a goal of theInternational Water Decade ‘Water
for Life’ 2005-2015 is instrumental
in implementing IWRM in River BaTJOT"DDPSEJOHUPUIF8PSME#BOL <>there are some important lessons onwhat works in water cooperation. We
have seen that making cooperation
work is a long process requiring a set

38“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015of enabling conditions that need to beestablished before mutually beneficial
and enforceable agreements can bereached. A clear understanding of
how this happens is the key to foster
similar processes in the future. While
the associated economic benefits
and costs of cooperation are generally well analyzed, the perceptions ofdecision-makers regarding politicalrisks and opportunities have beenmuch less explored. According to theWorld Bank the critical change thatneeds to be promoted is the shift inpeople’s perception so that, first, opportunities must be perceived as more
important than the risks involvedin cooperation and, second, thebenefits of water cooperation, building mutual respect, understanding
and trust among countries and promoting peace, security and sustainable economic growth.
From the various initiatives wehave learned that:t"NVMUJMFWFM JODMVTJWFBQQSPBDIGPS
water cooperation works best. Water resources management issues
must be addressed at the local, national and at appropriate regional
and international levels. Involving
all stakeholders, including those ingovernment, internationalorganizations, the private sector, civilsociety and academia, has multiple benefits. It ensures informed
decision-making, makes that theneeds of all beneficiaries are taken
into consideration – including
paying adequate attention to thelivelihoods of the poor and mostvulnerable people; and it makes
the population understand andcontribute. Water management
must also be consistent with othergovernment policies and vice-versa.
All the while, social, political andeconomic decisions must be madein a way that seeks to balance andfairly distribute the allocation ofnatural resources while keeping in
mind the biophysical limits of theenvironment.
t*OOPWBUJWFBQQSPBDIFTGPSXBUFS
cooperation can help. Mobilizing
political will and commitment toaddress water issues worldwide
remains crucial. Equally importantare forward thinking and a willingness to consider innovative ways toapproach local, regional and international cooperation. Open discussion of the issues shaping our water
resources today and strong citizen
participation in decision-making(which is key to fostering good
governance and a climate of acUNEP© UNEP

perceptions of the benefits are moresignificant than the opportunity costs
of not coming to an agreement. As
the World Bank experience shows,in many countries risk reduction was
an important pre-condition before
countries would progress to negotiations and consider and even sign anagreement. For that reason the WorldBank has identified seven areas that,
depending on the context, may help
in reducing risk and facilitating a shift
from confrontation or deadlock to
productive agreements. These areas
are: knowledge and skill expansion,
institutional development, program
design, financing, facilitation, anddecision legitimacy.
The different initiatives impleNFOUFEEVSJOHUIF%FDBEF<>IBWF
helped member states to openly
discuss transboundary issues, nurturing the opportunities for cooperation in water management among
all stakeholders and improving thecomprehension of the challenges and39

“The last Decade has seen incredible advancement in specifictools such as the Hydropower Sustainability Protocol. This still isan untapped tool when it comes to cooperation in transboundarybasins but offers a lot of potential. WWF partnered with MRC and
ADB to develop the Rapid Basin-wide Hydropower Sustainability
Assessment Tool. Also, we developed with our partner The Coca
Cola Company a website to share lessons learned on cooperation—it might be helpful as the elements have broad applications.”
countability and transparency) can
stimulate cooperative action andpolitical commitment. Promoting a culture of consultation andincreasing participative capacities
will help to deliver benefits in allareas, including collaborative water
management.
t8FOFFEUPIJHIMJHIUUIFCFOFGJUT
of cooperation and develop common values, principles and rules ofconduct. At the global scale, theeffective and mutually beneficial
solutions of water resources-related
problems are important for peace,security and stability of our nations. Fortunately, our planet actu-

Karin Krchnak World Wide Fund for Nature
http://wwfcocacolapartnership.com/lessons-learned/

ally has sufficient water resources
to provide ‘water security’ for all.
Throughout history, nations havelearned how to share the benefitsof the river. The key issue here has
always been and remains to be thedevelopment of common values
and rules of conduct to develop
joint management and handle disputes peacefully.
t$PPQFSBUJPOJTFTTFOUJBMGPSFOWJronmental sustainability. It needs

to be managed within a sound,integrated socio-economic and environmental framework. Upstream
and downstream, water stakeholders will have to be involved inmanagement decisions. It is impossible to maintain the integrityof a balanced ecosystem without
an overall strategy on water resources management. We all havea shared responsibility for protecting the shared environments sur-rounding rivers and their associated watersheds.

WE HAVE LEARNED THATINSTITUTIONS AND
AGREEMENTS MATTER

Cooperation and water sharing havebeen negotiated and maintained evenas conflicts have persisted over otherissues. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand andVietnam, have been able to cooperBUFTJODFXJUIJOUIFGSBNFXPSL
of the Mekong River Commission,and they had technical exchanges
throughout the Vietnam War. Since *TSBFMBOE+PSEBOIBWFIFME
regular talks on the sharing of the
Jordan River, even while in a legal
state of war. The Indus River Commission survived two wars between
India and Pakistan. A framework for
the Nile River Basin, home to 160
million people and shared among
10 countries, was agreed in February

40“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015JOPSEFSUPëHIUQPWFSUZBOE
spur economic development in theregion by promoting equitable useof, and benefits from, common water
resources. The nine Niger River Basincountries agreed on a framework fora similar partnership. Over the Decade the importance of institutions
to effectively develop and support a
process of engagement has become
increasingly obvious.
The importance of reliablefreshwater for countries and socioeconomic uses is a powerful incentive
for cooperation and dialogue, compelling stakeholders to reconcile eventhe most divergent views. Over theInternational Year of Water Cooperation it was highlighted that there are
more than 3,600 agreements andtreaties signed over time and these
are an achievement in themselves,

but to make them effective workable
monitoring schemes, enforcement
mechanisms, and specific water
allocation provisions that address
variations in water flow and changing
needs are required.

© UN-DESA/UNW-DPAC

ɨF6OJUFE/BUJPOT$POvention on Non-Navigational Usesof International Watercourses as well
BTUIF6/&$&8BUFS$POWFOtion have provided a framework forcountries to specify their own termsof cooperation. The conventions haveestablished two key principles toguide the conduct of nations regard-

ing shared watercourses: “equitable
and reasonable use” and “the obligation not to cause significant harm”
to neighbours. However, it is up tocountries themselves to spell out andagree on what these terms mean in
their watersheds. The two conventions have been crucial as guidance
to establish, sustain and support theestablishment of institutions, joint
bodies and long-term transboundary
cooperation, providing a supportive
institutional framework worldwide.
Facilitation of higher environmental
standards and national water sector
reforms have been made possible,and have provided an invaluable
framework to support the step-by-

step approximation of legislation of the Central and Eastern European countries that acceded to the EU in the 2004
BOEJOUBLF

WE LEARNED ABOUT
PRACTICAL TOOLSTO ENHANCE WATER COOPERATION
Kicking off the International Yearof Water Cooperation (IYWC), theInternational Annual UN-Water
Zaragoza Conference ‘Water Cooperation: Making it Happen!’ took placein Zaragoza, Spain, in January 2013,
and focused on tools to make cooperation happen. As the first IYWC

event of 2013, it built upon progress
made in water cooperation with casestudies and global experiences withXBUFSUSFBUJFTPSDPOWFOUJPOT<>The Zaragoza conference concluded that while political will, legal frameworks, accountability and41

institutional structures provide a solid foundation for water cooperation, “achieving water cooperationis the result of a long-term process which requires time, patience and mutual trust”.
cooperation allows
integrated management plan that
Key elements for Decentralized
North-South partnerships to increaseis to be implemented and followed
success in water financing for development projects.
up. The WWF assisted ZAMCOM
For example, in France, the Oudin(Zambezi Watercourse Commiscooperation
Santini Law made it possible forsion) and dam operators to help
MPDBMHPWFSONFOUTUPEFWPUFPG
show the benefits of maintaining
Active and contin- their water and sanitation budget toenvironmental flows downstream.
uous involvement of a third emergency aid projects or mediumBy using studies and making theselong term development projects. This
analyses accessible, they help change
party mediator
allowed the City of Lorient´s sanitaoperations of dams to replicate flood
In the Indus Water Treaty, the Worldtion network to help train and planpatterns that restore freshwater andBank played a critical role in negotiat- HR for a Senegalese village who had
ecosystems.16 The Mekong Rivering between India and Pakistan. Theya waste water plant, but not enoughCommission and Asian Development
offered funding, support staff, andskilled staff to manage it. Similar bud- Bank have created the Rapid Basinproposals to advance cooperation.
get laws or taxes have been also placewide Hydropower Sustainability
The Vatican had a mediating rolein Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy,
Assessment Tool, based on mappingin the development of the Zambezi
and the Basque Country in Spain.
and assessments, to guide decision on
River agreements between 11 states.
which site, design, operations, andengagement is must sustainable fordeveloping hydropower.
Creation of incentives

Involvement of social
aspectsthrough shared benefit
modelsThe White Mission in the MekongCommittee found that maximum
benefit of the projects for irrigationand power developed by engineers
could only be achieved with extensive
training of the local population.

The Organization for the Development of the Senegal River was
designed to distribute economic
benefits based on how much eachcountry puts into the project. Suchbenefits also led Guinea to join
the Senegal River Charter in 2006
after only have been an observer.
Payment for environmental services (PES) schemes has helped give
farmers/land managers incentives for
efficient water management policy.
Simple mechanisms like direct contracts between buyers and sellers aremostly used in developing countries, but countries like Kenya haveinstituted green water credits to try
to incentivize best practices. Conservation measures resulting fromthis program are expected to have aten-fold return on investment.

Creative methodsof financing
In the Nile Waters Treaty, Egypt
agreed to finance water enhancement
projects in Sudan in exchange for
additional water that made available.

Water assessments/Dataanalysis
The ICPDR Tisza Group usedtheir river basin analysis to create an

42“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Scenario planning
One of the keys to success in Okavango River Basin agreements wasdeveloping scenarios to response
for changes in flows, biotic health,water quality, hydraulic, geomorphic,
ecosystems, and socio-economic
impacts. All riparian parties wereinvolved to have better understanding of how systems function within
the basin.14 Conservation International helps develop decision support
tools for the Mekong region based on
trade-offs of developing hydropowervs. maintaining fisheries.

Step by step approach
The Finnish-Russian cooperation
on transboundary waters has lasted
through the Cold War and the former Soviet Union collapse because ofstrong political commitment. This isdue to a step by step approach takenover 50 years going from establishinginstitutions to resolving issues, to developing principles, engaging stake-© Leo Saldanha

holders, making joint discharge rules,
making long term commitments, andexamining new challenges.

Private sector involvement/
partnerships

The CEO Water Mandate helped
bring a strategic framework for water
sustainability for companies. They

Notes[1]. Global Water Partnership (2000). Integrated
Water Resources Management. TAC Background Papers # 4. Available at: http://
www.gwp.org/Global/ToolBox/Publications/Background%20papers/04%20Integrated%20Water%20Resources%20Management%20(2000)%20English.pdf.
[2]. http://www.unwater.org/fileadmin/user_
upload/unwater_new/docs/UNW_status_
report_Rio2012.pdf.
[3]. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Risks_2015_Report15.pdf.

created a Water Action Hub wherepartners who share water risk could
be identified and organized information is available to help bring collective action. The Rainforest Alliance has partnered with the World
Resources Institute to give training inmanagement practices in Africa. The
Rainforest Alliance mark can be used
as certification for companies who
conduct their business sustainably,

giving consumers more transparency.

[4]. FAO http://www.fao.org/.
[5]. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/00
2257/225741E.pdf#page=153. World Water
Development Report 2014 Transboundary
Water Assessment Programme (TWAP) interim report available at http://twap-rivers.
org/.
[6]. http://www.allianceforwaterstewardship.
org/.
[7]. Reaching across the waters. Facing the Risks
of Cooperation in International Waters.
World Bank, March 2012.

[8]. UN-Water 2013 Zaragoza Conference: Water
Cooperation, Making it Happen.
[9]. For more examples, refer to the outcomes
document from the UN-Water ZaragozaInternational conference 2013, which focused on water cooperation: http://www.
zaragoza.es/contenidos/medioambiente/
onu/1027_eng_water_cooperation_in_action.pdf.

Having a functioning
Secretariat
In the Sava River Basin Commission,
among others, the Secretariat helped
build and maintain engagement and43

The role of Global
Processes and Actors
Progress, Achievements And Lessons LeArned
over the United nAtions internAtionAL decAde
for Action ‘WAter for Life’ 2005-2015
INTRODUCTIONO

ver the Decade a myriad of global entities have embarked on different activities
and their roles have evolved. They include
intergovernmental, inter-agency, civil society, NGOs, private sector, professional, research. Manyof these global actors have indeed contributed to theachievements of the goals of the Decade.
The Decade as a global process has served to promote
the water agenda both at political level and to support
implementation, creating an enabling environment for regional, national and local action. Global processes and actors, from the UN and beyond, have been able to improvemonitoring and have provided a platform for evaluating
progress and discussing and deciding on the way forward.

The aim of this chapter is to analyze what types ofactions have been more effective; who has contributedand how; to help us examine how the Water Decade – asglobal processes – did indeed provide an effective framework for promoting and supporting implementation of
the globally agreed efforts.
In this document we highlight the developments
during the Decade including the importance of WASH
monitoring and reporting, the development of common
knowledge, new paradigms and global fora, high leveladvocacy, the engagement of the private sector and the
evolving role of UN inter-agency coordination, including
the role of global communications and outreach actions
and partnerships.

WE HAVE SEEN THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER
OF GLOBAL MONITORING, REPORTING AND INFORMATION GATHERING
As main actors who made specific pledges at the beginning of the Decade, WHO and UNICEF have maintained impressive efforts to track progress on the MDG
targets related to access to basic water and sanitation services and on the financial flows to water supply and sanitation services. Monitoring of progress against outcomeson drinking water and sanitation is undertaken through44“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), which has been
consolidating data from Member States for more than
20 years. Progress on Financial Flows and other means of
implementation have been monitored through the WHO
GLAAS process. Both have been essential in monitoring
the MDG targets on water and sanitation and together
allow reliable, disaggregated data on progress.

© NewWater - PUB Singapore

Whereas the Millennium Development Goals provided a focus anddirection for the international community and to governments on thepriorities, effectively and consistently
tracking specific targets has served to
improve policies and targeting andhas pointed out the need for coherence and improved financing. It hascreated peer pressure for governments
and hence it has incentivized further
investments through detailed analysis
on enablers and barriers to progress,
indicating where additional support
is needed to make progress.
The analysis of the Joint Monitoring Programme report results andthe GLAAS Reports has allowed us
to understand where development
assistance is evolving and to whichcountries it is going versus where it
is most needed. The latest GLAAS
Report points out that only 60% of
development aid for sanitation anddrinking water is targeted to the
MDG regions in sub-Saharan Africa,
Southern Asia, and South-Eastern
Asia where 70% of the global underserved live. Even more pertinently,

the report also highlights the relatively low proportion of aid targeted
to basic services; those that are more
likely to serve the poor.
Tracking progress has helped pointout which groups need increased attention. We now know how low income
populations and rural populations
are lagging behind and that weneed to target rural and low income
groups supported by JMP collecting and analyzing information by
income group. We know that funds
are disproportionately targeted forextending services in urban areas,even in countries where urban areas
are relatively well served and rural
areas off-track.
Tracking progress has helped
point out where funding is needed:
Data suggests that funds spent on
operation and maintenance areinsufficient; a majority of countries
indicate that rural water supply programs are not effective due to lackof operational funding, whereas one
third of countries report that urban
cities lack revenue to fund operation and maintenance. In fact only

7% of aid is directed at maintaining
services. We know that focusing on
effective asset management to sustain
services can be as important as new
infrastructure.
Tracking progress has provided
ideas on how to move forward on theneed to strengthen the collection of
WASH financial information with aharmonized method of data collection and monitoring. Existing levelsof household and private investments are poorly understood, butavailable data suggest that they are
significant sources of financing that
could make major contributions to
supporting operation and maintenance of services.
Water resources management, including water-use efficiency, sustainable withdrawals, Integrated Water
Resource Management (IWRM) andwater quality, has proved, to be more
complex to monitor.
The IWRM report for Rio andthe World Water Development
Reports[1] since 2005 have served tomonitor progress made on meeting the other internationally agreed

