Impact of policy commitments on people without access to water

Despite setbacks in access to water by poor people as a result of scarcity and some aspects of water management, taken together the commitments made at international conferences are contributing to improved water policies and programmes.

Although these policy commitments are not legally binding on states, at least in the long term, they should have a beneficial impact on the lives of ordinary citizens and those without access to water. This is because:

• These declarations and policy commitments have focused greater international and national attention on water issues and have stimulated debate and research on specific aspects
• This in turn has led to an increasing awareness of such issues as the crisis of water resources in cities as a result of rapid urbanisation, gender inequalities and inequitable cost burdens born by the poor
• Research and the collection of statistical data on these issues have increased political pressure and have helped shape water policies and programmes
• Where the political commitments have set targets, whether at the national or international level, these can be used to measure progress and for insisting that the necessary steps to meet these objectives are taken, both by individual governments and by the international community as a whole
• Political commitments undertaken by individual states provide a basis for lobbying in that country and for mobilising community action

The significant recognition by the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No 15 that water is a fundamental human right has led to an increase in legislative protection of this essential right and stimulated action by civil society to ensure access to safe, affordable water for all people.

Meething the MDGs

The global efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals and Johannesburg Targets are of particular importance to the people without access to water.

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration (Resolution A/res/55/2) which set out the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). By Target 10 of the MDG's, states commit themselves to: "halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water." By the Johannesburg Targets adopted at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, states commit themselves to the additional target of: "halv[ing], by the year 2015….the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation." Source: General Assembly Resolution (Resolution A/res/55/2); Johannesburg Declaration, UN World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002.

Within the United Nations system, three initiatives have been instigated to encourage achievement of the goals and targets:

• A process of national reporting has been commenced to view progress towards achievement of the Goals
• The Millennium Project has been established which draws together hundreds of policy makers, practitioners and experts from across a wide range of institutions and countries to research how progress can be accelerated and sustained.
• Finally, the Millennium Development Goals campaign has been launched to spread awareness and build global support for the Goals

The WHO and UNICEF have established a Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) to keep track of progress in meeting the MDG goal on water and the Johannesburg Target on sanitation. The JMP collates countrywide and region specific data on access to 'improved' water sources and sanitation coverage, through censuses and surveys. 'Improved water sources' are defined as household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected wells, protected springs and collected rain water. The JMG also produces disaggregate data on rural and urban water connections and highlights whether these represent household connections or public stand pipe facilities.

Progress made in meeting MDG targets

The Joint Monitoring Programme's 2004 and 2005 reports indicated that progress towards attaining these goals has been mixed. The good news is that the world is on target to meet its MDG on drinking water, if global trends persist.

In 2002, 83% of the global population had access to a source of 'improved' drinking water. In Northern Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and West Asia, coverage levels have reached almost 90 percent. In sub-Saharan Africa there has been an increase in coverage of 9 percent, but this progress has fallen short of that needed to achieve the MDG by 2015. Obstacles to accelerating progress in this region include political instability, population growth and the low priority given to water services in national budget allocation. Sources: JMP 2004 Meeting the MDG on Drinking Water and Sanitation a Mid term Assessment JMP 2005 Water for life; Millennium Development Goals Fact sheet, UN.

The report is more pessimistic about achieving the sanitation target. It states that without a significant acceleration in progress the world will miss its sanitation target by half a billion people. The sanitation situation is most severe in Oceania, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eurasia and Southern and Western Asia. The report also draws attention to the disparity between the access to water and sanitation of rural and urban dwellers and stresses that more effort is need to reach the poorest citizens.

Sources: JMP 2004 Meeting the MDG on Drinking Water and Sanitation a Mid term Assessment JMP 2005 Water for life; Millennium Development Goals Fact sheet, UN.

Recommendations for action to ensure water and sanitation for the poor

The Millennium Project's analytical work on water and sanitation is undertaken by the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation. The role of the Task Force is to focus on what it would take to expand water supply and sanitation coverage in a sustainable manner.

In 2005 Roberto Lenton, Co-Coordinator of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation set out some recommendations for the achievement of the targets on water and sanitation.

Ten Critical Actions for achieving the water and sanitation target (No. 10) of the Millennium Development Goals ACTION 1: Governments and other stakeholders must move the sanitation crisis to the top of the agenda. ACTION 2: Countries must ensure that policies and institutions for water supply and sanitation service delivery, as well as for water resources management and development, respond equally to the different roles, needs and priorities of women and men. ACTION 3: Governments and donor agencies must simultaneously pursue investment and reforms for improved water supply, sanitation and water management. ACTION 4: Efforts to reach Target 10 must focus on sustainable service delivery, rather than construction of facilities alone. ACTION 5: Governments and donor agencies must empower local authorities and communities with the authority, resources and professional capacity required to manage water supply and sanitation service delivery. ACTION 6: Governments and utilities must ensure that users who can pay do pay in order to fund the operation, maintenance and expansion of services - but they must also ensure that the needs of poor households are met. ACTION 7: Within the context of national MDG-based poverty reduction strategies, countries must elaborate coherent water resources development and management plans that will support the achievement of the MDGs. ACTION 8: Governments and their civil society and private sector partners must support a wide range of water and sanitation technologies and service levels that are technically, socially, environmentally and financially appropriate. ACTION 9: Institutional, financial and technological innovation must be promoted in strategic areas. ACTION 10: The United Nations system organizations and their Member States must ensure that the UN system and its international partners provide strong and effective support for the achievement of the water supply and sanitation target and for water resources management and development. Source: Water and Sanitation for The Unserved Poor, Roberto Lenton, Co-Coordinator of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation, 2005.