Dear SWA partners, As many of you will be aware, last week, we received some very encouraging news for the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. The High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda submitted its report on the Post-2015 Development Agenda to the UN Secretary General and water, sanitation and hygiene featured highly. The vision of the report is the end of extreme poverty in all its forms, and the creation of “building blocks of sustained prosperity for all”. The panel proposed five “transformative shifts” - leave no one behind, put sustainable development at the core, transform economies, build peace and effective and accountable institutions, forge a new global partnership – and 12 goals with targets to be achieved by 2030. The High Level Panel report mentioned water many times, both as a domestic need and a stressed natural resource, recognised access to water as a human right, identified water, sanitation and hygiene as gender issues of crucial importance to women, and spoke of the need for water, sanitation and hygiene in schools to, among other things, ensure attendance by menstruating girls. The Panel proposed a dedicated goal for water and sanitation. Goal 6 is “Achieve universal access to water and sanitation” and has the following targets: 6a. Provide universal access to safe drinking water at home, and in schools, health centers, and refugee camps 6b. End open defecation and ensure universal access to sanitation at school and work, and increase access to sanitation at home by x% 6c. Bring freshwater withdrawals in line with supply and increase water efficiency in agriculture by x%, industry by y% and urban areas by z% 6d. Recycle or treat all municipal and industrial wastewater prior to discharge The report stressed the need to address inequality in the targets, and stated that “the indicators that track them should be disaggregated to make sure no-one is left behind and targets should only be considered achieved if they are met for all relevant income and social groups”. This is of particular relevance to the WASH sector as, although the MDG target for water was met, we know that there serious inequalities in water supply coverage. The report also spoke of the need to merge the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. “Developing a single, sustainable development agenda is critical. Without ending poverty, we cannot build prosperity; too many people get left behind. Without building prosperity, we cannot tackle environmental challenges; we need to mobilize massive investments in new technologies to reduce the footprint of unsustainable production and consumption patterns. Without environmental sustainability, we cannot end poverty; the poor are too deeply affected by natural disasters and too dependent on deteriorating oceans, forests and soils.” For the partners of SWA, the Panel’s attention to water, sanitation and hygiene is heartening. We encourage you to express endorsement of the Panel’s report, to communicate the readiness of partners to do their part to turn the vision into reality, and to stress the crucial role Sanitation and Water for All, as a global partnership, will play. In July 2012 the UN Secretary General appointed a 27-member panel to make recommendations to him on the development agenda beyond 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals expire. On Thursday May 30th, this High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda submitted its report. un.org/sg/management/pdf/HLP_P2015_Report.pdf Yours sincerely, Darren Saywell ... Darren Saywell, PhD Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Vice-Chair WASH Director Plan International USA Tel: 1-202-617-2259 E-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:59:41 +0000
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