45

targets to ‘Develop integrated water resourcesmanagement andwater efficiency plansby 2005, with support
to developing countries,
through actions at alllevels’ agreed at theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development(WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002,
through the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation (JPoI).
The global information on wateruses and resources that has beenused for the assessment is based, toan important extent, on a multiagency project, requiring just thekind of multidisciplinary approach
UN-Water was designed to help
coordinate. This has been the Federated Water Monitoring System and
Key Water Indicator Portal (KWIP)
managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The
objective of these tools is to improve
the availability and accessibility towater resources-related informationin order to facilitate policy- anddecision-making while reducing theload on member countries. Information is constantly updated here.
http://www.unwater.org/kwip.
The World Bank WAVES partnership (Wealth Accounting and theValuation of Ecosystem Services)
has been another initiative over the
Decade. It aims to ensure natu-

ral resources are mainstreamed indevelopment planning and national
economic accounts. WAVES helps
countries to adopt and implement
the central framework of the System
of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), adopted by the
UN Statistical Division, to develop
an ecosystem accounting methodology. Water is often the most advanced area incorporated into suchaccounts. The multi-lateral environment agreements (notably the Convention on Biological Diversity andRamsar Convention on Wetlands)
already require data and monitoringin many ecosystem relevant areas atnational level.
In addition to the above theUnited Nations Global Environment Monitoring System Project(GEMStat) is dedicated to providing
environmental water quality data andinformation of the highest integrity,
accessibility and interoperability.
These data are used in water assessments and capacity building initiatives around the world. GEMStat isdesigned to share surface and groundwater quality data sets collected fromthe GEMS/Water Global Network,
including more than 3,000 stations,close to four million records, andover 100 parameters.[2]Overall tracking progress andimproved monitoring of the water
related MDGs targets has proved
to be a game changer. Tracking

progress has gained momentum, it
strengthens the water agenda including where it intersects with othersectors. It has underpinned theimportance of a universal water goalin the SDG processes.
We also see now that the watercommunity is taking the SDGs much
more seriously from the start andhow the education organizations/universities are engaging in supporting
the post 2015 agenda (inequalities,
rural, sustainability, health centers).
Communities of practice have been
engaging from the start in these
efforts (regulators, small operators,
local authorities, business, media andcommunications).
Given the evidence of how usefuland influential WASH monitoringhas been in driving action, UN-Water has been working on developing
indicators and monitoring systems[3]to support their implementation.
The UN-Water inter-agency Global
Expanded Monitoring Initiative(GEMI), focusing more broadly onwater resource management andwater quality, complements andbuilds on the JMP, which has demonstrated that credible monitoring
focuses national and global policies
and resource allocations. GEMI also
complements and builds on a wide
range of the other monitoring initiatives and data centers in the watersector, such as FAO AQUASTATand UNEP’s GEMStat.[4]“Effective SDGs, targets, and their indicators will serve as a management tool to help countries
develop implementation strategies and allocate resources accordingly. They will also serve as a reportcard to measure progress towards sustainable development and to help ensure the accountability of all
stakeholders for achieving the SDGs. Indicators will be the backbone of monitoring progress towards the
SDGs at local, national, regional, and global levels. The mechanics of SDG monitoring are still being
worked, but an emerging consensus suggests that the focus of SDG monitoring will be at the national
level. Complementary monitoring will occur at regional and global levels. Moreover, each major thematic community, such as health, education, agriculture, and so forth, will mobilize technical expertisearound its key thematic issues.”
Indicators and a Monitoring Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals;
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (2015)

46“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

WE HAVE SEEN HOW THE PRIVATE SECTORACKNOWLEDGES WATER AS A SHARED PROBLEM
AND HAS FOUND A ROLE IN GLOBAL PROCESSES IN WATER
During the past Decade the topic ofwater has risen from obscurity andneglect to a key issue and priority forgrowing numbers of business organizations, across industrial sectors andgeographies. The rising importance ofwater has been reinforced in January
2015 with the release of the World
Economic Forum’s annual rankingof global risks. Water was identified
as the world’s 3rd largest risk – as it
is so vital for so many processes, yet
it is not always managed sustainablyor priced appropriately, especially for
agriculture – and the premier risk interms of impacts on communities
and economies.
The private sector increasingly
came on board as a willing partner, with many private companies

recognizing that well managed wateris good for business. Starting with
the impetus of the Water Decade theinternational business community
also made advances in the area ofwater cooperation, especially throughinitiatives such as the UN Global
Compact’s CEO Water Mandate,launched in 2007 with just fiveendorsing companies, which now
comprises more than 125 large corporations with public commitments
to water stewardship.
The CEO Water Mandate has
identified several achievements.
tStrengthening of the concept of ‘corporate water stewardship’, a holistic
approach that takes companies
beyond just water management in

direct operations, and into areas
such as the supply chain, watersheds and river basins, with anemphasis on collaboration.
tHigher transparency and disclosure.
More and more companies areshowing the willingness to commit
to action, backed up by accountability and disclosure. The UN
Global Compact and CEO Water
Mandate initiatives both require
annual progress reports by endorsers, expelling companies that fail
to communicate progress.
tInterest, respect and support for thehuman right to water and sanitation. These were declared humanrights by both the UN General
Assembly and UN Human Rights
Council in 2010. Companies are“Water, for the first time, has been identified by business as the world’s number one risk in termsof impacts on communities and economies.”
Gavin Power, CEO Water Mandate“The water issue has been recognized as a strategic issue for business and a strategic issue for the
globe. So that has significantly changed in the last 10 years.“
Joppe Cramwinckel, World Business Council Sustainable Development

47

“I’m so proud to say that PEPSICO actually is explicitly now involved in water and sanitation and wemade a public commitment back in 2009 to get 3m people access to safe water, we met that commitment three years early and we’ve now doubled it, so admittedly 6m people is small compared with thenearly 800 million on the planet [without access to safe water] but if other companies can follow ourlead that’s when you start to see the needle move.”
Dan Bena, PEPSICO“10 years ago there were lots of disputes about the privatization of water, that’s gone. The humanright to water is recognized and within the water discussion there’s much more about water resource
management and water resource capacity. 10 years ago it was still very much focused on water supply
and sanitation issues. The issues have broadened quite substantially. And the realization of the water
resource challenges has of course increased.”Anders Berntell, 2030 Water Resources Group“Over the last few years we have really tried to define a stronger role or a different role for the private
sector because the private sector of course has always played a big role in water in many ways but very
often as sub contractors only. And we are realizing that many of the private sector players are increasingly seeing the need to engage in sustainable water resource management. It’s a business case for themnow. So I think that that involvement of private sector as a partner is something that we are working onquite seriously right now.”
Flemming Winther Olsen, Senior Advisor, Department for Environment,
Energy and Climate. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark“Recognition of how the private sector can be part of this is new. Seven years ago, there was very
little – just a few people from the companies showing up, mainly to provide philanthropic support. Now
water stewardship, how companies can really do something about water issues, has really become
mainstream.“Lifeng Li, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)

beginning to see an opportunity
space in going beyond respect toactually contributing positively
to supporting human rights, on a
voluntary basis. This is an especially exciting space in relation topartnership projects. An example
is the CEO Water Mandate’s Water Action Hub, the world’s firston-line platform to match-makecompanies and other stakeholders
on projects on specific watersheds
and river basins around the world.
t6OEFSUIFProtect, Respect, Remedy
framework put forth by Special
Advisor John Ruggie and adopted

48“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

by the United Nations, there isincreased interest in exploring thepolicy and operational aspects ofrespecting the human right to waterand sanitation. This largely entails
a focus on do-no-harm and properdue diligence. CEO Water Mandate is officially launching its Guide
to Respecting the Human Right toWater and Sanitation in this line.
Businesses leaders recognize
the business imperative to improving access to water and sanitationas central to their own long term
growth. Not taking action, on theother hand, is untenable, leading topotential greater conflict over water
resources, decreased social license tooperate, and increased reputationalrisks. The business case for action on
WASH is based upon the recognition
that adequate water for employees,
communities, and society is essential
to the long term well-being of businesses. Improving access to water,
sanitation, and hygiene ensures thatbusinesses have a thriving work force
and consumer base, ensures highlevels of productivity, and overall economic wellbeing. The business sector
is taking a number of approaches toincreasing access to water and sanitation by first ensuring that they aremeeting their responsibility to respect
the human rights to water and sanitation, and in some cases are goingeven further to support the rights. In
many cases, company action is heavily reliant upon not only sole company action, but greater cooperation
across sectors, with governments,
civil society, and academia.
Major water-using companies
have undertaken a number of different tactics towards contributing
to financing for greater water andsanitation access. These have included
major pledges and working withestablished NGOs who specialize inthe implementation and delivery of
WASH services. Companies are also
engaging in co-financing projects
that provide or upgrade local water
infrastructure projects that serve not
only their own needs but those of local communities. Finally, innovatively, in India, a new Corporate Social

Responsibility Law (CSR) mandates
companies to contribute 2% of theirprofits to development initiatives,
some of which can be earmarked
directly to water and sanitation
projects. In the water services sector,
companies are looking at implementing new models of financing toenable communities to have greater
access to water, such as social funds,
special tariffs, and special pricing particular for those who cannot afford it.
In order to properly meet their
responsibilities around the human rights to water and sanitation,companies realize that they need tomake sure their own operations are
in order. This fundamentally starts
by ensuring that they provide WASH
services for their employees. Manycompanies have codes of conduct
for ensuring adequate facilities inoperations. The main challenges arise
in further expanding access beyond
operations to their supply chain, andinto local communities.

Companies who areboth water users andwater service providers are developing new
mechanisms to ensure
greater access to WASH
services. These focus ona variety of avenues from
improved water delivery
systems to the development of new products that focus on
behavior change by consumers andlocal communities. Companies arelooking not only at new innovations
and technology, but also at ways of
ensuring that these technologies are
adapted to the needs of local communities. There is an increasing awareness of the need to change people’s
understanding of the value of water
for both the present and the future.
Scaling-up solutions and ensuring thelong term sustainability of projects liesat the heart of these solutions. Companies recognize the need to work in
an integrated manner to ensure that

“The involvement of the water using private sector is dramatically different now compared with 10
years ago. Early on private sector involvement was primarily the big water utilities, now we see all the
big companies in food and beverage, energy, and manufacturing, they are all involved now.“
Anders Berntell, 2030 Water Resources Group

Changing partnerships
There has been a shift in the type of partnerships, from community investment grants to a more sophisticated analysis of the risks business faces. In 2006, The United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and the Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) joined forces to help make the promise of improved access to clean water reality. The overarching goal of the partnership is to accelerate the achievement of
the water and sanitation related MDG targets. Every Drop Matters is a model of how business sector
partnerships can work for development. UNDP and TCCC work as partners, from project design throughto implementation. The Every Drop Matters initiative has implemented more than 50 projects in some 20
countries of East Europe and CIS, Asia Pacific and Middle East, partnered with more than 30 NGOs/
CBOs. In total the project enabled 320,000 people to gain access to water and sanitation, it improved
around 204,000 people’s resilience to climate change and it educated more than 166,000 individuals
on the responsible use of water sources.
Source: http://www.zaragoza.es/contenidos/medioambiente/onu/1027_eng_water_cooperation_in_action.pdf

49

water, sanitation, andhygiene issues are tackled
together rather thansetting individual targets
for each sub-issue. They
are also looking at how
to upscale the use of thetechnologies throughpartnerships and cooperation with a wide rangeof actors to get technology from development to adoption to scale.
The governance gaps in ensuring
access to water and sanitation havecreated space for innovative ways forthe public, private, and civil society
sectors to explore how they can work
better together to ensure the required
resources and capacities for increased
access to water and sanitation. The
key will be to understand how toensure that mechanisms and frameworks that involve the private sector
are efficient, transparent, and accountable to the public. A number ofguides and documents have emerged
focused specifically on trying to understand and provide frameworks foraddressing these risks. These include
the CEO Water Mandate’s Guide to

Responsible Business Engagement in
Water Policy, a guidance document
on Guidelines for Managing Integrity
in Water Stewardship Initiatives,[5]and the OECD’s work around water
governance, focused particularly on
stakeholder engagement.
In the final stage of the Decade,business is showing interest andinvolvement in relation to the Post2015 agenda and the development of
Sustainable Development Goals. The
companies have actively promoted
the idea of dedicated targets for waterand sanitation.

Case: The WASH Pledge
Billions of people without safe drinking water and adequate sanitation is an unacceptable situation
for human, social and economic development, which violates basic requirements of human dignity andsafety and has enormous impact on people’s health, education, and capacity to lead fully productive
lives. This is incompatible with World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) vision
2050 of 9 billion people living well within the limits of the planet, nor with the human right to waterand sanitation. A first step in accelerating action from business is to obtain company commitment toensure appropriate access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all employees in all premises undercompany control. Longer term vision is to go beyond the fence to advocate for access for all employees
along the value chain and ultimately employee homes and communities where employees live. By signing this pledge companies commit to: implementing access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene at theworkplace at an appropriate level of standard for all employees in all premises under their control within
three years after signature. The WASH Pledge has associated guidance for self-evaluating operations aswell as guiding principles for the implementation of the pledge. The WASH Pledge and the CEO Water
Mandate Guidance document provide companies a framework for understanding how they might meettheir responsibility to respect the rights to water and sanitation. The WASH Pledge and related support
tools provide companies with guidance for what companies can do in terms of 4 engaging their employees, while the Mandate Guidance document gives companies a framework for how to manage for
HRWS issues both within their companies and in the communities where they operate. These documents
and cases highlight the Importance of company buy-in and developing the case for action by companies. There is a need to develop a solid baseline understanding as well as the context (family, societal)
where companies operate in order to ensure appropriate facilities and other means particularly withthose organizations with whom a company has a business relationship (such as contractors).

Case Studies:
Agbar, Aqualogy, Unilever, Lifebuoy, Pureit, and Domestos programs that focus on increasing accessto water, sanitation, and hygiene services for people. Agbar and Unilever are undertaking different routes
in technology to address the access to water and sanitation problem. The companies’ focus is not only
on innovation and products but also on how to get these innovations into the hands of consumers that enable either greater access to water (through innovative community-shared connection) or better hygiene(through the use of products).

50“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Case Studies:
The establishment of a new
Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) Law in India provides aninteresting case example of how
new government frameworks encourage increased participationfrom the private sector towards
meeting development goals. The
new CSR Law in India focuses
specifically on trying to promote
greater private sector financial
contribution to meeting sustainable development. Companies
in India will now be required
to contribute 2% of their profits
each year into social development projects, including thosearound water. This new financing
measure fills an important governance gap. Yet its implementation also provides an interesting
study into how to best utilize theexpertise of the private and the
public sectors towards serving
the greater public interest.

WE HAVE SEEN A CHANGE IN PARADIGMS AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEVELOPAND SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE ON GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND POLICY RESPONSES
Our knowledge about the global
water situation and our conceptual
paradigms has evolved drasticallyduring the Decade. This Decade
has witnessed the emergence of new
and modified paradigms. The Green
Economy/Growth and the WaterEnergy–Food nexus have become
subjects of international debate,
reinforcing cooperation across sectors
as part of an integrated approach.
The United Nations World Water
Development Reports (WWDR)
played a key role in highlighting andleading global knowledge developments, inter alia by systematicallyassessing the global water challenges,
identifying key trends and gather-ing the contributions of leading
experts on what are the variety ofpolicy responses available. Presenting
remarkably comprehensive overviewsof water and policy issues - including
independent views on issues considered controversial in some regions- these reports have led thinking in
global processes in water, become akey reference for scholars and policy
makers, and helped to set the conceptual frameworks for global action.
The United Nations World Water
Development Reports (WWDR)
have been leading in their analysis of
the changes in the status and uses ofwater resources and the likely futurescenarios as well as in highlighting

the changing conceptual paradigms
including Integrated Water Resources
Management, Risk Management,
Green Economy, Green Infrastructure, the need to move beyond thewater box, the water-energy-agriculture nexus. The WWDR has provided
evidence on the growing global watercrisis threatening the security, stability
and environmental sustainability ofmany developing nations. They havesignaled how a growing populationpressure on finite water resources,
coupled with industrialization andurbanization, globalization and trade
policies are resulting in increasing
demand for water, and in upstream
and downstream conflicts. Further

51

Morrison et al., Pacific Institute 2013,
Evolution of Key Conceptual Frameworks for Water Resource Development
and Management .[6]they have highlighted that physicalavailability of water does not guarantee a safe and affordable water supply
for all and how the resulting decline
in water quantity and quality will be
exacerbated by climate change.
As a collective UN system-wide
effort it has brought together theknowledge of UN agencies, global
stakeholders and leading professionals. It has encompassed a broad rangeof components, including the analysisof the merits of different types ofpolicies, legislation, social programmes, economic approaches andmanagement strategies through which
we need to seek water sustainability.
The first 2003 WWDR entitled
Water for People, Water for Life –provided the knowledge base for the
Water Decade, approved the same
year. As the response of the UN to

52“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

the United Nations Commission on
Sustainable Development - that in1998 called on UN agencies to combine their efforts to produce them - itconcentrates essentially on evaluating what progress has been made, or
not made, since the Rio Summit andon developing effective assessment
methodologies.
The evolution of thinking isreflected in the Decade’s key themesthat were identified earlier in the Decade and have been revised yearly by
UN-Water. These have ranged fromaccess to sanitation, to water quality
and scarcity; from water cooperation
between stakeholders and between
nations; from financing water toensuring women’s participation; from
integrated water resource management to where water intersects withcities, energy production, food security and sustainable development anddisaster risk reduction and adaptation
to climate change.
Specialized forums and conferences such as the triennial World
Water Forums and the yearly World
Water Week have provided a plat-form for participants to expose theirwork, exchange information, andanalyze possible contributions to deal
with challenges at different scales.
Researchers, administrators, policy
makers and politicians participation
has provided the necessary impetus
and has maintained the momentum
for water. The Global Water System
Project (GWSP) has supported innovation and reflection on changing
paradigms gathering major thinkers
with a multidisciplinary perspective.
The World Water Forums with over
20,000 participants as the largest international water event in the world
has been a key event in this regard.
The widely engaging Thematic,
Political, Regional, and Science &Technology Processes with participation of heads of state, parliamentarians, local governments, and otherstakeholders from most countries
have represented a unique opportunity to progress and maintain waterin the political agenda.
World Water Week in Stockholm
has grown during the Decade to be aleading annual meeting point for theglobe’s water issues with over 3,000
individuals, more than 250 conveningorganizations from more than 140
countries. It has consistently beengathering experts, practitioners, decision-makers, business innovators andyoung professionals from a range ofsectors. It has provided a platform forpresenting their work and their findings, to network and exchange ideas
fostering partnerships and alliances.
It has helped highlight new thinking
and research. Its influence in articulating the science–policy interface has
been outstanding with regional andcountry-level water weeks developing all over the world, making theorganizer SIWI a key actor in global
policy development and advice.

