Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

4 2 / S E T T I N G T H E S C E N ESigning Progress: Indicators Mark the WayBox 3.3: Overview of major indicator development efforts■ Human Development Index of the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP – 1990): a composite index,which combines indices on gender-related development, agender empowerment measure and human poverty.■ Human Poverty Index (HPI) of UNDP: measures the levelof deprivation in three essential elements of human life –longevity, knowledge and decent living standards.■ Indicators of Sustainable Development of the United NationsCommission on Sustainable Development (CSD – 1997): aims atassisting decision-makers to track progress towards sustainabledevelopment. A total of seven water-related indicators aredrawn, based on Chapter 18 of Agenda 21.■ Environmental Indicators of the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD – 1994): developmentof key environmental indicators endorsed by OECDEnvironment Ministers and the broader OECD core set ofenvironmental indicators.■ European System of Environmental Pressure Indices (EPI):the EPI initiative is financed by the European Commission’sEnvironment Directorate and aims at a comprehensivedescription of the most important human activities that have anegative impact on the environment. The EPI is based on theDriving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model,and water-related indicators are included in the initiative.■ Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) and EnvironmentalPerformance Index (EPI): the ESI combines measures ofcurrent conditions, pressures on those conditions, humanimpacts and social response, and is a measure of overallprogress towards environmental sustainability. The ESI scoresare based on a set of twenty core ‘indicators’, each of whichcombines two to eight variables. The EPI permits nationalcomparisons of various efforts made to manage some commonpolicy objectives, primarily air and water quality, climatechange and ecosystem protection.■ Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI): developed in 1994 as anew measuring tool for the performance of the economy as itactually affects people’s lives. The GPI draws from the GrossDomestic Product (GDP) the financial transactions that arerelevant to the well-being of households and adjusts them foraspects of the economy that the GDP ignores. Access to watersupply, sanitation and health benefits are considered in the GPI.■ International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)Measurement and Indicators: has conceptually definedindicators. Pilot indicators and indices to assess sustainabilityhave been calculated(http://www.iisd.org/measure/default.htm).■ Ecological Footprint: developed by Earth Day Network, itmeasures the amount of nature’s resources that an individual,a community or a country consumes in a given year. Waterresources is one of the core indicators in the accounting.■ Capital Theory of the World Bank (Serageldin and Steer,1994): illustrates sustainable development with four types ofcapital – natural capital, human-made capital, human capital,and social capital. For sustainable development, the totalamount of capital in a society should be non-declining at anytime. Flows between these capitals will change the amountof each capital. Sustainability indicators should describe theamount of each capital and the flows between capitals.■ UN System Water Resource Indicator-Based ReportingSystem: UN agencies are involved in publishing sectoralindicators that provide information on the state of the world’swater. A few notable ones are those elaborated for the burdenof disease led by WHO, UNICEF and WSSCC. Other effortsinclude the FAO’s publications based on FAOSTAT and Aquastat,and UNEP’s publications based on GRID statistics.■ Specific Water Availability: water stress indicator based onspecific water availability, which is the water per capita thatis left after agricultural, domestic and industry uses(Shiklomanov, 1997).■ Standard Indicator: deals with water availability in acountry based on the people living in that country(Falkenmark et al., 1989). The indicator assumes it is likelythat there will be fewer problems because of watershortages if more water is available per capita.■ Water Indicators developed by the World Resources Institute(WRI – 1998): indicator-based assessment of watersheds andfreshwater systems on the basis of fifteen global indicatorsthat characterize watersheds according to their value, currentcondition and vulnerability to potential degradation.■ UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring and AssessmentGuidelines (2000): development of guidelines formonitoring and assessment that integrate indicatordevelopment in the monitoring cycle.