United Nations Water Conference

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The United Nations Water Conference took place on March 14, 1977 in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. The conference was addressed by de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla.

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Common problems in water scarce countries

The amount of water available to an area is dependent on its climate and position in the global water cycle. Dominance of water-rich temperate countries has overlooked the fact that water is a finite resource. High water stress is a serious problem growing season is short and recurrent droughts make irrigation necessary for food supply to be attained. The increasing threat of famine and drought in Africa is cause for global concern.

Major water problems occur in temperate zones due to ignorance or neglect. For example, water pollution has surpassed itself as a regional issue to a global issue. In tropical and sub-tropical climates, they face different problems. The tropical climate makes countries more vulnerable to floods, droughts, and land degradation (desertification). In other climates, such as humid, wet climates in Southeast Asia, supply large amounts of water into the ground. Human practices like irrigation have taken important nutrients from the soil and deplete the nature around it. Climate issues in different climates are much more far reaching to be more of a global concern. [1]

United Nations Water Conference

The United Nations Water Conference was the first intergovernmental meeting on problems ensuring adequate water supply for the future. Delegates from 105 countries, as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, were also present. Its purpose was to avoid a water crisis at the end of the century. There was need for extensive improvements in food and crop yields.

A set of ten resolutions were made directed at United Nations agencies, governments, and the international community overall. These ten resolutions including: assessment of water resources, community water supply, agricultural water use, research and development of industrial technologies, the role of water in combating desertification, technical co-operation among developing countries, river commissions in international river basins, institutional arrangements for international co-operation in the water sector, financing arrangements for international co-operation in the water sector, and water policies in the occupied territories.

Action Plan

At the United Nations Water Conference in 1977, the first Action Plan was created recognizing that, “all peoples, whatever their stage of development and social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and of a quality equal to their basic needs.”

January 1992: International Conference on Water and Sustainable Development - Dublin.

Principal 4 of the Dublin Conference stated that, “it is vital to recognize the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at an affordable price. [2] ”

June 1992: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - Rio

Chapter 18 or Agenda 21 endorsed the resolution from the Mar del Plata Water Conference of 1977 saying that it was “the commonly agreed premise.”

September 1994: United Nations International Conference on Population and Development

The Programme of Action from the UN International Conference on Population and Development confirms that all individuals, “have the right to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing, housing, water, and sanitation. [3] ”

November 2002: General Comment No. 15. The Right to Water

General Comment 15 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural rights (ICESCR) confirmed the right to water in international law. Within that the is, Article 11 allows for the right to an adequate standard of living, and Article 12 the right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Article I.1 states that “the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life of human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights. [4] ”

July 2005: Draft Guidelines for the Realization of the Right to Drinking Water and Sanitation.

These draft guidelines were intended to assist government policymakers, international agencies and members of civil society working in the water and sanitation sector to implement the right to drinking water and sanitation. These guidelines do not legally define the right to water and sanitation, but provide a guide for its implementation.

July 2010: UN General Assembly Resolution

UN Resolution formally recognizes the right to water and sanitation and acknowledges they are essential for human rights. The Resolution calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources and technology, especially to developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible, and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all [5] Water is a human right for everyone to have.

Effectiveness of the Action Plan

For most UN conferences, there is a follow-up conference ten years later. While there was the Water Conference which main focus was the “Improved Efficiency in the Management of Water Resources” in 1987. They spoke on improving the use of financial, technological, and human resources. This small, inter-regional was not done on a bigger scale due to the lack of single UN-body in charge of implementing the Action Plan made at Mar del Plata. Many groups have complained that "many problems are still in need of suitable action." [6] Finally, thirteen years later the UN began implementing the Mar del Plata Action Plan in the 1990s. An assessment was done for the different economic regions in need of water where programs were required. Many programs they created were ignored until the 2000s, like serving every man, woman, and child with acceptable drinking water.

There were many reasons the Action Plan was not successful. One such reason was the broadness with which it was written. For example, rather than referring to different countries who have different climates, they just referred to them as “countries.” On the country level, governments had to make tough economic decisions, prioritizing the most urgent problems. When the UN body allowed steering councils to make decisions on where to fix issues, they based their decisions on their budget plans. Finally, there was no timeline created on when these issues were going to be solved and the drought and famine problems have only gotten worse since 1977. the people are in the land of canaan.

Today

The Zaragoza Conference was held in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro was focused on “The Future We Want.” They talked about sustainability of natural resources, and the development of business, civil society, and governments [7] ".