Some countries have clearly led
globally on specific themes and they
have followed up with projects andprogrammes. The German Government created a new movement in relation to the food-water-energy nexus
starting with the seminal 2011 World
Conference on the issue. Many others have advanced knowledge andunderstanding on WASH, IWRM,
climate change and water related
disasters through different initiatives.
Building and linking on the collective UN system-wide knowledge
generated through the World Water
Development Reports and otheragency initiatives, UN-Water has
been organizing different Capacity
Development activities and the An-

nual Zaragoza Conferences (see later), as partof its Decade efforts.
They have slowly but
surely become highly
influential in policy
and have helped developing more detailed
knowledge related to
implementation on the
Decade’s themes, helping collectexperiences from key practitioners
to be able to move from the analysisof challenges and policies to action.
They have helped documenting andsocializing best practices and havefacilitated technology and knowledgetransfer and outreach programs tovaried audiences.

“I think the Water Decade made a significant change in the public debate environment…if you see
when the discussion started in Mar del Plata [1977] continued in the Dublin Principles [1992], followed
up in the Bonn Freshwater Conference in 2000, then finally with the Nexus Conference that accompanied this Water Decade. The Water Decade has been able to deliver and create more understanding not
only about the human dimension of water, also about the political dimension of the water.”Fritz Holzwarth, Germany’s former Water and Marine Director

HIGH LEVEL ADVOCACY DURING THE DECADE HAS PROVED TO BE
SUCCESSFUL AT CREATING POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT AND AT MAINTAINING
THE MOMENTUM FOR POLITICAL ACTION AT GLOBAL LEVEL –MOVING TO COMMITMENTS AND THEIR FOLLOW UP ON WASH
Over the Decade high level politicaladvocacy has played an importantrole in maintaining the attention onwater issues and advocating action onwater with political leaders – one of
the main objectives of the Decade. A
key actor in this regard has been the
UNSG’s Advisory Board on Waterand Sanitation (UNSGAB) which
was established in March 2004 by

United Nations Secretary General,
Kofi Annan as an independent body,in order to give him advice as wellas to galvanize action on water andsanitation issues. The advisory board
is composed by a wide range ofdignitaries, technical experts, andindividuals with proven experienceat providing inspiration, moving themachinery of governments, and ad-

vocating with the media, the private
sector and civil society.
Since 2004 and over the Decade UNSGAB members haveconsistently and tirelessly provided
input in global dialogue processes;
supported raising global awarenessthrough mass-media; influenced
global, regional, national institutions
at highest level; and taken actions to-53

wards MDGs and Water
related Disasters. UNSGAB has been instrumental in de-tabooing
the issue of sanitationand in particular of open
defecation, throughconstant advocacy andthrough initiatives suchas the InternationalYear of Sanitation and the Sanitation
Drive to 2015, to the point that theissue of open defecation ended up
being named in a UN GA Resolution. At regional level, UNSGAB
has catalyzed the organization of theAfrican Union Summit on Water in
Sharm El-Sheik, 2008. UNSGAB
also strongly supported the emerging movement for regional sanitation
conferences. The Board played an
important role in conceptualizing
AfricaSan as stipulated in the 2008
e-Thekwini Declaration. It has
partnered closely with AMCOW
in all its AfricaSan conferences todate. UNSGAB initiated, together
with the then president of the AsiaPacificWater Forum, the First Pan
Asian Meeting in Beppu 2007, where
sanitation problems were specifically
articulated, and followed up in subsequent regional meetings. The sameprocesses occurred in south Asia with
Sacosan events and in Latin America
with LatinoSan conferences. UNSGAB has also promoted the Water
Operators Partnerships (WOPs)
hosted by UN Habitat.

UNSGAB´s early calls for a
dedicated water goal in the post2015 development agenda with threeobjectives on universal access to safe
drinking water and sanitation, improved wastewater management andpollution control, and better integrated water resources management,
have proved to be highly influential
on the documents being negotiated.
As an independent broker, UNSGAB
has been able to get parties talk andaddress together major issues, andagree on the most pressing priorities for the water sector. UNSGAB’s
journey, from its inception in 2004,
has been in service of the global
cause of sanitation. Bringing it into
the mainstream, garnering attention
from the public and putting pressure
on leaders – both by exposing thehuman tragedy of the problem andby demonstrating the clear benefits
water and sanitation provision canbring to societies. Technologies
UNSGAB has championed include
Integrated Water Resources Management and the nexus approach. The
group has also used its influence tobring global scrutiny to the issue ofpollution.
Since 2009 the Sanitation andWater for All (SWA) partnership has
also been working to advocate greaterattention and resources for WASH
from high level decision makers. Asa multi-stakeholder partnership ofover 95 developing country governments, bilateral donors, civil society

organizations and other multilateral
partners has been working both at
the national and global levels in orderto catalyze high level political action,
improve mutual accountability anduse scarce resources more effectively.
SWA has been recognized in UN
resolutions and has successfully
convened three high level meetings
attended by finance, development
cooperation and sector ministers.
Partners work towards a common
vision of universal access to safe
water and adequate sanitation. At the
global level, SWA has encouraged a
dialogue amongst decision-makers,
especially governments, to prioritize
water and sanitation using the main
global meetings to promote theirviews, such as those of the General
Assembly, the G8, G20, and World
Economic Forum. A key instrument
has been the High-Level Commitments Dialogue (HLCD) wheredeveloping countries and donors
develop context-specific commitments focused on achieving resultson the ground and the biennial SWA
High-Level Meeting (HLM) which ishosted at the World Bank in Washington DC with ministers responsible for finance, water and sanitationfrom developing countries, ministersof development cooperation fromdonor countries, and high-level representatives from development banks
and leading sanitation and water
agencies, including from civil society.
Over 300 commitments to improv-“Without political commitment we cannot achieve anything. Declarations are key, implementing themon the ground is more difficult. In Africa this includes the Ministerial Declaration on “Water Security forAll”; the “eThekwini Declaration” about sanitation. The Sharm-el Sheikh Declaration on Water and Sanitation which put water and sanitation high in the agenda. The advocacy role played by the Decade has
increased awareness on water and sanitation in Africa. Before the Decade very few countries in Africa
had ministries of sanitation, after the eThekwini Declaration this has changed: Now there are several
countries with ministers of sanitation, such as Senegal, Nigeria, Republic of South Africa. You can see
sanitation in the ministries now with a budget line, before you could not see that.“
Bai Mass Tal, Executive Director of African Ministers’ Council on Water

54“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

ing WASH services, ranging from:enhancing political commitment;
improving evidence based decision
making; and strengthening national
planning processes, were made by the
43 developing countries participating in the 2014 HLM. These commitments will be monitored by the
SWA Secretariat hosted by UNICEF.
At the national level, SWA has beenpromoting country–led, coordinatedmulti-stakeholder efforts to strengthen national WASH sector planning,budgeting, investments and accountability frameworks.
Advocacy for a dedicated goalon water has been supported by all
global actors. Finally, in July 2014,

the members of the UNGA’s OpenWorking Group for Sustainable Development Goals agreed to proposea stand-alone water goal (number
6), “Ensure the availability andsustainable management of waterand sanitation for all.” This reflectsthat water and sanitation is a key
priority for member states. UN andstakeholders, experts and the watercommunity at large have contributed, engaging with politicians, policy
makers, governments.
Other high level advocacy on specific issues such as climate change (theClimate Change coalition) has been
led by non-UN organizations such as
the Stakeholder Forum and SIWI.

WE HAVE SEEN THE CREATION OF A DEDICATED POLITICAL PROCESS FOR WATER
AND IMPROVED INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION ON WATER ISSUESIntergovernmental coordination onwater issues, in the context of theGeneral Assembly, can be seen asa main result of the Decade. The
General Assembly Group of Friendsof Water (FoW) was establishedby the initiative of the UN Permanent Mission of Tajikistan in 2010,

initially as a platform for the implementation of the United Nations
General Assembly resolution 64/198“Midterm comprehensive review of
the implementation of the International Decade for Action, ‘Water forLife’, 2005–2015”. Later the Group
became an informal voluntary as-sociation of likeminded countries inpromotion of the UN water agenda.
High level inter-governmental
coordination on water in the GA
and especially in the context of theDecade process has continued torely heavily on the leadership of the
Republic of Tajikistan. Through the

Recognition of the central role of water:“At the end of the Decade the global community has now recognized that ensuring the availability andsustainable management of water and sanitation is key in our efforts to achieve sustainable development.
The impact of water on human health as well as economic wellbeing is better understood than a decadeago, including water’s critical importance for households, industries, agriculture, cities, energy production
and transportation.
We also learnt how the water cycle underpins the earth’s ecosystems and stability for the effects ofclimate change. The Water for Life Voices exhibit affirms water for life, water as a human right, water for
development and for security.
The SDG on Water underpins progress in many areas and can drive advances on sustainable water
management. Water must be one of the highest priorities for development, life, dignity and maintaining
peace and security. Sanitation is a matter of death or life to many people.”
Jan Eliasson, DSG of the UN at the March 30
HLE on the International Water Decade in UNHQ in NY

55

Decade High Level
meetings convened by
the Government of Tajikistan with the supportof the Friends of Water
Group of the General Assembly and many
G77 countries havebecome a main dedicated water platform forstrengthening inter-governmental
coordination, supporting stock taking and maintaining the momentum
as well as providing impulse to thewater agenda on the Decade themes,
lead by and considering the prioritiesof the LDCs and SIDS.
The specific political process of
the Decade has had as a result thefollowing resolutions:t23 December 2003: Proclamationof 2005-2015 the International
Decade for Action “Water forLife” (UN General Assembly
Resolution of December 23, 2003,
58/217, 58th session).
t21 December 2009: Resolution calling for a Midterm comprehensive
review of the implementation of
the International Decade for Action ‘Water for life’ 2005-2015 (A/RES/64/198). This UNGA decision announced the meeting in Tajikistan and requested informationon the progress of the Decade.
t20 December 2010: the United Nations General Assembly adopted
resolution 65/154 by which it
proclaimed 2013 the InternationalYear of Water Cooperation in thecontext of the International ´Water for Life´ 2005-2015 Decade.
t11 February 2011: ‘Sustainable
sanitation: the five-year drive to2015’. The resolution makes reference to the Decade.
t19 December 2014: UN General
Assembly adopts resolution on
International Decade for Action‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015, andfurther efforts to achieve the sustainable development of water
resources (A/RES/69/215).

56“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

The specific political process onwater in relation to the ´Water for
Life´ 2005-2015 Decade include thefollowing High Level Events:t22 March 2010: High-Level Interactive Dialogue on the implementation of the International
Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’
2005-2015. UN Headquarters,
New York. Four documents were
presented:— Water, peace and security:transboundary water cooperation (A/64/692 and A/64/692/
Corr.1).
— Organization of the midterm
comprehensive review of theInternational Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015(A/64/693).
— Water, climate change and disasters (A/64/695).
— Water and the internationally agreed development goals(A/64/694).
t8-9 June 2010: High-level International Conference on the Midterm
Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the International
Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’
2005-2015. Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The Dushanbe Declaration on Water (A/65/88) is an ‘non-negotiatedtext’ listing a number of focal areas
for the remainder of the Decade.
t19-20th October 2011: Preparatory Conference “Towards the
UN Conference on Sustainable
Development (RIO +20): Water
Cooperation Issues” Dushanbe,
Tajikistan.
t20-21 August 2013: High Level International Conference on Water

Cooperation (including a Gender
Forum) in Dushanbe. Tajikistan.
The Dushanbe Declaration resulting from the event is a ‘nonnegotiated text’ listing a numberof initiatives.
t11 March 2014: Special Event at
UN HQ “Taking Stock of theInternational Year of Water Cooperation and Advancing the Global
Water Agenda Post-2015”.
t30 March 2015: High-level Interactive Dialogue ‘The International Decade for Action: Progressachieved and lessons learned
relevant to the achievement of sustainable development’.
t9-11 June 2015: High Level International Conference on the implementation of the International
Decade for Action “Water forLife”, 2005-2015 in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan.
In 2012 the Friends of Water
Group organized five thematic discussions in the Rio+20 Conference withthe goal of bringing added value tothe sustainable development discussions through pragmatic and resultoriented approaches. Since then theGroup has been influential in the post2015 processes and has organizeddifferent events in the context of theGeneral Assembly. 39 UN Member States are the members of theGroup of Friends of Water: Australia,
Argentina, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic ofKorea, Laos, Mongolia, Netherlands,
Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, South Africa,
Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand,

“One of the biggest differences that we have been we have been increasingly aware that we haveto talk with those other than water people, and that water is not really managed by water people but ismanaged by the agriculture sector by municipality governments, we have realized that we have been
spending a lot of time talking to the converts and to each other, our closed circles and realizing thatwhile we are talking others are using the water.“Flemming Winther Olsen, Senior Advisor, Department for Environment,
Energy and Climate. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine,
United States of America, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan, Yemen.
Some key countries have provided leadership in this context. In
2012 the Steering Committee of theGroup of Friends of Water (FoW)
was established with the participation of Finland, Tajikistan, Thailandand Hungary. The countries in the
FoW group and especially those in
the Steering Committee have actively
taken different initiatives to support the water agenda. The support
for a Global Water Goal emerging
from Rio+20 has been reflected on
the proposals of the Open Working Group being negotiated and on
recent work on indicators.
The need to improve coordinationand continue strengthening global
action is reflected in the proposalsof the President of the Tajikistan for
a new post 2015 Water Decade andthe proposals and the recommendation of the 2013 Budapest Water

Summit for a UN intergovernmental
panel on water and sanitation. A
proposal also made by the Presidentof Mexico and considered favorably
by the Ministerial Declaration of
the 7th World Water Forum, held in
Korea in 2015. Mexico has also taken
a leadership role in the context of thededicated water intergovernmental
processes of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme
dedicated to Science and Educationin Water Management. The IHP
has the longer standing intergovernmental process specifically on waterin the context of the UN. During
the International Decade for Action¨Water for Life¨ 2005-2015, after
long discussions among UNESCOIHP member states, it was identified
that the major challenge to face wasto address water security and thatshort and long term plans should be
implemented for it.
Governments have also been actively engaging in the context of the

preparatory processes of the triennial World Water Forums, organizedby the World Water Council withthe host countries (Turkey, Mexico,
France and Korea). The political importance of the Forums can be evidenced by the engagement of governments, Parliamentarians and Local
Authorities in its political process. In
the 7th World Water Forum of Korea
in 2015 9 heads of State, 80 government ministers and 100 official national governments delegations participated. They formalized a roadmap
and a formal commitment has beensigned to ensure all stakeholders takeappropriate action. The Forums areprogressing in linking their outcomeswith the formal inter-governmental
processes in the context of the General Assembly. In Korea it was agreed
that the pledges made during the 7thForum will be carried to New York as
a major contribution to the adoptionof a Sustainable Development Goalon water.

WE HAVE SEEN A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEED FOR STAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORTING PARTNERSHIPS FOR A BETTER FUTURE
A key aspect of the Decade has been
increased awareness of the interconnectedness of water issues. There has
been a growing recognition that if
we wish to manage water resources
effectively then we must approach
this together in an integrated man-ner. Organizations such as the Global
Water Partnership have been providing tirelessly support for a worldwide
movement towards Integrated Water
Resources Management, improved
water governance and to meaningful
stakeholder participation.

