Nearly 2.2 million people die every year because of WASH-related factors, causing CSOs at the World Water Forum to that conclude that this is recipe for a humanitarian crisis.
Published on: 15/03/2012
Civil Society organisations at the World Water Forum have described the WASH sector as one in crisis citing the 2.2 million people who die every year from water and sanitation related causes. Another 300 million people are exposed every year, to WASH-related challenges arising from natural and man-made disasters – earthquakes, floods, drought, and armed conflict among others.
Through their coalition called The Butterfly Effect, CSO representatives expressed concern that although the UN in 2010 declared that access to water and sanitation are human rights, in most countries there have not been sufficient efforts to operationalise and actualise that, resulting in the perpetual crises that define the WASH sector.
Although some countries ratified UN conventions relating to water and sanitation (e.g the UN Watercourses Convention) they have not yet domesticated the provisions. In other countries like Uganda, the right to safe water is enshrined in the Constitution but there are no efforts to enforce policies and provisions around it.
Sharing experiences from different parts of the world, CSO representatives identified some of the key hindrances to the full enjoyment of the right to water and sanitation. They singled out some key areas where the right to safe water is blatantly trampled on including:
Governance: People are not given the opportunity to participate effectively in the decision making processes regarding their access to water and sanitation.
Finance: In spite of the millions poured in large scale infrastructural investments, 800 million people still don’t have access to safe water. Moreover, many of these investments like dams block some water sources that could well serve millions of people. It was noted that since 1945, 50,000 large dams have been built, blocking two thirds of the world’s rivers.
Water and sanitation for marginalised and vulnerable groups: Women, children, people with disabilities and special needs do not enjoy the right to water and sanitation. Doreen Kabasindi Wandera (Uganda) gave the examples of adolescent girls who drop out of school for lack of privacy in school sanitation facilities and women who suffer domestic violence resulting from the lack of water at household level. People with disabilities are not catered for when toilets are constructed or when water facilities like boreholes are set up. She called for the adoption of a human rights based approach to the provision of water services.
Water sanitation hygiene and health linkages: Communities are often excluded from processes of selecting and implementing water and sanitation technologies hence they don’t get an opportunity to understand the full range of health, hygiene and environmental issues relating to their selected facilities. Fabiola Garduno shared the example of a community in Mexico where flush toilets were constructed yet there was no piped water in the area. As a result, the community abandoned the toilets and continued using other unhygienic facilities, which escalated their health problems.
Peace and trans-boundary cooperation: Many populations are excluded from the decision making processes in respect to trans-boundary sources like rivers and lakes. For example this was the case in the Nile Basin until the Nile Basin Discourse took deliberate steps to involve communities that benefit from the river.
Water and food security: There is a wealth of indigenous knowledge among many local communities but they are not given a voice, which stifles small scale faming. But most importantly, there are issues to do with land rights especially for the women who, in most communities do not own land.
Water and emergencies: In the face of humanitarian emergencies, the most critical needs relate to water, sanitation and hygiene, yet they are not always prioritised. Jean Lapegue of ACF observed that every year 260 million people are affected by natural disasters and 40 million by conflict and displacement. Sadly, 95% of those are in developing countries and they need WASH support. The situation is bound to worsen given other factors like climate change, rapid urbanisation among others.
During their session titled “inspiring change through a human rights based approach” CSOs sent very clear messages urging governments and other stakeholders to speed up the implementation and realisation of the human right to water and sanitation, starting with formulating and passing enabling regulations.
Other solutions proposed are: commit dependable finance earmarked for water and sanitation services for the poor; invest in capacity building through WASH sector training at all levels and in education institutions; empower people and local institutions to manage water-related natural resources, based on their priorities, needs, knowledge and capacities.; recognise the value of local knowledge and ensure that local voices are taken into account in policy formulation and implementation.