Water Quality

WASH has widened the ambition of the water agenda to include water waste management and protecting ecosystem. Use of water is growing at twice the rate of population growth and ways to manage wastewater, treatment, and reuse. Wastewater can be collected, treated, and recycled to some extent.

Water Challenges

Today has expanded beyond water and sanitation to include hygiene, household, and beyond the household: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). It also addresses concern with safety, equality, and sustainability. Advances made have unequally distributed in many countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa.

WASH created the new 2015 objectives:

  1. No open defecation
  2. Basic access to drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for households, schools and health facilities.
  3. Increase the population without home access to safely drinking water and sanitation services.
  4. Elimination of inequalities by population groups as to allow more access to services.

Implementation Challenges

Forty-six countries still have more than 50% of their population without improved sanitation and there are at least 800 million people still drinking water contaminated with feces. Disparities of water are at the base of all inequalities in poor countries. The Sustainable Development Goal for Water is in the range of the resources, the human and social capacities and the technologies available. These challenges can be combatted by increasing finance to allow benefits to come up in front while also improving the use of financial resources already available. The use of low-cost science and technology that will increase efficiency in water provision and use in industry, agriculture, and energy production. These technologies must be adaptable to the scale and capacity of local conditions.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanitation</span> Public health conditions related to clean water and proper excreta and sewage disposal

Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems aim to protect human health by providing a clean environment that will stop the transmission of disease, especially through the fecal–oral route. For example, diarrhea, a main cause of malnutrition and stunted growth in children, can be reduced through adequate sanitation. There are many other diseases which are easily transmitted in communities that have low levels of sanitation, such as ascariasis, cholera, hepatitis, polio, schistosomiasis, and trachoma, to name just a few.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International development</span> Concept concerning the level of development on an international scale

International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country and least developed country, and for a field of practice and research that in various ways engages with international development processes. There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting the "development" of a country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Toilet Day</span> United Nations holiday on 19 November

World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Worldwide, 4.2 billion people live without "safely managed sanitation" and around 673 million people practice open defecation. Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all". In particular, target 6.2 is to "End open defecation and provide access to sanitation and hygiene". When the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020 was published, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, "Today, Sustainable Development Goal 6 is badly off track" and it "is hindering progress on the 2030 Agenda, the realization of human rights and the achievement of peace and security around the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Water Day</span> Annual United Nations observance

World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance day held on 22 March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The theme of each year focuses on topics relevant to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), which is in line with the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6. The UN World Water Development Report (WWDR) is released each year around World Water Day.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976. UN-Habitat maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya. It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The mandate of UN-Habitat derives from the Habitat Agenda, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996. The twin goals of the Habitat Agenda are adequate shelter for all and the development of sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human right to water and sanitation</span> Human right recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010

The human right to water and sanitation (HRWS) is a principle stating that clean drinking water and sanitation are a universal human right because of their high importance in sustaining every person's life. It was recognized as a human right by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 July 2010. The HRWS has been recognized in international law through human rights treaties, declarations and other standards. Some commentators have based an argument for the existence of a universal human right to water on grounds independent of the 2010 General Assembly resolution, such as Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); among those commentators, those who accept the existence of international ius cogens and consider it to include the Covenant's provisions hold that such a right is a universally binding principle of international law. Other treaties that explicitly recognize the HRWS include the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UN-Water</span>

United Nations Water (UN-Water) is an interagency mechanism that coordinates the efforts of United Nations entities and international organizations working on water and sanitation issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water resources</span> Sources of water that are potentially useful

Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightly over two-thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. The remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air. Natural sources of fresh water include surface water, under river flow, groundwater and frozen water. Artificial sources of fresh water can include treated wastewater and desalinated seawater. Human uses of water resources include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water security</span> A goal of water management to harness water-related opportunities and manage risks

The aim of water security is to make the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems. The second aim is to limit the risks of destructive impacts of water to an acceptable level. These risks include for example too much water (flood), too little water or poor quality (polluted) water. People who live with a high level of water security always have access to "an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production". For example, access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is one part of water security. Some organizations use the term water security more narrowly for water supply aspects only.

The Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development, also known as the Dublin Principles, was a meeting of experts on water related problems that took place on 31 January 1992 at the International Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE), Dublin, Ireland, organised on 26–31 January 1992.