Increasingly, the private sector,
energy sector, food production andothers have also been brought into
the discussion to further cooperation
between water and non water stakeholders. This has seen some unexpected results with striking examples

57

such as that of the Russia and Finland transboundary cooperation
where energy companies
and the private sector
from the two countries
were able to come toagreements.
In the area of civilsociety engagement for
instance, the Women for Water Partnership has emerged as an effective
platform and support mechanism for
women’s empowerment and participation in water issues that concern
them, and the World Youth Parliament on Water increasingly raises
the voice of young people. Much
more remains to be done however, inparticular involving the engagementof women, youth and indigenous
peoples including at national levels.
We need the contributions of all the
stakeholders. There is no doubt thatno single set of actors holds the key
to effectively addressing the challenge of effective management ofwater resources. Governments, bothnational and local have a key role.
But the private sector and the paletteof civil society actors have their own
role to play. Working together is not

optional: it is essential if we are toachieve our vision of a water secureworld. This vision requires fundamental changes in values, beliefs,
perceptions and political positions
among all stakeholders.
GWP has been an active promoter of sustainable and integrated
Water Resource Management at
global level while at the same time,
providing a platform for multistakeholder partnerships at regionaland national levels. Founded as amultistakeholder network in 1996
to foster integrated water resourcesmanagement (IWRM), it developed
into an intergovernmental organization (GWPO) in 2002 that supports the work of the GWP regionaland country water partnerships
and facilitates water cooperation.
2004 marked the redefinition of the
GWP strategy towards facilitating
IWRM. By 2006 the Number ofCountry Water Partnerships surpassed 50 and the number of formal
Partner organizations exceeded
1,000. At the close of the Water forLife Decade, there are more than
3,000 partner organizations in 172
countries. The network includes 85
Country Water Partnerships and 13

Regional Water Partnerships. GWP
has the convening power to bring
together diverse stakeholders who
can contribute to the social andpolitical change processes that help
bring the vision of a water secureworld closer to reality. GWP supports countries to realize its visionby helping them to advance theirgovernance and management ofwater resources for sustainable andequitable development. Instead oftaking the traditional development
approach in which projects areoften not connected, GWP works
with key stakeholders to design
strategic approaches for improving water management. This builds
local capacity in the long term.
GWP does not operate in isolation;indeed its networking approachprovides a mechanism for coordinated action and adds value to thework of many other key development partners. A neutral platform
for multi-stakeholder dialogue at
global, national and local levels thatconnects water resources planningand operations at different scales– transboundary, regional, basin,national and local – for coherent
and sustainable action.

“In the last 10 years it isamazing to me how manydifferent partners are starting
to collaborate now. When I
first started this years ago, theidea that the private sector
could engage with the United
Nations was taboo, but more
and more the private sector isbeing invited to different roundtables by the UN. It’s not thatany one actor holds the solution but together is where thesolutions will arise.““We have realized that water is not just for water people to deal
with. We cannot do this alone. So I think in the last 10 years, wehave been a lot better at actually going out of the box, as we said
we would. We engage much more now with other sectors, mostly
the food and energy sectors and in that process this nexus has beenvery helpful. It has helped getting these others actors to the table.
This is a very important positive development, I think, within the last
10 years. Another development that I think is really notable is thata lot of the countries in the south were depending on development
assistance, and we now see a totally different world, a lot more self
reliant and a much stronger role of the private sector. Infrastructurein Asia and Africa is built by the private sector, not by the governments anymore.“

Dan Bena, PEPSICOTorkil Jonch Clausen, DHI

58“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

WE HAVE SEEN HOW THE DECADE HAS HELPEDTHE IMPROVEMENT OF INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION WITHIN THE UN
AND WITH GLOBAL PARTNERS: WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT?
UN-Water was set up by the internal
United Nations High Level Committee on Programmes in 2003,
the same year as Members States
approved the General Assembly
Resolution on the 2005-2015 Water
Decade. UN-Water was tasked by theUnited Nations General Assembly tocoordinate the Decade.
In fact one of the main achievements and results of the Decade has
been the development of UN-Water
itself. Recognizing the cross-cutting
nature of water, UN-Water, as theplatform for internal coordination of the UN entities, has grown,
developed and strengthened interagency coordination in order tomaximize system-wide coordinatedaction and coherence on all aspectsof freshwater. Two Decade programmes were created which started
operations in 2007 and UN-Water
stirred their actions especially tosupport and strengthen UN-Water
as a mechanism, on issues of capacity development (UNW-DPC) and
Advocacy and Communications(UNW-DPAC).
Both Decade programmes havebeen tirelessly supporting UN-Waterin the development and implementation of UN-Water’s work programme
for promoting coherence in, andcoordination of, UN system actions
aimed at the implementation of theagenda defined by the Millennium
Declaration and the World Summit
on Sustainable Development as it
relates to its scope of work. Throughthe Decade programmes support to
UN-Water’s designated agencies on
different themes, the system has beenable to support the United Nations
31 entities with water programmes toact as ‘One UN’.
Through the work of the Task
Forces and Thematic Priority Areas
UN-Water has mainstreamed the
Decade in its activities. Beyond policy
coordination the two UN-Water
Decade Programmes have facilitatedoverall UN-Water’s development
and implementation of clear, practical and specific system wide activities, many of them envisaged in the
Decade’s Secretary General 2005 Planof Action, on capacity development,
knowledge management, outreachand communication and has sup-The UN Resolution assigned responsibilities forthe decade implementation
to both, UN-Water and theMember States. As per the
SG Decade Plan: UN-Water
is in charge of coordinating
activities of the United Nations for implementing the
Decade, including with nonUnited Nations partners.

“The big thing has been the growth and development of UN
water. And if you go back another 10 years, back to the Dublin
conference and the first Rio summit, the precursor of UN water
was really not very strong and because there was a sort of void
if you like, a weakness in the UN system in the 1990s, that led tothe creation of the World Water Council and the Global Water
Partnership, so this is getting a much longer perspective. It has
meant that everybody in the UN system and a whole lot of significant partners are working much more effectively together and thatis really noticeable. It’s led to the advocacy for water issues being
much stronger and UN water is playing a very very significant
role now in the water debates.“(United Nations, 2005).

Gordon Young, International Association of Hydrological Sciences“I think it’s also very good that the UN agencies are working together more closely than they
were. Partly because of things like UN Water but also because of initiatives taken by these agencies. That’s what I think is most exciting.”
Dr Graham Alabaster, Senior Technical Officer, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health (WSH),
WHO Department of Public Health and Environment

59

ported the process of
preparation of the WWDRs and other strategic
processes. In addition
the programmes have
prepared and organize
different UN-Water
platforms including:the Decade Web page
(providing an update on
development on news and events andon updates on the Decade themes);
the UN-Water and Sanitation Documentation Center; the UNWAIS system (including the results of mapping
the existing projects and programmeson the Decade´s themes: 182 projects to do with transboundary water
issues, 161 involving water quality
issues and 100 dealing with climatechange); the Best Practices Platform,
among others.
Over the Decade – and especiallysince 2012 when a head of agency
became the UN-Water Chair – UNWater has in fact seen an evolution
from a mainly internal coordination
mechanisms to becoming much more
influential in supporting Member
States on global policy processes anddebates by a) providing the global
evidence base for decision-making– included in its assessment andmonitoring reports on WASH andWRM; b) providing strategic advice
and transmitting the voice and needsof a wide range of stakeholders, as it
has grown to have 34 partners with a
global reach; and c) jointly preparinga system of indicators for a monitoringmechanisms for the new post 2015 water related targets – the GEMI project.
Strategic advice has been produced both through UN-Water’s
contribution to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
and Rio +20 and to the processes todefine the post 2015 development
agenda. Three key products in thisregard have been the UN-Water
2013 Thematic Consultation on
Water, the 2014 UN-Water advice“A Post-2015 Global Goal for Water –Synthesis of key findings and recommendations from UN-Water” that
fed into the work of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), and the2015 “Draft compilation of means of
implementation aspects of water andsanitation” for the 2015 GA 21-24
April meeting on means of implementation and global partnershipfor sustainable development.
UN-Water´s evolution over the
Decade has included articulating
the contributions of multiple global
stakeholders to the formal intergovernmental processes and improving global stakeholder engagement
in UN-Water activities to move toaction – the mark of the Decade.
UN-Water has now 37 global partners ranging from Global NGOs toprofessional and civil society groups,
research and advisory organizations
with global range and outlook. They
are participating at different degrees

in the different activities and especially in Task Forces and Thematic
Priority Areas and importantly in theworking groups preparing advice tostrategic processes above and otherkey outreach activities such as the
UN-Water Zaragoza Conferences andCapacity Development activities.
Moving beyond policies requires
analysis of implementation challenges
and responses. Since 2011 and as
part of the Decade efforts of supporting moving to action, the UN-Water
Annual Zaragoza Conferences,organized by UNW-DPAC, havegathered UN agencies, reaching out
to global stakeholders to discuss andlearn with and from practitioners, todebate, share and analyze action oriented experiences. The Focus on effective stakeholder participation, thetools for water cooperation, for waterin the Green Economy, on partnerships on water and energy and on
tools for the implementation of theSDGs has led to a variety of products
supporting action on specific Decade
themes at country and regional level
including, tool boxes, guidance,
information briefs and a platform of
good practices.
In addition to this, over the
Decade, UN-Water has also playeda central role in raising public awareness each year through its central rolein different Campaigns including
the communication actions in thecontext of the International Water
Decade. Of particular importance“In the course of the Water for Life Decade the major themes of integrated water resources management have been addressed in a dedicated UN-Water Day speeding over the Year. The Zaragoza Annual
International Water Conference, themed with the year’s World Water Day, is an important opportunity
for key actors to meet and jointly address the challenges the water theme presents. Through the Zaragoza Water Conference and other activities, UNW-DPAC has over the years effectively joined all the
major stakeholders to address water related issues in a holistic way, forging partnerships at different levels, in which civil society, including the Women’s Major Group, has been included as an equal partner.“

Alice Bouman-Dentener, founder, Women for Water Partnership

60“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

“UN-Water has pushed
the water challenge higher
up in the global agenda. It
has mobilized all partners
to break the silence on open
defecation, World Toilet Day
November 19, an initiative of
the government of Singapore,has drawn up attention on thisurgent issue.“
Jan Eliasson
Decade HLE Interactive Dialogue,
March 30, 2015

has been the following: World Water
Day, the Decade’s logo and Water forLife Voices, the sanitation drive to2015, and since 2013, this has beenfurther supported by World Toilet
Day. UN-Water’s Decade Programme
on Advocacy and Communications
has helped UN-Water to successfully
implement these actions by supporting lead agencies or by leading theimplementation of these campaigns.

WE HAVE SEEN THE IMPORTANCE
OF GLOBAL AWARENESS RAISING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Global awareness raising and communications have been recognized as
key over the Water Decade. World
Water Day has proved an excellent

tool for mobilizing public awarenesson specific issues, as well as bringing
experts together to search for consensus and solutions to the problems

the Day poses. The Decade has seen
a proliferation of global and local
campaigns with different objectives
and a development of communica-

61

tion tools as we havenever seen before.
A precursor has
been the Global WASH
Campaign which waslaunched in 2001 as a
response to the failure ofworld leaders to recognize sanitation as a target
at the UN Millennium
Summit in 2000, where the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) wereadopted. The campaign’s primary aim
was to mobilize support for bringing
sanitation and hygiene to the global
agenda. At the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002, sanitation was then added to the Millennium Development Goals, a significant
step towards this goal. http://www.
wsscc.org/wash-advocacy/campaignsevents/global-wash-campaign .
A lot has changed in the way wecommunicate, the cellphone is themost quickly adopted technology inthe history of the world. It has saved
enormous amounts of time in rapid
communications during times ofdisaster, or when information needs
to be disseminated quickly. It’s madecommunications more flexible aspeople can be contacted anywhere– again, vital during disasters. The
rise of social media has also had an
impact on communications and onother specific areas such as disaster

Global Campaigns of the decade
The Water for Life (logo) Campaign. The UN Department of Public Information engaged in coordinating the creation and use of the Decade’s logo, the preparation of an advocacy guide – that has been
updated according to the World Water Day Themes and other communication initiatives. More than
26 international organizations and 100 national initiatives have joined the Water for Life Decade logo
Campaign. It has been embedded within or has coordinated other campaigns below. It ended with a
Water for Life Voices Campaign and Exhibit in NY.
World Water Day: World Water Days has served as the annual awareness raising focal point during
the decade. Since 1994, each World Water Day has featured a thematic focus. Observed on 22 Marchsince 1993 it has increased its impact and attention over the decade. States were invited to devote theDay, as appropriate in the national context, to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness through the publication and diffusion of documentaries and the organization of conferences, roundtables, seminars and expositions related to the conservation and development of water resources andthe implementation of the recommendations of Agenda 21. This has served as an annual reminder todraw the world’s attention and focus the energies of supporting parties to raise awareness of a key issue
in water. Viewed together over a longer period, these themes also highlight the myriad ways in which
predictable and safe provision of water impacts the planet.
World Toilet Day: WTD was launched in 2001 to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis. It
takes place each year on 19 November.
Five-year Sanitation Drive: The Drive to 2015 grew out of an initiative within the United Nations aspart of the water decade. The Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation proposed
the idea and called on others working in a range of sectors to join the effort. UN-Water, the associationof all UN bodies working on water and sanitation issues, is coordinating the work. A number of civilsociety groups around the globe have pledged their support to achieve the objective of sanitation for all
people. The USG Jan Eliason Call to action on Sanitation has urged the achievement of the sanitation
targets.
Open Defecation Campaign: aims at raising awareness on the reality of open defecation. In parts of
the world where open defecation is not an issue, the fact that the issue is so poorly understood or even
known is seen as a reason why the issue is not getting the attention and the response it deserves. Open
defecation is known about and a daily reality for millions of people, but may be a taboo or unpopular
topic of conversation. Nonetheless, there are many groups, including a number of national governments, who are taking action. The campaign wants to spur the conversation, break the silence, andcelebrate the efforts undertaken.

62“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

relief, an example being during the
Fukushima earthquake in Japan
2011. Facebook & Twitter allowedfamilies to make contact with one another when phone lines were down.
As the world moves to smartphones,
it remains to be seen whether increasingly complicated mobile phones
will continue to be such a useful
tool in rapid communications. Yet
the dramatic impact of the adoptionof mobile technology is the greatest
change in mass communications in
the last 10 years.
In targeting the developed world
for awareness raising, easy to shareglobal social campaigns, such as
those produced by WATER is LIFE(#1stWorldProblems) or Water.org(Toilet boycott) have increased thevisibility of water issues among thegeneral public. Maintaining interest in such campaigns will be reliant
on the creativity of those involved
with designing them as the market
becomes increasingly saturated.
The World Water Days have been
useful in highlighting underserved
areas that people have traditionallyNotes[1]. “The WWDR is an annual and thematic report that focuses on different strategic water issues each year and aims to provide decision-makers with the tools to implement
sustainable use of our water resources. It
also includes regional aspects, hotspots,
examples and stories, making the report
relevant to a broad range of readers, at different levels and in different geographicalareas.” – UN-Water.

either preferred not to talk and think
about (e.g. Sanitation). Conferencesand events and thematic days havebeen useful during the Decade fortargeting different audiences. Whilepublic engagement is necessary to put
pressure on governments to address
water challenges, directly engaging
decision makers in government andwater users in the private sector helps
to speed the process of addressing key
issues. Using UN ambassadors has
also given a greater voice to issues,
especially since the rise of social networks and video sharing sites wherethese messages can be more rapidly
shared, viewed and assimilated.
Water is life – and the areas inwhich water plays a role are almost
overwhelming. By agreeing thematic
areas for annual days and in certain
cases creating additional themeddays, years or Decades, a tight focus
has been brought to issues, withall associated agencies acting collectively for the greatest impact. The
effort through communications ofstreamlining and clarifying messages
and information has been extremely

useful. The global community has
been able to communicate better on
specific issues on sustainable development, food and energy.
Communications have helped
behaviour change – we have realized
it’s not enough to provide interventions; we need to raise awareness ofwhy, for example, hygiene is important and also provide training andinformation to introduce people tobetter practices. Education targeting schools has worked well, withchildren disseminating messages tofamily and friends.
While journalist outreach isimperfect (for the reasons discussed
above) it has proved invaluable for
expanding networks of people withlocal knowledge and expertise bearing independent witness to projects
and programmes at ground level.
The journalist feedback and ability todisseminate trusted information is invaluable and will only become more
so in the future, where it is increasingly easy to share information but
where expert knowledge and trust are
more than ever at a premium.

