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Mercy Global Concern - 2002
Water
is a Human Right
Access to clean water is a human right and was the center of the
recent UN summit in South Africa. One World Action, UK, has just
published a concise analysis of how the World Bank's push
for privatization is enabling a handful of multinational companies
to take over water services in the developing world. The profit
potential is huge and the companies are operating in a poorly regulated
environment. They are not interested in serving the poorest people,
who are not seen as profitable customers.
The multinational companies' responsibility is to their shareholders,
and their resources give them every advantage over the governments
of developing countries in which they are operating.
THE GREAT WATER ROBBERY (One World Action-
for a just and equal world)
Water is the basis of life, and has always been humankind's
most precious resources. While fresh water is taken for granted
in many places, it is a scarce resource in others, due to either
scarcity of water or contamination of water sources. Some 1.1 billion
people, or 18 per cent of the world's population lack access
to safe drinking water, and over 2.4 billion people lack access
to adequate sanitation. More than 2.2 billion people in developing
countries, most of them children, die each year from diseases associated
with lack of access to safe drinking water.
Water is a limited resource, a fact that is becoming increasingly
apparent. Global freshwater consumption rose six fold between 1900
and 1995 at more than twice the rate of population growth
and the world is now beginning to feel the pangs of water shortage.
The crisis has several dimensions. One is geographical; some regions
of the earth are arid while others have water in abundance. Likewise,
tensions are rising in many parts of the world where countries share
a finite water resource, such as a river basin. Another dimension
is the type of usage; how to share a limited resource between agriculture
(irrigation is by far the biggest user of freshwater in the world),
industry and household consumption- water for drinking, cooking
and sanitation.
More than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water and
unless massive investments are made, this number will rise to 2.5
billion (that is one person in every three by the year 2025).
The problem is acute in big cities in developing countries where
the water supply infrastructure is failing to cope with the population
growth. Health conditions are dire- water related diseases
are single largest cause of human sickness and death in the world,
and these disproportionately affect poor people. Most of the burden
of water collection falls on women and girls, usually taking several
hours per day.
If water were appropriately and equitably allocated among competing
demands, water security for all is an achievable goal. The International
Conference on Freshwater in Bonn, 2001 , concluded that there is
enough water for everybody in the world, if we change the way we
manage it. The question is how?
- Traditionally, water delivery services have been the domain
of the public sector at national or local level.
- Since the mid-1980s this model has been increasingly challenged
by a strong push for privatization of water services, spearheaded
by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Privatization, in one form or another is now virtually compulsory
for developing countries. (Both the World Bank and IMF impose
it as a precondition for funding water and sanitation programmes)
TWO CONTRASTING VIEWS ARE EMERGING
- Water is a Human Right that every state should guarantee to
its citizens:
- Water is an economic good- a commodity that should be governed
by market forces:
The privatized water sector worldwide is dominated by a handful
of multinational companies.
The profit potential is enormous. 'The liquid that everybody
needs- and will need in the future-is going private.'
Water services in the developing world are by and large confined
to central areas, where better off inhabitants live. Governments
and municipal authorities have failed to expand the services to
the surrounding poor areas, where lack of clean water and drainage
is the prime cause of high rates of diseases and child mortality.
One reason for this failure is that poor people lack political influence
and while that situation remains, their needs tend to be ignored.
The privatization schemes are unlikely to serve the interests of
poor people in the developing countries. The lack of will to serve
poor people is caused by the political marginalisation and distance
from the decision-making processes. The key to political influence
starts at the level of the local community. The top-down approach
still characteristic of many developing countries means that decision-makers
tend to have limited understanding of conditions in poor areas,
which in turn is reflected in unsuitable arrangements for service
delivery. This can be addressed by moving management to local level.
Women as Providers and Users of Water.
Water issues have major gender implications. Often in developing
countries, it is the women and girls who have the job of hauling
water. On average, they must walk a distance of 6 kilometers each
day, carrying the equivalent of 20 kilograms.
In this context is it vital to recognize the pivotal role of women
as providers and users of water. This central role of women must
be reflected in the management structure of water services, according
to the principle of user management. In many cases, specific support
will be needed to empower women to take up leadership and management
roles.
Key Statistics:
- Although 70 per cent of the world's surface is covered
by water, only 2.5 per cent of the water is freshwater, while
97.5 per cent is salt water. Nearly 70 per cent of freshwater
is frozen in ice caps, and most of the remainder is present as
soil moisture, or lies as inaccessible ground water. Less than
1 per cent of the world's freshwater is accessible for human
use.
- Areas of water scarcity and stress are increasing, particularly
in North Africa and West Asia. Over the next two decades, it is
expected that the world will need 17 per cent more water to grow
food for increasing populations in developing countries. One third
of the countries in water stressed regions could face severe water
shortage in this century and by 2025, two thirds of the world's
population is likely to live in countries with moderate or severe
water shortage.
- At the present rate of investment, universal access to safe
drinking water cannot reasonably be anticipated before 2050 in
Africa, 2025 in Asia and 2040 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Overall, for these three regions, which comprise 82.5 percent
of the world's population access increased 4 percent in
the 1990s.
What needs to be done
Government ministers and water experts meeting in Bonn, Germany
in 2001 estimated that, in order to reach the millennium Development
Goal to halve the proportion of people worldwide without access
to freshwater by 2015 the following was needed:
A global investment in all forms of water-related infrastructure
of up to $180 billion is needed. Present investment levels will
not meet the set goals. Additionally, preparations are underway
for the International Year of Freshwater in 2003, which will sharpen
public awareness of the need for action. The new International campaign
called WASH- Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for all has been
launched to mobilize political support and action around the world.
The Bonn Conference concluded that:
- The primary responsibility for ensuring equitable and sustainable
water resources rests with governments.
- Water infrastructure and services should be pro-poor and gender-sensitive
- Private sector participation should NOT BE IMPOSED ON DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES AS A CONDITION FOR FUNDING.
Deirdre Mullan RSM
Director
Mercy Global Concern
New York
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