Water Point Mapping (WPM) is a tool for monitoring the distribution and status of water supplies. It collects data about different aspects related to the water facility and overlays this point data with information about population and administrative boundaries. WPM helps to visualize the spatial distribution of water supply coverage and can thereby be used to highlight equity issues. The information collected provides insights into schemes' sustainability levels and management-related aspects of water points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water supply and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa</span>

Although access to water supply and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa has been steadily improving over the last two decades, the region still lags behind all other developing regions. Access to improved water supply had increased from 49% in 1990 to 68% in 2015, while access to improved sanitation had only risen from 28% to 31% in that same period. Sub-Saharan Africa did not meet the Millennium Development Goals of halving the share of the population without access to safe drinking water and sanitation between 1990 and 2015. There still exists large disparities among sub-Saharan African countries, and between the urban and rural areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WASH</span> Acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene"

WASH is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achieving public health gains, improving human dignity in the case of sanitation, implementing the human right to water and sanitation, reducing the burden of collecting drinking water for women, reducing risks of violence against women, improving education and health outcomes at schools and health facilities, and reducing water pollution. Access to WASH services is also an important component of water security. Universal, affordable and sustainable access to WASH is a key issue within international development and is the focus of the first two targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6. Targets 6.1 and 6.2 aim at equitable and accessible water and sanitation for all. In 2017, it was estimated that 2.3 billion people live without basic sanitation facilities and 844 million people live without access to safe and clean drinking water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water scarcity in Africa</span> Overview of water scarcity in Africa

Water scarcity in Africa is predicted to reach dangerously high levels by 2025 when it is estimated that about two-thirds of the world's population may suffer from fresh water shortage. The main causes of water scarcity in Africa are physical and economic scarcity, rapid population growth, and climate change. Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has a plentiful supply of rainwater, it is seasonal and unevenly distributed, leading to frequent floods and droughts. Additionally, prevalent economic development and poverty issues, compounded with rapid population growth and rural-urban migration have rendered Sub-Saharan Africa as the world's poorest and least developed region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water resource policy</span>

Water resource policy, sometimes called water resource management or water management, encompasses the policy-making processes and legislation that affect the collection, preparation, use, disposal, and protection of water resources. The long-term viability of water supply systems poses a significant challenge as a result of water resource depletion, climate change, and population expansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water issues in developing countries</span> Water issues and problems in developing countries are diverse and serious

Water issues in developing countries include scarcity of drinking water, poor infrastructure for water and sanitation access, water pollution, and low levels of water security. Over one billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water. The main barriers to addressing water problems in developing nations include poverty, costs of infrastructure, and poor governance. The effects of climate change on the water cycle can make these problems worse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals</span> United Nations 17 sustainable development goals for 2030

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of seventeen interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future." The short titles of the 17 SDGs are: No poverty, Zero hunger, Good health and well-being, Quality education, Gender equality, Clean water and sanitation, Affordable and clean energy, Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Reduced inequalities, Sustainable cities and communities, Responsible consumption and production, Climate action, Life below water, Life on land, Peace, justice, and strong institutions, and Partnerships for the goals.

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) was a United Nations-hosted organization contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 6, Target 6.2 on sanitation and hygiene. It was established in 1990 and closed at the end of 2020. WSSCC advocated for improved sanitation and hygiene, with a focus on the needs of women, girls and people in vulnerable situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span> Water crisis

Although the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has Africa's largest freshwater resources, it is suffering from an acute drinking water supply crisis. The DRC has one of the lowest rates of access to clean drinking water in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world. Only 46 percent of the population had access to an improved drinking water source in 2012. Furthermore, the sanitation coverage was estimated at only 31 percent in 2012. Up to date and accurate information on water supply and sanitation services in the DRC is scarce. As a result of inadequate water supply and sanitation services, many inhabitants are suffering from waterborne diseases, including diarrhoea, typhoid, and cholera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 6</span> Global goal to achieve clean water and sanitation for all people by 2030


Sustainable Development Goal 6 is about "clean water and sanitation for all". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. According to the United Nations, the goal is to: "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all." The goal has eight targets to be achieved by 2030. Progress toward the targets will be measured by using eleven indicators.

References

  1. ↑ Falkenmark, Malin (May 1990). "Global Water Issues Confronting Humanity". Journal of Peace Research. 27 (2): 177–190. doi:10.1177/0022343390027002007. JSTOR   423575. S2CID   110192905.
  2. ↑ Abrate, Tommaso. "The Dublin statement". www.wmo.int. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  3. ↑ "International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)". www.un.org. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  4. ↑ "unhchr.ch" (PDF). www.unhchr.ch. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  5. ↑ "United Nations Official Document". www.un.org. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  6. ↑ "2015 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference. Water and Sustainable Development: From Vision to Action. 15-17 January 2015". www.un.org. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  7. ↑ "2015 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference. Water and Sustainable Development: From Vision to Action. 15-17 January 2015". www.un.org. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
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