[2]. http://www.gemstat.org.
[3]. www.unwater.org/gemi/en/.
[4]. Ibid.
[5]. http://ceowatermandate.org/disclosure/.
[6]. “Ecosystems/environment” have evolved asconcepts relevant to water. Eg. Rio Conventions (1992/1993) UNFCCC, CBD, UNCCD,- eg. CBD 1992 – adoption of Strategic Planfor Biodiversity 2011 – 2020 (2010) which
now includes explicit reference to the roleof ecosystems as solutions for water problems – eg. Aichi Biodiversity Target 14; thisconcept was picked up in the water outcomes of Rio + 20 – and will hopefully besubsequently incorporated into pos-2015
SDGs. GWP refers to the Global Water partnership. MUS refers to the Multiple Use
Water Services Group.

63

The Contributionof the Water for Life
2005-2015 Decade
Looking to the end of the decade and beyond
INTRODUCTIONT

he Water Decade has been successful forwater and for sanitation and there are many
lessons that can be taken for the future. The
question is whether much of these would
have happened without the United Nations International Decade for Action.
In this chapter we discuss what has been the value
added by the Decade. How and where the Water Decade
has indeed provided an effective framework for promoting and supporting increasing the number of projects andprogramme and attention to WASH, water cooperation,
women engagement and IWRM efforts, by providing
political impulse and helping in raising awareness andhighlighting action oriented activities (best practices andtools for cooperation and action).
In this chapter we discuss how helpful the Decade has
been in providing a political process for maintaining theattention and for taking stock and regularly evaluating
results – analyzing the actions that have been effective inpromoting water cooperation and IWRM. We analyze thespecific impact of the Decade´s 2013 International Year of
Water Cooperation, and of the UN Office to Support the
Decade for Action: Water for Life, taking into accountthe actions of UNW-DPAC and UNW-DPC.

64“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

In the last part of this chapter we look into whatis next, what are the challenges ahead and the types ofactions necessary for the implementation of the water related sustainable development goals and what need to be
tackled to be able to move forward on the basis of what
we have learned.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE DECADE
As we have explored, the impetus of the Decade at
the start was immense. Expectations were high as theglobal water community saw the Decade providing theembedding mechanism for bringing together the many
fragmented initiatives that were taking place and helping create a more coherent and better coordinated – lessfragmented - global water governance both within the
UN and with non UN actors. The Decade was agreed
through a Resolution of the General Assembly which
provided the mandate for the UN agencies to support
and for the member countries to engage in it. With alegislative framework in place, the Decade had a plan© Yakar Africaof action from the UN Secretary
General, with pledges from UN andnon-UN entities, and an initial decision on the priority themes for the
Decade. The preparation of a Global
Campaign by the Department of
Public Information (DPI) including the necessary branding activities(logo and rules of use by non-UN
actors) and an advocate guide served
as guidance for communications andadvocacy actions.

WASH
The UN and non-UN WASH community saw the potential of theDecade and started to engage with
it at an early stage. The Decade
began with an ambitious diagnosis
and a plan of action 2005-2015 for
WASH in the 2005 Joint Moni-

toring Programme report, Water
for Life: Making it Happen. It
also started with UNICEF/WHO
pledges for actions through the2005 SG plan for the Decade from
WB, GWP and UNDP, among others. This was reflected later in the2006 Human Development Reporton ‘Water: Beyond Scarcity’ advocating for a greater focus on basic
services, linking the MDGs to thewater community.
Since then, the WASH community has progressed in implementing many of the envisioned activities, including monitoring andreporting with the JMP reports,
and in creating a high level advocacy and multifunctional platform
for WASH through “Sanitationand Water for All”. These activities
have only been partially branded
as Decade activities. Some of the
explicit Decade activities haverelated to supporting advocacy
and raising awareness on WASH
issues through high-level advocacy
exemplified by the work of UNSGAB, and the Decade´s Five Year
Sanitation Drive, as well as communication actions with traditionaland new media. The Decade Offices
have explicitly supported awareness raising and capacity development activities in the developingworld – emphasizing sanitation, forexample, the importance of hygiene
and implementation of the Human
Right to Water and Sanitation incollaboration with the Special Rapporteur. The Office to support theInternational Decade for Action has
been instrumental in this respect,supporting such diverse organs as
the media, the actions of the WHO
network of regulators and small water operators, and preparing WASH
in health centres.

65

“I think the Water Decade made a significant change in the public debate environment.
Water was more or less marginalized, locked in technical words and technical discussions,but there was no clear understanding of how water is interlinked with other areas. …So I think
the Water Decade made a significant difference and also, during the Decade, the Conferences, both official and unofficial, all these activities created this difference and made clear thatwater can no longer be ignored on the political agenda and on the agenda of the local level.”Fritz Holzwarth, Germany’s former Water and Marine Director“The Decade helped insuring water was high in the international agenda as a cross cutting issue. It has raised awareness especially in developing countries. The Zaragoza Officesupported this as well as the improvement of inter-agency coordination helping translate
policies into action to insure a better focus and more efficient actions.”
Spanish delegation at the High Level Interactive dialogue on the Water Decade March 2015

IWRM and Water cooperation
The baseline for the Decade on
IWRM was the 2003 World Water
Development Report (Water for
Life, Water for People) and the CSD
13th session water matrix. By driving the focus on IWRM throughthe Decade’s themes (water scarcity,
food security, water and energy,
water quality, water and sustainable
development), the Decade helped
bring consistency and coherence;
connecting the large variety ofthemes in which water plays a key
role. The Decade stimulated “out-ofthe-water-box” thinking and action
and was able to highlight examples
where IWRM has been successful.
The Resolution of the Decade emphasized the need for a Decade ‘foraction’ answering to member statesconcerns about the need for pragmatic and result-oriented approaches. The two Decade offices focusedon capacity development actions onsome of the Decade themes and on
implementing outreach actions to
support engagement of major stakeholders, exchange of good practices,the development of toolboxes andinformation briefs and readers andother materials.

66“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Meetings and gatherings andknowledge activities have been taking
place before and during the Decade.
What is then the special added valueof the Decade? The Decade helped
bring consistency and coherence.
The international UN-Water
Decade and its International Yearof Water Cooperation 2013 havesupported the increase of awareness,the dissemination of knowledge andthe creation of partnerships andwater cooperation initiatives. 2013
was an important year for water.
The cooperation objectives of theDecade have now been reflected in
the proposals of the United Nations
Open Working Group – co-chairedby Hungary – Under target 6.5 itsays that by 2030 it shall implement integrated water resourcesmanagement at all levels, including
through transboundary cooperation
as appropriate. The global focus onwater cooperation in the Decadeand in the International Year 2013
has made a notable difference, creating a platform for water cooperation and keeping water cooperation
central on the global agenda after
the conclusion of the Year itself. The
Year of Water Cooperation served
to catalyse ratifications and actionsof the 1992 and 1997 UN Water
Conventions, enabled the sharing of
knowledge on tools and what works,
and of the importance of water
cooperation at all levels.

Political process and inter-governmental coordination
The Decade through the leadership of Tajikistan, created a uniquepolitical process on water, and a
dedicated platform for intergovernmental coordination in the context
of the General Assembly. ThroughHigh Level meetings convened by

the Government of Tajikistan withthe support of the Friends of Water
Group of the General Assembly andmany G77 countries it has contributed to maintaining the momentum
and providing impulse to the water
agenda, lead by and considering theThe lessons learnt during the International Decade include:“If ambitious targets are set, the means allocated for the implementation should be also ample.
Goals can only achieved if efficient mechanisms are in place and specific plans for the implementation, assessment and review are available. New actions should be informed by adequate means of
implementation, in particular financial resources, capacity development and technology.
- New conditions and realities and opportunities demand a renewal and optimization of global partnerships in the interest of sustainable development.
- We should take into consideration a number of actors that define the future framework and opportunities for water cooperation. Example of transboundary cooperation in Central Asia: In a context withnew realities, cooperation can bring benefits to all the countries involved. It is important to reinforce
cooperation for equitable allocation joint assessment of monitoring, financing etc.”
Sirodjidin Aslov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan
at the HL Interactive Dialogue, 30 March UN HQpriorities of the LDCs and SIDS. It
is an example of the convening powerof the G77 countries that have always
been behind it.
Reporting and monitoring on
the global agenda of water has been
linked mainly to the MDGs process. So what is the added valueof the Decade as a process in relation to monitoring and reporting?

The Decade process has created an
additional platform for regularly
monitoring and taking stock of theDecade themes and cross cutting
goals (water cooperation, women
engagement, rising attention, increasing programmes and projects). The
Tajikistan meetings for the interim
evaluation of the Decade, for preparing for Rio+20, during the interna-

tional year of water cooperation andfor the end of the Decade have served
to analyze and reflect on progress
and what needs to be done. Throughthis the Decade has contributed bygenerating momentum for the waterrelated SDGs, and by incorporatingwater cooperation as a theme in the
General Assembly’s Development
Agenda to 2030.

has allowed the implementation ofa multitude of joint actions bringing together an important numberof UN entities, including some that
do not participate in the formal
meetings. It has also strengthened
UN-Water communications actions
Not only the Water for Life Logo
and Voices campaigns but also otherssuch as World Water day, the 5 year

Sanitation Drive and the International Year of Water Cooperation havebeen explicit Decade activities.
The entities of the UN systemhave indeed engaged in the implementation of many of the activities
initially pledged by them by them inthe 2005 SG´s plan for the Decade,although these have not always
branded as Decade activities.

Inter-agency coordination
The Decade allowed the creationof two ad-hoc offices supportingthe Decade that have strengthened
inter-agency coordination in thecourse of the Decade and of the UN
system with external global actors
Although not always branded as
Decade activities, UN-Water has
mainstream the Decade´s themes in
its activities. UN-Water has indeed
been working to an important extent
implementing the initial plan withjoint activities on the Decade themes.
Moreover tthrough the Decade´sprogrammes interagency coordination has improved. UN-Water guided
the programmes so as to support the
UN-Water Task Forces, ThematicGroups and other activities. This

67

Stakeholder engagement
The global water community is now less fragmented. Has this been
the result of the Decade?
The Resolution of theDecade emphasized theneed for coordinatedaction of UN and non UN-actors
over the Decade. The Decade has
allowed multiple UN entities andother groups to come together tohighlight yearly themes over the
Decade, thus avoiding a mish mashof messages, and enhancing clarity.
The diversity of themes tackled has
also broadened the water discussion, while it has given experts andpractitioners a spotlight within theirrespective fields. The organizationof various fora and conferences haveencouraged engagement by a diversity of stakeholders and high level
people (eg. decision makers), thus
supporting awareness at political, or
CEO private sector levels along withmore traditional engagement of experts, women, youth, farmers, energy
producers, academia and civil society
with practitioners. Facilitating thismore ‘direct’ communication witha diverse target audience capable oftaking direct action has ensured a far
clearer timeline to effective change
and progress with regard to water issues. Greater inclusiveness – bringing
all water stakeholders to the table –has contributed to increased collaboration and cooperation between these
actors on issues of relevance to theinternational water agenda.
The domain where the Decade
has perhaps had the most impact
is indeed stakeholder engagement.
The Office to support the International Water for Life Decade helped
make the connection of the UN
with the non UN UN-Water partners, between governmental andnon-governmental actors, not only
acknowledging their role and inviting
them to the table, but also furthering
diversity and inclusion and creating a space for major groups such as
women, youth, business, academia.
The Resolution of the Decade
specifically called for the meaningful participation of women and the
Decade has given impetus and global
recognition to their work leading toa myriad of concerted actions in all

fields. The various fora and Decadeconferences have encouraged engagement of a diversity of stakeholders
and high level people (eg. decision
makers), thus supporting awarenessat political, or CEO private sector
levels along with more traditional engagement of experts, women, youth,
farmers, energy producers, academia
and civil society with practitioners.
Greater inclusiveness – bringing all
water stakeholders to the table – hascontributed to increased collaboration and cooperation between these
actors on issues of relevance to theinternational water agenda.

National and local
The Decade has also brought aboutchanges at national and local level.
An example is the formation of
National Resources Committee in
Myanmar and its work to develop
IWRM in the country, which was
aided in its creation by the Decade’s
commitment to stakeholder engagement, and has given momentum to“I perceived the Water for Life Decade as an opportunity for civil society to engage as equal partners
by branding their activities as Decade activities, not conducting their actions in isolation, but including
them in the general framework of concerted action towards water security for all.“
Alice Bouman-Dentener, Vice Chair Steering Committee, GWP

Cambio de las asociaciones“The Decade has helped to establish the National Water Resources Committee, advocated ecosystem
based system and IWRM. There has been progress with respect to IWRM. There has been increased
attention on water cooperation as well. NGOs and governments have been supported to push political
reform since 2011.”
Htun Lwin Oo, Secretary of the National Water Resources Committee and Director General of Water Resources
and Improvement of River Systems Republic of the Union of Myanmar

68“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

© Jesús Antoñanazas/UNW-DPAC

national level actions. Likewise in
Canada and at local level in supporting women’s engagement in specificcases through the Women for Water
Partnership’s network.
Women for Water Partnership(WfWP) joined the international
Decade and contributed to many of
its activities and in doing so it has
been able to use the Water for Life
platform to highlight the benefitsof more participatory and inclusive
water governance. The Decade has
contributed then to establish WfWP
as a main actor in the international
arena and has helped the creation ofpartnerships of women´s organizations with other major stakeholders.
The Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of the United Nations International Decade of Action“Water for Life” 2005 – 2015 has
been part of a tremendous change inattitudes in Canada. In the last three
years in particular there’s been move-

ment. In terms of understanding how
valuable water is as people and as an
economic driver, and also they havecontributed to understand that theidea of limitless abundance is a myth.
Over the Decade the partnership had
hundreds of partners who have been
involved one way or another with
their initiatives. They have been able
to publish 12 books on water and water policy, they have generated media
attention and change attitudes andunderstandings, influencing policies.

To date more than 26 international organizations and 100 national
initiatives have joined the Water forLife Decade’s Logo Campaign andhave been doing activities to promote
the international water agenda.
The end of the Decade Water forLife Voices Campaign and Exhibit
has brought the Voices of the People
who have benefited from improved
water and sanitation projects andprogrammes, highlighting the role ofcommunities and different actors.

RECOGNITION AND CHALLENGES
The Water Decade has been successful for water and there are many
lessons that can be taken for the
future. We are now better equippedin our knowledge on the Water
Decade themes and on the value ofthe crosscutting objectives of theDecade. Water has now been recognized in Rio+20 and in the proposals
for SDGs as at the core for sustainable development. Different actors
have developed during the Decade69Statements made during the High Level
International Dialogue on the International
Water Decade March 30 UNHQ
“We have made significant progress but still challenges remain.”
Sirodjidin Aslov,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan“The international Decade has increased attention to water issues: we have now a dedicated water goal, water and sanitation
is a Human Right, we know more about the benefits of water cooperation, the advances on the UNECE Water convention have been
important.”
Kai Sauer, PR of Finland to the UN“The Decade has resulted in multiple improvements for women.
Important steps on universal access to WASH have resulted in multiple benefits to women.”
Sarina Prabasi,CEO, Water Aid America“Three major achievements of the International Decade: Improveaccess to water and sanitation, improved cooperation and waterrecognised as a cross cutting issue.”Thani Thongphakdi,
PR of Thailand to the UN“Identification of problems and challenges on the implementation of goals from the Decade has been important. WASH is now apriority in the political agenda and African governments are making commitments.”
Wilfried Inotira Emvula,
PR of Namibia to the UN“The agreement of a framework for disaster reduction 20152030 is one of the achievements of the Decade, which emphasizes
investment on risks reduction.”
Motohide Yoshikawa, PR of Japan to the UN

70“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

and they have found different ways
to coordinate actions. Countries haveacknowledged the important legacyof the Decade. This was made clear atthe High Level Interactive Dialogue
on “The International Decade for
Action `Water for Life¨ on March 30
2015 at the United Nations Headquarters and at the High Level Conference on the Implementation of theWater for Life Decade 2005-2015 inTajikistan 9-11 of June 2015.
Some key challenges of the Decade have been:— 10 years is a long time. There isa need for milestones to maintainthe process. Different types ofmilestones are useful: political,
outreach, communications. The
High Level International Conferences, the UN-Water Zaragoza
Conferences, the World Water
Days and the International Years
have been essential.
— Decades may more explicitly create a political process for regularly
taking stock and reporting on key
implementation commitments
and actions.
— There needs to be a process to insure accountability of the different actors in relation to their roles
and planned actions.
— Leadership and support structures
are essential for the Decade process to be effective. Leadershipneeds to be more clearly assigned
to member states.
— Decades may help create a forum
to support better donor coordination at global level— The work at country level during
the Decade needs to be analyzed.
Member states have not been engaged through the national committees, the logo users have otherwise
provided impetus at national level.
— Branding of actions as Decadeactions has been inconsistentby the UN and non-UN global
stakeholders and member states.
A clearer strategy in this regard
will be necessary.

