Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

T H E W O R L D ’ S W A T E R C R I S I S / 2 1of sanitation has been specifically recognized as a focal point forinternational action. The WSSD Plan of Implementation alsoreaffirmed the links between water resources, poverty reduction,disaster management and other issues such as health and foodsecurity. As such, it reflected the emerging international consensusdemonstrated in the Hague and Bonn Declarations and elsewhere.Similar conclusions are being reached elsewhere. The World Bankhas drafted a new Water Resources Sector Strategy (World Bank,2002) that emphasizes the strong links between water developmentand poverty reduction, the need for both better managementdevelopment of water resources in most developing countries, andthe importance of the global community supporting these developingnations by sharing the risks of water investment, using bothinvestment and guarantee instruments. The Global EnvironmentFacility (GEF) summarized discussions at the Ministerial Roundtableon Financing Environment and Sustainable Development held inMonterrey and Bali at the preparatory conference for the WSSD (GEF,2002).The prominence of water issues at the Monterrey meetingreflects the increasing recognition of the importance of financinginvestments in water management. Many water investments, andespecially large-scale infrastructure, are expensive and risky, withuncertain rates of return and long pay-back periods. Some, such aslarge dams, are also very controversial and can have high associatedsocial and environmental costs. Others, including many water supplyschemes built by governments for low-income communities, areunlikely to ever recover their costs. But the need for suchinvestments is clear if many water-related problems are to beovercome. There are uncertainties over exactly how much money isneeded to provide all the world’s people with a minimum level ofwater security, but the costs undoubtedly run into many billions ayear. The issue of how to finance these investments is emerging asa major policy issue for the future.At the regional level, key statements have been made by groupsof ministers in both Asia and Africa. A joint statement by ministerialdelegations from ten Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, LaoPDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand andViet Nam) in May 2002 agreed upon the vital importance ofsustainable water management for their countries. The statementrecognized water as a basic human need that should be given aspecial social valuation and called on governments to ensure that allpeople have affordable access to safe water for basic needs. Thestatement also recognized the importance of water for foodsecurity, the need for participation in water management and thelinks between good governance and good water management.The context for discussion of water issues in Africa has beenredefined by the development of the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD), the launching of the African MinisterialConference on Water and the formation of a consensus on waterthrough meetings of the majority of African countries in Accra andAbuja in April 2002. NEPAD is a vision for a new approach todevelopment in Africa based on partnership between Africa and therest of the world. It calls for a programme of action to buildintegrated development that balances social, economic and politicalissues. It is recognized that water will play a key role in manyaspects of this new development trajectory, a conclusion reflected inthe Accra Declaration on Water and Sustainable Development. Thiscalled for policies, strategies and real commitments toimplementation in six key areas, with all undertaken in a mannerdesigned to protect the environment:■ improved access to potable water services and sanitation;■ water use to address food security and income generation;■ IWRM in national and shared water basins;■ water-related disaster prevention, mitigation and management;■ empowerment and capacity-building focuses on improving equityand gender sensitivity; and■ pro-poor water governance and water policies.These key statements from ministers from Africa and Asia reflect theintegration of new approaches based on the social andenvironmental values of water into mainstream policy development.Links to poverty reduction are particularly notable in both, as arethe role that water management plays in disaster mitigation andenvironmental sustainability.It is consequently clear that there is a strong momentum in theinternational community to recognize the importance of watermanagement in the wider processes of poverty reduction andsustainable development. But to do so necessitates changes topolicies and laws as well as new management practices. Suchchanges are happening in many places, though this is a long-termprocess and conservative forces often resist them. Actions tosupport future reform through enhanced international cooperationin particular will be a key issue for future water management. Thereare a number of good examples of reform, some of which areconsidered later in this book. The future is likely to see acontinuation of the types of changes to policy approaches thathave emerged in the years since Rio, with in particular a consensuson the need for more integrated approaches, stronger partnershipsand a more effective focus on poverty reduction and sustainabledevelopment in water policy processes.