d5MrHv

National High School Model United Nations 2015
HLPF
sustainability entails the appropriate use of available resources to achieve enduring and positive
economic outcomes. This means taking advantage of and appropriately using the natural, economic,
and human resources SSA has available. Since SSA is considered to be an economically developing
region, access to drinking water and sanitation should be provided with the additional goal of
positively impacting SSA’s economic growth. Therefore, that requires perceiving water and
sanitation as tools for economic development, in addition to their more traditional definitions as
human rights and basic services that must be provided.
But how are water and sanitation tools for economic development? It may seem contradictory, but
providing safe drinking water and sanitation brings more economic benefits than not providing
them at all. The lack of sanitation and safe drinking water results in a loss of USD 260 billion
annually in developing countries. 71 Providing water and sanitation can result in enhanced economic
growth and development, as these services have the potential to earn enough revenue to operate
facilities and even produce extra earnings for the investor. 72 For example, “for every dollar invested
on sanitation and water, there is a five-dollar return and possible economic gains from universal
sanitation and water are an estimated USD 170 billion USD per year.” 73 This return on investment
for water services is more easily recovered than those from other services. Even the poor are willing
to pay for such an important resource. In the slums of Lima, Peru, the poor paid three times more
per month for 23 liters per capita per day from vendors, compared with the relatively wealthy, who
used 152 liters per capita per day from the piped system. 74 Moreover, sustainable access to water and
sanitation would stimulate the development of household commercial activities, small businesses
and industries, and shops, among others. 75 This would result in enhanced employment, productivity,
and ultimately more income. 76
On the other hand, societal sustainability is a key element that is often neglected. It encompasses the
well-being of societies, good living standards, education, and social integration for endurable
development processes. 77 It is a vital aspect since it is human capital that primarily drives the
economy and development as a whole; reliable access to water and sanitation enables people to have
dignified living conditions and increases their opportunities to improve their quality of life, greatly
improving people’s health and wellbeing. This results in more resilient and reliable societies, with
strengthened productive capacity and developmental drive and potential. 78 Hence, people have more
opportunities and a higher chance to lead the lives they envision, which ultimately is the core of all
human rights. 79
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71 “United Nations Millennium Development Goals,” United Nations, accessed 21 July 2014,
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/endopendefecation.shtml.
72 D.A. Okun, “The Value of Water Supply and Sanitation in Development: An Assessment,” American Journal of Public
Health 78, no. 11 (1988): 1463–67, accessed 30 June 2014,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1350240/pdf/amjph00250-0077.pdf.
73 “About,” SWA, accessed 22 July 2014, http://sanitationandwaterforall.org/about.
74 T.B. Adrianzen and G.G. Graham, ‘The High Cost Of Being Poor-Water,’ Arch Environ Health 28, (1974): 312-315.
75 Okun, “The Value of Water Supply and Sanitation in Development: An Assessment.”
76 Ibid.
77 Strange et al., Sustainable Development. Linking Economy, Society, Environment.
78 A Post-2015 Global Goal for Water.
79 Ibid.
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