THE SPECIFIC IMPACT OF THE DECADE’SINTERNATIONAL YEAR OF WATER COOPERATIONIn February 2011, the push forwater cooperation advocacy gained
momentum. In the context of theInternational Decade for Action“Water for Life” 2005-2015, theUN General Assembly decided toproclaim 2013 as the InternationalYear of Water Cooperation (IYWC)
to promote action at all levels andachieve water related development
goals through cooperation.
Tajikistan, a key initiator ofthis resolution, held a Preparatory
Conference in 2011 that developed
recommendations for the Rio +20
conference, where later a Thematic
Session specifically for Water Cooperation was held. Tajikistan also
hosted the High Level International
Conference on Water Cooperation
during the IYWC in August 2013.
This series of events was a tipping
point. Dialogue on Cooperation in
the context of the formal post 2015
processes began and has continued
ever since, keeping water cooperation at the forefront as one aspectin the post 2015 agenda. This has
been reflected in the proposal for the
Sustainable Development Goals of
the General Assembly Open Working Group, Goal Six on Water, which
recognizes the need for water cooperation. This had not been incorporated only two years earlier in 2012
in the outcome document of Rio+20.
2013 served to highlight, create and, importantly, disseminate a
wealth of knowledge on water cooperation. It meant more actors sharing
experiences and best practices, which
in turn led to better cooperation. The
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,in his Report on the Year of Water
Cooperation said:“The International Year of Water
Cooperation made it clear that water
cooperation is the tool of choice: toimprove water governance and water
management at all levels; to provide
water and sanitation for all; and to
improve the management of transboundary water systems, both surface
and groundwater. Cooperation is also
an adequate means to foster educationand capacity development; it must be
based on sound scientific understanding of water issues; and it must be
inclusive of all the actors involved inusing and managing water and who
can contribute to the processes required,extending to hitherto underrepresented
actors, like indigenous groups and thepoor. Furthermore, the InternationalYear of Water Cooperation reminded us
to finally achieve gender equality in thedomain of water, both, by the meansof and in cooperation.”[1] SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon.
During the International Yearof Water Cooperation 2013 new
dynamics developed within existingprocesses. For example, the concerted

efforts of many actors
led to a steep increase in
ratifications of the 1997
Water Convention. In
2013, the accessions offour Member States were registered,
the highest number since 1997,
on par with the four accessions in2012 (when a ratification was also
registered). And finally it enteredinto force in August 2014, because
in May 2014, Vietnam the 35th
country ratified the convention. In
2013 the UNECE Water Convention (on the Protection and Use of
Transboundary Watercourses andInternational Lakes) achieved a major
landmark as it opened up to countries all over the world (see below).
The International Year of Water
Cooperation and the World Water
Day also supported the creation of
new water-related dynamics in theinternational development agenda.
The many events worldwide and thelarge numbers of people involved,“In 2013, the amendments opening the Water Convention
to participation of countries from all over the world entered into
force. The amendments enable countries from outside the UNECE
region to become Parties to the Convention. The global opening
represented a great opportunity for the Convention to increase its
contribution to international water law and the promotion of transboundary water cooperation at the global scale. The global opening also meant a number of challenges – the Convention would
need to prove its relevance to the various conditions worldwide
and its responsiveness to address emerging issues. As a global
instrument, the Convention is also expected to support the post2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Better implementation canbe achieved through targeted assistance in those basins which
are facing difficulties in developing cooperation. In this regard, it
is important that the Convention as a framework is used not only
by countries and the secretariat but also by intergovernmentalorganizations, NGOs and other actors in their efforts to promote
cooperation in specific basins.”
Iulia Trombitcaia, UNECE

71

as well as their diverse
backgrounds, demonstrated the great relevance of water cooperation. The IYWC helped
to increase awarenessabout its importanceand knowledge about
where and how cooperation is taking place andthe key ingredients for success. The
UN entities specifically produced key
seminal publications.[2] Some of theinnovative actions during the year
included the systematic involvementof youth representatives, women andmen, and the international business
community taking initiatives. The

CEO Water Mandate’s Water Action
Hub attracted ever-growing interest,
ending the year with almost 300 collaborative projects posted in watersheds around the world. All thesehelped reinforce political will andexisting legal frameworks, accountability and institutional structures
providing a solid foundation forwater cooperation.[3]In 2014, the process continued
with several events that have kept
water cooperation at the forefront.
As a way to build capacity on thesubject, UNESCO reached anagreement with Sweden to open
an International Center for Water
Cooperation. The center will under-

take independent research regarding transboundary water issues andprovide advisory services.
Overall, the International
UN-Water Decade ‘Water for Life’
2005-2015 - through its International Year of Water Cooperation2013 – served to increase awareness,disseminate knowledge and support
creation of partnerships, reinforcing
existing water cooperation initiatives in the framework of the Water
Conventions. In an increasingly
water scarce world, joint coordinated efforts at UN-level have helped,
and have supported development ofcooperation between parties withdifferent interests

WHERE DO THE OFFICES TO SUPPORTTHE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR ACTION FIT IN?
The United Nations Office to Support the International Decade for
Action “Water for Life” 2005-2015
and the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development
have played a key role in supporting
the implementation of the Decade,supporting the High Level Confer-ences linked to the Decade and othermajor strategic and political processes
lead by UN-Water and by Tajikistan. It has strengthened UN-Wateras the inter-agency coordination
mechanism – specially its work as
knowledge hub and in reaching out
to non-UN actors.

Knowledge hub
By coordinating key information,connecting members, partners andexternal practitioners and professionals in the water sector and other sectors, and promoting these activities,
the Office has sought to promote thewater agenda and present issues toboth the general public, specialized
audiences and to decision makers.
The Office’s Decade website hasgrown to be a significant learning
tool on the Decade’s Themes, with

72

“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

detailed information on case studies
and thematic areas, interviews withkey figures in the water sector and an
extensive library of water papers anddocuments.[4] The Decade’s Weekly
has been unique in providing weekly
information on policy relevant newsand events of the UN system and the
Publications Bimonthly and Readers
have become a single entry point to
the wealth of publications producedby the UN system.

Since 2008 the Office has been
implementing action-oriented
activities supporting UN-Water andfacilitating close collaboration between UN-Water members and partners, task forces and thematic priority areas. The Office has establisheda UN Knowledge hub for a variety
of audiences on the Decade themes,
a Best Practices Programme with a
Water For Life Award and Mediaand Communication programme. Ithas supported UN-Water in strategic
processes during the Decade and has
served to reinforce collaboration between UN-Water members reach toout to UN-Water partners establishing new institutional relationships
with key partners.
A specific development during
the Decade has been the UN-Water

Activity Information System (UNWAIS) which is an online platform topresent and share information onwater-related projects and learning
initiatives from UN-Water Members
and Partners. In addition to a learning centre which houses information
on a variety of materials related tothe themes UN-Water chose for the

Decade, UNW-AIS hosts the online
platforms for UN-Water projects suchas the “Safe Use of Wastewater inAgriculture” and “Capacity Development to Support National DroughtManagement Policies.

Outreach in support to strategic processes
The Decade´s offices have supported
the different strategic conferences
organized or lead by the Government of Tajikistan in collaboration
with the Friends of water Group.
The Zaragoza Annual International
Water Conference, starting in 2011,
has been themed to coincide withthe year’s World Water Day, allowing a soft topic introduction, many
key actors to meet, and the theme
to stretch beyond the day itself. The
Zaragoza conference prefigures the
public awareness of World Water
Day by putting the topic at theforefront of expert minds a full twomonths early.
The contributions of the office
to the annual Zaragoza Conferences

and to other strategic events on
the calendar have allowed multiple
agencies and groups to come together to jointly address a single issue,
thus avoiding a confused collectionof messages, enhancing clarity andcreating integration. The diversityof themes tackled has also broadened the water discussion, while itgives experts a spotlight within theirrespective fields. The organizationof various fora and conferences havealso encouraged engagement by adiversity of stakeholders and highlevel people (eg. decision makers),
thus driving awareness at political,
or CEO private sector levels alongwith more traditional engagementof experts, women, youth, farmers,

energy producers, academia and civilsociety with practitioners. Facilitating this more ‘direct’ communication with a diverse target audiencecapable of taking direct action has
a far clearer timeline to effective
change and progress with regard towater issues. Greater inclusiveness– bringing all water stakeholders to
the table – has increased collaboration and cooperation between these
actors. This is vital, as talks anddecisions are meaningless when all
water stakeholders, including thoseout of the box, are not involved.
This work has lead to some practicaloutcomes that have been incorporated in UN-Water advice papers andin toolboxes and platforms.

73

Promoting best practices
Promoting and acknowledging good practices
helps in the implementation of the international water agenda as
they provide examples
on the way to go formember states and stakeholders alike.
Highlighting the difficulties thatneed to be overcome and the strate-

gies to do so is often more useful forpractitioners. This have been promoted through the cases selected by
the UN agencies for the UN-Water
Zaragoza Conferences. The ‘Water
for Life’ UN-Water Best Practices
Award has been also main activityof the Decade to promote efforts tofulfill international commitments
made on water and related issues by

2015 through recognition of thoseoutstanding best practices that canensure the long-term sustainable
management of water resources andcontribute to the achievement of internationally agreed goals and targets.
These cases have been incorporated
into a platform of Best Platform ofGood Practices.

ference audiences and a guidance oncommunication practices for water
operators have helped different actors
to raise attention on these issues. At
the end the Decade the Office haslaunched the Water for Life Voices

Campaign to collect voices fromexperts, business, academia, civilsociety and practitioners. It included
the Water for Life Voices Exhibit
in UN HQ in NY which travelled
through 2015.

The communication actions
To date more than 26 internationalorganizations and 100 national initiatives have joined the Water for Life
Decade’s Logo Campaign and havebeen doing activities to promote theinternational water agenda. The endof the Decade Water for Life Voices
Campaign and Exhibit has brought
the Voices of the People who havebenefited from improved water andsanitation projects and programmes,
highlighting the role of communities
and different actors.
The Office also has provided
strategic communications support
to UN-Water to launch and develop
campaigns to raise public awareness, to hear the voices of different
stakeholders on vital issues such as
climate change. This has included
support to World Water Day, World
Toilet Day, and the 5 year Sanitation
Drive as well as on the preparation of
messages on Climate Change for dif-

Supporting media
The media networks set up during
the Decade, through capacity development workshops, and supportedby the Office in Latin America andthe Caribbean (LAC), Asia and Africa, have been actively contributing
to communicating and informing on
the Decade themes. Work with journalists, particularly in the developingworld, helping to facilitate them withexpert contacts and providing support to their networks has helped put

development issues in the media, andin increasingly prominent places.
Facilitating the work of journalists
means exposing projects and programmes to independent scrutiny by
the public. Projects are by their nature
a collaborative exercise. This social
accountability is intended to publicize
and promote good work but also toshine a spotlight to deter corruption,and highlight good practices andwhere practices can improve.

By facilitating self-managed journalists groups, the Water Decade aims to help journalists learn about
new projects within the UN system, help journalists make contact with key UN figures for interviews andshare information about key thematic areas in a timely fashion.
Key groups:
Water Journalists Asia https://www.facebook.com/groups/WaterJournalistsAsia/
Water Journalists Africa http://waterjournalistsafrica.com/

74“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

Interactive news sites can increasingly bring communities into theprocess and journalists are excellent
at reaching out to these audiences ina language they will understand.
Good journalists develop relationships and trust with communities,
relationships that may help introduce
the community to unfamiliar UN

agencies or development workers.
This is vital for the facilitation of
empowerment, which the Decade
has shown is key to successful waterand sanitation interventions to besustainable. They are also capable ofdisseminating information throughchannels which might be ignored by
non-specialists.

Capacity Development on the Decade’s themes
A major activity throughout the
Decade has been an international
workshop series, coordinated by
UNW-DPC and the United Nations
Human Settlements Programme(UN-Habitat) with its Global Water
Operators’ Partnership Alliance(GWOPA ), on “Drinking Water
Loss Reduction: Developing Capacities for Applying Solutions”.
Safe drinking water is a necessity forlife, yet in many places around theworld, up to 50 percent of drinking water is lost in distribution
systems, particularly in ageing urban
area infrastructures. In an effort
to address this widespread issue, aseries of activities between 2009 and2014, including international andregional workshops throughout Latin
America, South East Europe, Arabcountries, Africa and Central Asia,
encouraged local follow- up projects
and the establishment of communi-

cation between policymakers, water
operators, researchers and technicalservice providers. Other major activities have included the coordinationof the “Safe Use of Wastewater inAgriculture” and “Capacity Development to Support National DroughtManagement Policies” projects for
UN-Water, and the coordination of
UN-Water’s participation in a pavilion and session at the biennial IFAT
trade fair in Munich.

WHAT’S NEXT? LOOKING TO THE END OF THE DECADE AND BEYOND
When things are working well, it’s easy
to suggest “business as usual” and acontinuation of previous good practices. That is no longer possible for water.
The goal for water will require longterm thinking and close collaborationand cooperation between disparate
entities. Populations are growing,
not shrinking. Development means
industry and ever more water will be
required. Our successes today will notlast in perpetuity without continued
adaptation to a changing world and achanging climate.
Change is necessary. The global context has changed. Change will require
new ways of understanding. Thereneeds to be a concerted effort of all
stakeholders to ensure that we implement the new post 2015 water agenda.
Learning through social processes would
be a key transformative force to bringthe change about.

We understand that while thedesign and implementation ofsustainable development policies
will be at the national level, achieving sustainable development will
require international support andcooperation.
The challenge for policymakers
is to channel and incentivize moreof these diverse sources of financing
into desired investments in sustainable development.
Transparency and accountability
must underpin all financing to enhance legitimacy and effectiveness.[5]2015 is the cornerstone for waterand sustainable development. 2015
has seen the decision on the new water related Sustainable Development
Goals for 2015-2030. In preparationof the proposed set of targets of thewater related SDGs, UN-Water has
been working on developing indica-

tors and monitoring systems. Synergetic efforts can be contemplatedwith parallel initiatives in this field(eg. OECD’s ongoing developmentof water governance indicators).
The work of UN-Water on thethird piece of the puzzle: ie.: implementation commenced at the 2015
Zaragoza Conference. It has been acollective endeavor with the participation of representatives of 18 UN
entities and 8 UN-Water Partners
and more than 50 collaboratingorganizations. It served UN-Water to
identify implementation challenges
and collect information on existing tools under different categories(technology, science and innovation,
financial and economic instruments,
capacity development and social
instruments and governance andmonitoring), and analyze the performance of the tools in specific cases.

75

This has been included in a UN-Water toolbox, which includes a section
on lessons learnt and a discussion
forum and which will be updated toserve member states and stakeholders
in the implementation of the water
related SDGs. The Zaragoza Conference has represented an opportunityfor UN-Water members and partners
to listen to different stakeholders.
The conference facilitated a spacefor dialogue, to discuss the different
stakeholders’ views on their contributions to the implementation of thepost 2015 agenda; which needs to beprovided continuity.

CHALLENGES FOR TOMORROWUN Processes
From the Rio+20 conference
emerged a new and wider water agenda including universal access to basic
water and sanitation services, water
quality and protection of ecosystems,
water resources management anddealing with water related risks anddisasters. Now there is a Goal 6 forwater and water is a key component
in 4 other targets for other Goals.
In all these, water is considered as
crucial to the attainment of most, if
not all, development objectives.

Implementation
The implementation challenges forachieving universal access to waterand the other targets are immense.
Forty-six countries still have morethan 50% of their population without improved sanitation and there areat least 800 million people experiencedrinking water contaminated withfeces. Disparities in the provisionof water and sanitation services areat the base of inequalities in many
countries in Africa and in poor
countries. Costs of further advances
are mounting, as they imply both
improving coverage in massive slums
in urban areas and providing for scattered populations in rural ones.
But it is also clear that achieving
the Sustainable Development Goal
for Water are in the range of the76“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

resources, the human and social capacities and the technologies available. They can be achieved by better
water governance, the developmentof individual and social capacities,
the diffusion and adaptation of existing and new technologies and byproperly designed and implemented
economic and financial instruments. Achieving the water SDG
does not, however, merely dependon the water community or water
policies alone.

Finance
Reaching the water related Sustainable Development Goals will bebeneficial for those directly affected
and for building a more equitableand prosperous society. For instance,
an investment of USD 1 in basic
services can provide a return of USD
5.5 in benefits (avoided costs inhealth services and improved education, productivity, etc.) But gathering
the financial resources to make thishappen is still a challenge.
Achieving the new water related
SDGs would require investing 1%
of GDP (Human Development
Report UNDP), an average of USD
20 billion per year. But paying forwater services is out of the reach of
the poor and according to the 2014
GLAAS report, 77% of countries
have insufficient financing for basic
services provision alone.

Besides gathering new financial
resources, it is also important to
use those already in place better –more efficiently –Efficiency must
go beyond building new facilities
to guarantee their effective use andreplacement. Between 20-40% of
the resources may have not been
applied to its intended purpose due
to corruption. The above mentioned
GLAAS report also points to thefact that funding may not be goingto those in greatest need and there
are issues of countries/communities having low absorptive capacity,
according to the criteria of financing
institutions.
Some new and expanding opportunities to bring more financial
resources to the water agenda comefrom nexus of water and energy, foodand climate change adaptation. An
important opportunity may be, forexample, the new Green Climate
Fund to support country actionsdelivering adaptation and mitigation.
Improving use of resources
through results-based contracts andoutput-based aid have been extensively used by UN system organizations such as the World Bank. This
includes using existing aid to provide
collateral and warranties designed to
attract private capital to risky projects– including local community projects
and supporting the establishment oflocal credit systems.
Many of these smart financing
mechanisms are only possible when

accompanied by better governance,enhanced capacities and properly
adapted technologies.

Technology, scienceand innovation
Good water management is a provendriver for innovation. Advances inwater and sanitation have comeabout with important advances in
new technologies adapted to thescale, and the capacities and the
local conditions when the services
are required. Technology throughmonitoring is also how we monitor
indicators, assess risk, and track progress. Nowadays there are an increasing number of varied, innovative andlow cost technologies for sanitation(such as UN-Habitat Vacutug) andwater harvesting (Blue drop) as wellas technologies to increase efficiency
in water provision and water use (bybusinesses, agriculture, etc), as wellas technologies for adaptation to climate change (Itaipu Paraguay-Brazil)
and for the reduction of the risks
derived from floods (Mekong River
Planning).
This picture brings to the frontline the importance of transforming
water prices and public involvementfrom barriers to drivers for innovation. Low water prices and low
public investments and insufficient
efforts in making information on
performance of innovative technologies available, may be among themultiple barriers to boost technology innovation in the water sector.
In addition, it is equally important
to identify and remove governancebarriers to innovation, ensure asynergetic science-policy interface,and promote the uptake of innovative practices across responsible
authorities, levels of government andstakeholders.
Technology choices are an integral
part of any water policy decision
making process. From a monitoring perspective, technology may stilllag behind in a number of areas that
can inform and focus our sustainable management practice, particularly around ecosystems and climatechange. More innovation is necessary
in these areas to in order to better
understand and address risk. In thehands of a willing and able society
technology works better, hence theimportance of developing local capacities. Inclusive technology choices
are also important to compare anddecide, for instance, between conventional technologies such as dams
and other new alternatives, and todeal with potential conflicts arisingfrom the different environmental
and social impacts of the alternativetechnologies.

Capacity Development
The concept of capacity-building
entails much more than building
schools and training people. It comprises the establishment of a solid
knowledge base and awareness at alllevels, including those of individuals,organizations, partnerships, communities and the enabling environment
as well as the untapped ability ofvolunteerism to engage and benefit
all segments of society.
The obligation to implement
national Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM) plans, hasbeen accepted and embedded ininternational development agendas
since Agenda 21 in 1992 and isincluded in the SDG 6 under target
6.5. By its very nature, IWRM
requires a special focus on capacitybuilding at each stage in order to be
successful.
Yet information on IWRM islimited and it is even less accessible
to partners in the developing world.
Obtaining new skills requires improved access to information, sharing
capacity (eg. when trainees become
trainers) and its application. Information materials, training materials,
knowledgeable capacity builders andexperts are part of the inputs to acapacity-building programme, andonline platforms of open content
education and training materials canhelp facilitate these processes. Thisis particularly the case with IWRM,
which requires a cycle of responsiveness to capacity development needs
coming from different target groups
around the world, along with andadaptive knowledge management
systems.
Capacity-building can be theengine and driver to achieving theSDGs, yet increasing investments incapacity-building is a major challenge facing not only the water andsanitation sector. It is important tonote that capacity development costs
can represent a significant portion of
the overall costs of projects, especiallyin the initial stages, and must be
fully taken into account in planning
programme budgets. Yet there isstrong evidence from other sectorsthat investing in capacity-building
not only makes sound economic
sense in terms of return on investment, but it can also help leverage
additional sources of funding. In
a recent UNDP project, initiallyfunding from public sources played adominant role in the beginning (wellover 90 percent), much of which
was dedicated to capacity development. Yet the share of public financing gradually declined to about 50
percent at a later stage, suggestingthat the pivotal role of public investments in developing national andlocal capacities subsequently attracted
private financing. Following the
publicly financed capacity/building,communities and households madesignificant contributions to implement them.[6]In the water and sanitation sectors, capacity-building is closely
linked to investments which support
the use, adaptation and transfer of
new technologies. The water development goal (Target 6.a), for example,
highlights the need to expand international cooperation and capacity-77

building support to developing countries in water and sanitation-related
activities and programs, including
water harvesting, desalination, water
efficiency, wastewater treatment,
recycling and reuse technologies.
Yet to be successful, capacitybuilding in the water sector should
also include the design and implementation of new financing instruments as well as capacities to water
resources management, and especiallyto make the most of water cooperation and stakeholder engagement.
Policy and technology choices
must take existing capacities into
account and their implementationmust consider processes that enablepeople to implement policies andmake use of innovative technologies
in due time. This also requires identifying local knowledge and mobilizing
it from the start. Decision-making
and capacity-building should therefore be considered simultaneous andmutually reinforcing. Otherwise, innovative solutions cannot be adopted
and the required capacities neverbuilt – and the cycle continues.
Capacity-building is an accumulative learning by doing exercise. It is
not just a process of absorbing information and skills brought by experts,
whether local or external, but one ofassuming responsibilities and being
able to adapt existing knowledge andto assume new knowledge in orderto respond better to local circumstances. Capacities are also needed to
implement, monitor and report on
development plans and strategies.
Capacity-building works better and delivers better outcomes in

78“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

terms of human development whensocial-cultural aspects are taken into
account and when locals and their
institutions understand the value ofbuilding capacities. This may require
undertaking intensive communication to bridge the gap between decision makers, experts and local communities. Advocacy, scaling up, social
mobilization/building networks arealso necessary means and should befocused on implementation.
The SDGs call for people-centered approaches to development,
yet human resources are perhaps themost underused resources that must
be unleashed in order for communities to achieve the water goal. In
particular, in the water and sanitation
sectors it is important to recognize
the central role of women and to givevalue to inter-generational responsibility for transformation. Successful
examples exist whereby women havebecome effective and reliable water
managers and where young people
were trained a community-level tobuild and maintain low-cost toilets,or hand pumps in rural areas.

Governance
Policy and institutional coherence arecovered by Targets 17.13 to 17.15.
Integrated responses are called for inmany sectors, based upon sustainable development strategies at thenational and sub-national level anda global partnership for sustainable
development at the international
level. Yet the nature of the water
cycle calls for a particular need for
integrated responses, in addition toa sector-specific focus on the enhancement of global macroeconomic
stability, policy coordination andpolicy coherence across the different
ministries and agencies involved withwater. Given that water affects andis affected by many constituencies,
particular effort is needed to promote multi-stakeholder partnerships(public-public, public-private andcivil society partnerships). These canhelp mobilize and share knowledge,
expertise, technology and financial
resources to support the achievementof the SDGs in all countries. For
water and sanitation management inparticular, supporting and strengthening the participation of local
communities is fundamental for the
implementation of SDG 6*.
In the water sector, integrated
planning is a key instrument forbuilding policy coherence andcoordination so as to connect water
policy, land use planning and to takeadvantage of the multiple synergies
between water and food security,
energy development, industrial
progress, etc. It helps in dealing withvarious pollutants from agriculture,energy and manufacturing which
remains a critical issue, in particularwithin developing countries. Coordinated policy approaches areneeded to overcome the institutionalsilos in which water, land planning,
agriculture and industrial policies
are defined and implemented. The
integrated responses required must be
based upon sustainable development
strategies at the national and sub-national level and a global partnershipfor sustainable development at theinternational level.[7]Integrated water management
plans must therefore be an integral
part of national development strategies, but they are of little use unlessthey are implemented. External support agencies, UN, Donors, pressure groups need to help countries
to implement their plans and notpromote a constant cycle of plan
formulation that never leads toimplementation.
When reshaping legal frameworks
and institutions, policy-makers needto consider the ability to cope withrisks. Governments must develop
institutional systems for coordinatedand coherent responses on disasterrisk managements and risk reduction
across different sectors and between
central and local governments.

Improving regulation and enforcement can help to curb environmental degradation and reduce
health risks particularly in developing
economies. While the WHO produces international norms on water
quality in the forms of guidelines
which can serve as a basis worldwide,[8] many countries will need todevelop or adapt their own nationalguidelines for “acceptable” water
quality for household consumption,
standards for industry effluents or forthe minimum water quality requirements for irrigation water for food,forage or industrial crops.
A well-designed institutionalframework of water use rights,
regulations and water allocation
has to be established and combinedwith more conventional engineering
works. Strengthening safety regulation dealing with water-related risks
would contribute to better planning,development and monitoring mitigation measures and ensure resilienceof societies and the environment.
This will encourage sound enforcement and compliance mechanisms,
accurate and consistent data andbetter disclosure of information to
the public. Effectiveness of regulation
is improved by harmonization acrossborders, notably in the case of sharedwaters, where appropriate.
Guaranteeing the stability of theregulatory framework is fundamental
to protect long-term water management objectives and principles fromthe threats of short-term politicalcalendars. Once decisions on targets
and the distribution of responsibilities
are made in the political arena, decisions regarding their implementation,
including benchmarking, needs to be
based on technical criteria. Independent regulatory bodies must have thepossibility of self-financing. This independence is critical in order to makethe right decisions for the disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.
The disclosure of timely, comprehensive, and forward-looking
information in accessible formats aswell as the gradual development of
the capacity to stream information
into the decision making process isa means to allow people and institutions to access new insights and innovations as well as to build a better
connected and empowered society
which enables transparency and trustin the pursuit of collective goals. A
necessary prerequisite for this is adequate, reliable monitoring of relevant
parameters on the status of water
resources and on pressures exerted
on them. This access is important interms of different levels and stakeholders across and between sectors
and agencies, such as the scientificcommunity, for example to allow
for the development of information
products that can eventually become
operational, and to civil society, toensure transparency.
Information on the extent,
condition and functioning of water
services infrastructure is also important, but monitoring that is variably
a public sector-private sector joint
effort. Remotely sensed information
can valuably support water resources
planning and decision-making,contributing, for example, in areas offlood control and monitoring of pressure sources on waters.
This can serve to support holistic
decision making approaches able tocope with water management, waterand sanitation services and water
related risks. Water management andwater risks are often interlinked andspill over to different sectors (droughtin agriculture, flooding in land planning, modified freshwater systems forhydropower, etc.). Comprehensive
policy support needs to include thetools for assessing risks and options
for achieving win-win outcomes
across various sectors.
Opportunities are increasingly
opening to apply analytical tools to
inform decision-making to policy
domains “outside the water box”,
revealing opportunities to improve,for example, water use efficiency inenergy planning and agriculture.

© Pedro Yus/UNW-DPAC

79

The future for water and cities
Reducing the gap between cities andrural areas. More than half of the
global population now lives in cities,
and urban areas are still better suppliedwith improved water and sanitation
than rural ones. But the gap is decreasing. In 1990, more than 76% of
people living in urban areas had accessto improved sanitation, as opposed toonly 28% in rural ones. By 2012, 80%of urban dwellers and 47% of ruralones had access to better sanitation.
In 1990, 95% people in urban areas
could drink improved water, comparedwith 62% of people in rural regions.
By 2012, 96% of people living in
towns and 82% of those in rural areas
had access to improved water.

“[In the past] I had to explain
why I was [attending water fora] andwhat young people can contribute to
the debate and it was a big surprisefor all actors at the forum. And nowadays when we’re here, people knoweach other, people know young people.
They’re not surprised any more when
there are young people participatingin the dialogue on water, because they
are aware that young people are someof the most important stakeholders forthe future and also at present society
young people can contribute as agentsof change for changing behavior.”
Bart Devos (De Vos), President of
the World Youth Parliament for
Water (WYPW).

The importance of youth
Bringing youth into the debating
sphere was an important innovation of
the International Year of Water Cooperation. The biggest change has been
putting young people in a position
where they can engage the entire audience – delegates, policy makers – andsee their views reflected in outcome
documents and recommendations.

The future for women’s engagement
As the UN Women position paperon the post-2015 development
agenda notes, a significant bodyof research, much of it championed and occasionally authored by
the Water Decade, indicates thatwomen’s empowerment and genderequality have a catalytic effect on
the achievement of human development, good governance, sustained
peace, and harmonious dynamics
between the environment and human populations.
This includes the broad domainof water, as water is the key to life
and a powerful catalyst for development in itself. Meeting current andfuture water needs for food, energy,
health, sanitation, economic activity
and ecosystem maintenance is oneof the main challenges of our times,

80“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

and central to achieving sustainable
development. Notwithstanding thelong-term acknowledgement of theimportance of women in this sector,
the potential contributions of women
to water development remain largely
untapped to date.

To enable women to contributemeaningfully, the underlying causes ofgender inequality need to be addressed.
Women’s empowerment and strengthening women’s civil society groups are
therefore intrinsic elements of a transformative development agenda.

Regions for today and tomorrow
AfricaAfrica has 63 river basins, of which
20 have international agreements ineffect and 16 with institutionalized
forums.7 Progress is building overtime, with areas in South Africa having more equitable rights since theabolition of apartheid policies. Many
continental, resource, and nationalorganizations have been, and arebeing developed to focus on cooperation, like the Southern African
Development Community (SADC),
Niger Basin Authority (NBA), Lake
Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), or
African Ministers´ Council on Water(AMCOW). SADC created a Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems

in 1995 that later was revised andadopted to be in line with the 1997
UN Watercourses Convention.
In Africa alone by 2020, 75-250
million people may be exposed toincreased water stress due to climatechange.
International finance and donors
are playing a key role in founding
most of these organizations; someinternational actors include the G8
Africa Action Plan, Africa´s Development Action Plan (NEPAD), EU
Water Initiative, World Bank, andUnited Nations. Large differencesin development levels of riparian
countries make cooperation evenmore necessary, an example being
Nile-dependent Egypt and less developed, upstream countries involved in
the Nile Basin Initiative. However,Africa is still faced with huge water
challenges that cross borders. Many

criticize agreements that do come inplace because they are meant to lookenvironmental, as well as vehicles topromote hydropower development
or irrigation expansions. While rivers
may have coordinated cooperationin many places of the continent,
groundwater resources still lackinstitutions. Conflicts in places like
Darfur and Sudan are leading to large
displacements of people, some into
refugee camps, which have aggravatedan already stressed water supply withincreasing and concentrated demand
for resources. Political instability,
mass migration, and limited resources
are making cooperation difficult.

Asia
South Asian water resources connect
many countries that have seen evenmilitary conflicts in the past between
over them. With many of thesecountries located entirely within aninternational water basin, water will
always be a central topic. Basins areshared by different countries suchas the Indus basin shared by India,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh. India andPakistan signed the Indus Water
Treaty in 1960, but are increasingly
coming under stress.
Developing giants China andIndia are still working on reaching
agreements trying to understandhow these may be beneficial. Bothcountries have expanded hydropower,with China´s Three Gorges Dam being the most visible example, and one
which is having an especially large
impact downstream.
There are in Asia less signatoriesof the UNECE water convention.
South Asia lacks the coordination81

that EU countries havewith economic and legal
policies. Global frameworks like the UN Watercourses Convention
require prior notificationand data sharing whenplanning to develop
rivers, which can beseen against nationalsovereignty. Cooperation will be evenmore important to the area as climatechange varies the flows from glacial
melt. The South Asia region is awareof this situation and looks at theEuropean region for examples andknowledge on cooperation formulasthat can help them start and replicate
cooperation initiatives. Yet there is
progress being made towards cooperation. While still missing some key
actors, the Mekong River Commission has been helping countries in
the lower Mekong basin move fromhumanitarian cooperation to economic cooperation. Several examplesof participative social governanceat local level are providing effective
and win-win results, highlighting thepotential of building and strengthening local capacities and creatingawareness on their own problems toachieve successful horizontal governance formulas. Nevertheless, bringing water access to remote rural areas
remains an important challenge.
In Central Asia, more coordination is being seen, especially inresponse to the Aral Sea challenges.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan
formed the Interstate Commission
for Water Coordination of Central
Asia and pledged 1% of their budgets
to help recover the sea.

América Latina y el Caribe
The most recent data from the
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring
Programme for Water Supply andSanitation (JMP) indicate that theoverwhelming majority of the coun-

82“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

tries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has already achieved or
is likely to achieve the Millennium
Development Goal for drinking
water, despite a great variety among
countries. Access to sanitation on thecontrary has only been achieved by
46% of the countries. Despite theremarkable advances in the expansion of access to improved services
between 1990 and 2011 (going from
85% to 94% for drinking water and
68% to 82% for sanitation), Latin
America remains the most urbanized
and unequal region in the world,with still almost 36 million people
without access to improved sources ofdrinking water and over 110 million
people without access to improved
sanitation facilities. In the majorityof cases, it is not a problem of water
scarcity – as the region has abundant
water resources in general terms - butof insufficient investment.
Inequalities are still one of themain challenges in the region. Gaps
in service mainly affect low-income
groups, which means that between
70% and 85% of the people lacking access to water services are in
the two lowest income quintiles. In
rural areas, coverage is consistently
lower: 15% in the case of drinking
water and 24% in the case of sanitation services. Future challenges in theregion include the reduction of suchinequalities between rural and urban
areas and service improvement, particularly in regards to uninterrupted
services. It is also important to take
into account that water sources are
threatened by climate change.
According to a study performed
by CAF, the Latin American Bankfor Development, to calculate thecosts of reaching the water related
SDG targets, the investment required
would amount USD 12,500MM
annually, the equivalent to 0,31% of
the Region’s GDP in 2010.
To overcome this situation, theregion will need to improve andconsolidate its water governance witha paradigm shift towards the sustain-

able integration of water resourcesmanagement. An special effort
from governments will be required
to consolidate operational water
management institutions to develop
water management strategies valuing
the local knowledge and practices;to develop and implement water
management and economic instruments (water use rights and discharge
permits, efficient costs, markets andsocial evaluation, etc.); to create
decentralized and independent waterauthorities; and to design water allocation (and especially reallocation)systems that promote investment in
the water sector.
Climate change impacts, disasterrisks and deficiencies in water andsanitation have been identified as
the main challenges for the West
Asian region, as well as drivers ofan emerging focus towards water
security and Water-Energy-Foodnexus approaches. Predictions showthat climate change will strongly
exacerbate the levels of water stress in
the region, driving strong river flow
variations, rainfall variability andincreased occurrence of flood anddrought events, with implications in
the infrastructure, agricultural andhealth and social systems. Meanwhile, exposure of the population tonatural hazards is getting higher as aresult of more frequent and severe extreme events such as typhoons, whichhave increased the rate of economic
losses up to 16 times since 1970. The
rate of access to water supply in theregion has successfully reached some
88%, while access to sanitation remains lower, 53%, with the weakest
progress made in South West Asia.
The focus to address these challenges
is being put on the improvementof water management to guarantee
water security, as well as on the adoption of a Water-Energy-Food nexus
approach, uniting the forces of thethree sectors to cope with the future
population growth driven increasing
demands for food, energy and waterand their interconnections.

WHAT ROLE CAN ETHICS PLAY?
A values and principles based approach to water management: The
overriding ethos of the industrial
powers was wedded to a westernmodel of nationalism that has been
instrumental in fostering notions ofnational distinctions based on race,
geography, or ideology. Industry
has also nurtured a faith in technological fixes and an ethos of profit.
The current tendency to solve thechallenges facing humanity from thecurrent industrial ethos by recourse
to technological fixes, pricing policies, and market economies are both
misguided and insufficient. The current situation has been precipitatedin the first place by such policies
over the last 200 years.[9]An ethics focused approach sees
people through a rights-centred lens.
From a water perspective, this has
meant monitoring to avoid corruption.
It has meant interventions thatare planned to empower, rather thanaid. For example, training and capacity building in water scarce regions
allows the people there the ability
to guide and determine their own
future, rather than becoming reliant
on handouts from richer nations.
Ethics is important in the UN
context. The Ethics Panel of the United Nations (formerly known as theUnited Nations Ethics Committee)
was established in December 2007

Notes[1]. http://www.unwater.org/fileadmin/user_
upload/unwater_new/docs/Report_SG_
IYWC.pdf.
[2]. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/naturalsciences/resources/periodical/a-world-ofscience/vol-11-n-1/in-focus-water-cooperation/.
[3]. Ban Ki moon, UN Secretary-General, 2014.

with the adoption of the Secretary
General’s Bulletin entitled “United
Nations system-wide application of
ethics: separately administered organs
and programmes” to help ensure coherent application of ethical standards
within the United Nations.
The Ethics Panel of the United
Nations is charged with developing
a unified set of ethics standards andpolicies for the UN Secretariat andthe separately administered funds
and programmes, and to consult on
important and complex cases andissues having United Nations-wide
implications.
For Ban Ki-Moon, this means
dignity – eg. Providing gender mainstreamed sanitation services for all sothat no one need suffer the indignityof open defecation.
“My hope for the future is thatawareness will accelerate and thecommitment to working with ethics, to look at ethics and values asleverage for water policy. Not just as
something out there but as somethingthat we’re already using. We’re using
values and ethics unconsciously, andwe need to make it conscious. And
UNESCO already did that throughtheir ethics programme from 1997
until 2004 and then it sort of slacked
and now we’re trying to bring it back.
What’s different now is that there’s
water integrity, there’s water coopera-tion. There are these others
initiatives. There’s water
stewardship that’s a huge one
for the environment. Water
integrity I consider the whole
governance spectrum, looking
at the ethics of governments,and stewardship is looking
at the ethics of environment,
ecosystem protection in a way.
And then there’s the humanright to water and ‘social’ is
not really covered.” - David
Groenfeldt, Author: Water
Ethics: A Values Approach toSolving the Water Crisis.
“What has changed forthe better is the start of morelong term thinking. The
discussion around the post2015 agenda has been of
higher quality than I would
have expected. That gives somehope for partnerships and amore honest approach withregards to what needs to be
done. There is a far more open
attitude towards discussion
about sensitive issues suchas integrity and good water
governance at least in international
platforms. For example, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development) has put corruption
on its agenda, as have others.” - Teun
Bastemeijer, Water Integrity.

[4]. Access the Decade’s website here: http://
www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/.
[5]. http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=1558.
[6]. Ibid.
[7]. High-level Forum on Sustainable Development Issues Brief (2014). Available at http://
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/

documents/1322HLPF_Brief_5.pdf.
[8]. See WHO drinking water quality guidelines,
available at http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/guidelines/en/.
[9].
http://waterethics.org/wp-content/
uploads/2012/05/2-A-Historical-Perspective.pdf.

83Epilogue: A new Decadefor Action on Water andSustainable Development

T

he Decade has been a time of great change
in the water sector, and beyond, with important advances in achieving the internationallyagreed goals for water supply services and forsanitation as well significant progress in Integrated Water
Resources Management and Water Cooperation. We
have also observed better coordination on water policy at
global level both within the United Nations and between
member states, and most importantly there has been a risein global awareness and involvement of the civil society
in the process. During the Decade there was prepared along term strategy and plan of actions at global level and,most importantly, a political process was established. The
Decade also contributed to improved coordination and aless fragmented international water community. During
the Decade member states, UN entities, global organizations, business and other Civil Society organizations haveactively engaged in pursuing the objectives of the Decade.
It also helped making the connection between governmental and non-governmental actors, as well as createda space for some global groups such as women, youth,business and academia. In addition, relevant structuresand mechanisms have been created that strengthened
inter-agency coordination in the course of the Decade.
We have seen at a global level the transformative power ofglobal monitoring, reporting and information gathering;
we have seen a change in paradigms and have been able to84“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

develop and better share knowledge on global challenges
and policy responses.
A High Level Special Event on “Catalysing Implementation of the Water-related SDGs” took place during theUnited Nations Sustainable Development Summit 25-27
of September 2015, co-organised by the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Tajikistan, Thailand, Finland, Hungary and Switzerland and the United Nations
Development Programme. It addressed how to improvecoordination and global processes in water to support theimplementation of the water related sustainable development goals with some key recommendations below.
It was discussed the SDGs demand cooperation andcoordination from all global stakeholders and processes.
Stock taking, follow up, cooperation and exchange on
achievements and actions taken needs to engage all stakeholders will be needed. Some existing platforms such as
the World Water Week may be useful for this. Catalysing
cooperation, facilitating commitments on actions andfunding and their follow up may build on some successful models such as that of the Sanitation and Water for
All initiative. Stakeholder coordination can be supportedby the Global Water Partnerships (GWP) platforms atregional and national level, and other organisations suchas the World Water Council.
A mechanism such as a new Water Decade, if supported by member states, can facilitate cooperation andCourtesy of Government of Tajikistan

implementation of the water relatedSDGs, building on the existing initiatives and organisations working atdifferent levels. The new Decade canserve to promote mutual support andcoordination of existing initiatives of
the UN and global stakeholders; support intergovernmental coordination
mechanisms at global level, including in the context of the High Level
Political Forum activities and review
functions; supporting high level advocacy and awareness raising actions
at all levels. Beyond that it can serve
to facilitate actions at country levelby bringing together member states
donors and multilateral organisations
and serving as a platform for making
commitments and their follow up. It
can serve countries and stakeholders
to exchange experiences and provide
policy advice on the water component of the sustainable development
strategies and the technology facilitation platform.
It was considered that the Intergovernmental mechanisms foroverview, review and monitoringof progress and achievements at
global level must be strengthened at
the UN General Assembly, including at ECOSOC. Likewise theintergovernmental processes of theUnited Nations Conventions must
be strengthened. An intergovernmental mechanisms for monitoring
implementation may also be needed.
The road maps that emerged at the
Korea World Water Forum 2015 canalso serve as a base for monitoring
implementation.
In November 2015 UNSGAB
Final Recommendations “theUNSGAB Journey” for implementing the water agenda to 2030 weredelivered in an Special Event at the
UN Headquarters in New Yorkand include the need to promote a
global approach to water for Water
issues cross boundaries, to WASH,
disaster prevention, scarcity andpollution as this is vital for longterm sustainable action; make betteruse of existing international legal

instruments within the water sector;
tackle the growing urban water andsanitation crisis; involve the private
sector more strongly in dealing withgrowing water-related risks; governments must take proactive and preventative action on growing waterrelated risks; the UN must adapt
in order to better support Member
States in addressing water-relatedrisks; form high-level alliances totackle priority water-related challenges that are ripe for action.
The United Nations Secretary
General Report on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB) “ the UNSGAB
Journey” presented in November
2015 supported some of these recommendations for a more effective
global water architecture:
1. Establish a UN intergovernmental committee on water andsanitation
2. Form a UN scientific and practicepanel on water and sanitation
3. Strengthen UN-Water

85

4. Set up a comprehensive and independently
reviewed global monitoring framework
5. Make sure there is anindependent voice – because government s andthe UN benefit fromindependent advice onwater-related challenges.
Expectations for a new Decade
are high. The Tajikistan Government
is confident that the new Decade will
strengthen and enhance the progress achieved during the “Water forLife” Decade and will create a good
platform for consolidation of efforts
aimed at further management ofwater issues for the post 2015 period.
Our knowledge and experienced
gained during the “Water for Life”
Decade will enable us to take joint effort for lifting the barriers in our way
to achievement of all water related
goals. This knowledge and experience
provide valuable guidance for dealing
with the remaining challenges in the
new post 2015 sustainable development agenda.
t(SFBUFSDPPSEJOBUJPOBOEJODMVsiveness is important. Flexibility,
adaptation to local circumstances,and pro-actively working with all
relevant stakeholders are crucial if
we want our interventions to besustainable and effectively reachthe intended beneficiaries.
t5IFTVQQPSUPGLOPXMFEHFHFOFSBtion and dissemination, ensuring

86“Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015

access to this knowledge, as wellas generating new information
relevant to the water related SDGs
needs to be supported.
t5IFTVQQPSUPGFYJTUJOHBOEOFX
initiatives for facilitating country
level commitments and their follow up, as well as donor coordination by strengthening existing
coordination initiatives at global
and regional level, are of utmost
importance.
For the new Decade to be effective, it may need to start with a 10
year Plan to 2025 and have clear
delivery mechanisms. These could
include establishing benchmarks
and opportunities to take stock – apolitical process - including measures
for follow up after the Decade to2030. It needs to include countrylevel implementation mechanisms to
support action and multistakeholder
platforms at different levels (private,
NGOs, governments and society).
The Water for Life Decade 2005 –2015 has taught us that different dimensions of inequality (for example,
being inclusive of gender, including
the poor) in the provision of basic
water, sanitation and hygiene services
require different way of acting andprogramming. The specific focus on
women’s participation can further
reveal and unleash the potential ofwomen as agents of change.
By helping women to overcome
structural barriers, such as demandson their time, lack of financial
resources, cultural prohibitions, they

can become powerful advocates andactors within communities throughtheir ability to work collectively. This
becomes part of the empowerment
process that helps the community
itself lead to appropriate diagnosis.
After a Decade working with grassroots women, we know how vital
their contributions will be to achieving the SDGs.
A new Decade must build on
the social capital generated by thelast including at international level.
This is not only about governments
but also about adequate stakeholders
participation; which requires considering the importance of factoringin the costs of mobilizing the social
capital that is so important for ‘hardto-reach’ populations.
Ten years from now, a decade thatis not so far away, close to 2 billion
people will be living in water-stressed
areas. Already 40 per cent of the
population get their daily amountof water from trans-boundary water
catchment areas, and we’ve already see
how the scuffle has started for water.
With 60% of the population andonly 36% of the water resources of
the world. Asia will face critical water
issues very soon, if not already now incertain parts, such as here in CentralAsia. Here, more than anywhere thevery simple truth of “Water connects,
it does not divide” could have a very
useful meaning for constructive andmutually fruitful dialogues.
Mutual dependencies will only
increase over time as regions andsectors exposed to water shortage rely

“Empowered populations can become agents of change, build
social networks, through them relationships, and these can tackle
social issues that inhibit development – for example the taboo insome parts of India that states that girls cannot attend school during menses. There are key steps to success for sustainable community initiatives, the most important of which is to build projects on
local evidence and knowledge and not on perceptions of needs
or context.”
Corinne Wallace, United Nations University

more and more on waters controlled
by others. Water must therefore betreated as a high political prioritythat is integrated into other policy
areas. Cooperation will continue tobe essential – not only between sectors, but also across geographical andpolitical boundaries.
Integrated approaches and concerted actions at all levels – which
are needed to ensure water security
and sustainable governance of theresource – are long-term and complex process which can only happen
with leadership and agreement on
the overall objectives. We should
continue this approach, which hasdeveloped through the Water forLife Decade into the post-2015

agenda supporting the universal
water goal by continuation of theDecade’s successes.
We cannot afford to delay implementation. It took several years,
to agree on how to implement the
MDGs and monitor progress. For
the SDGs, the process for indicatordefinition has been agreed upon,with the proposal by the Statistical Commission expected in March
2016 and adoption by the General
Assembly in September 2016. For
drinking water and sanitation, amonitoring system is already inplace through the Joint Monitoring Programme that can be adapted
to the respective SDG targets. On
other water subjects, UN agencies

under the umbrella of UNWater are in the process ofelaborating a monitoring
concept under the GEMI
project. These efforts focus
on the monitoring of water
resources which is weakerand considers rivers, lakes
but also may need to pay
more attention to theaquifers (the largest partof the fresh water reservesworldwide – approx 60%
of fresh water reserves-)
and to water quality. It’s
absolutely necessary for
an efficient water management to improve datacollection and monitoring.
But this is only the start todrive implementation.
The 31 UN Agencies
involved with water issues
have certainly to further
increase their coordination
in a future Decade andspecifically in the context
of UN-Water, which needto play an essential coordination role within the UN
system and create mechanisms to be accountable tomember states.

A DECADE FOR WATER, A DECADE FOR LIFE
Contributing to the primary goal of
the Water for Life Decade, Spain has
agreed to provide resources to theUnited Nations to establish an Officeto support the International Decadefor Action (UNO-IDfA). Located in
Zaragoza, Spain, and led by the United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UNDESA), theOffice implements the UN-Water
Decade Programme on Advocacy
and Communication ( The Office)aimed at sustaining global attention

and political momentum in favour of
the water and sanitation agenda at alllevels during the Decade.
The designations employed andthe materials presented in this publication in no way represent opinions of the Secretariat of the United
Nations or the UNO-IDfA ‘Water
for Life’ 2005-2015 concerning thelegal status of any country, territory,
city or area, or of its authorities, orconcerning the delimitation of its
frontiers or boundaries.

United Nations Office to support
the International Decade for Action‘Water for Life’ (2005-2015)
Casa Solans
Avenida Cataluña, 60
50014 Zaragoza, Spain
Tel. + 34 976 724 220
Fax + 34 976 724 233
water-decade@un.org
www.un.org/waterforlifedecade87United Nations Office tosupport the International
Decade for Action‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015(UNO-IDfA)

UN-Water Decade Programme
on Advocacy and Communication(UNW-DPAC)

www.un.org/waterforlifedecade

Publication sponsored by Aquae Foundation