Sustainable Development Goals
U.N. Chief Backs New Int’l Decade for Water for
Sustainable Development
By Thalif Deen
as integrated water resources management, efficiency of
use, water quality, transboundary cooperation, water-related
ecosystems, and water-related disasters.
“Water, like other areas of the post-2015 development
agenda, is intricately interconnected with other challenges,”
he noted.
John Garrett, senior policy analyst of development finance
at the London-based WaterAid, said: “We at WaterAid
are glad to see U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
highlighting in Tajikistan the human right to water and
sanitation, and the enormous need that still exists for these
essential services among the world’s poorest and most
marginalized populations.”
Floods in Morigaon, India submerged about 45 roads in October 2014. Most
people wade through the water, believing this is quicker than waiting for a rickety
boat to transport them across. Credit: Priyanka Borpujari/IPS
A
s the United Nations continues its negotiations to
both define and refine a new set of Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) before a summit meeting
of world leaders in September, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon has expressed support for a new “International
Decade for Water for Sustainable Development.”
“It would complement and support the achievement of the
proposed Sustainable Development Goals – for water,” he
said.
“A dedicated Sustainable Development Goal, explicitly
addressing the multifaceted nature of water - as a social
issue, an economic issue, an environmental issue, as well as
the main cause of disasters on our planet – is an imperative.”
Torgny Holmgren
The proposal for a new International Decade, which has
to be eventually approved by the 193-member General
Assembly, was initiated recently by the president of
Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, at a ‘Water for Life” highlevel international conference in the capital of Dushanbe.
Tajikistan, which has taken a leading role in highlighting
the significance of water as a source of life, also sponsored
the International Decade of Water for Life (2005-2015) “to
raise awareness and galvanize action.”
The proposed new International Decade will be a successor
to Water for Life which concludes in December this year.
Ban told delegates water’s place in the SDGs go well
beyond access — taking into account critical issues such
18
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • July - August 2015
The new SDGs, he pointed out, represent a once-in-ageneration chance to reach everyone, everywhere with clean
water, decent toilets and a way to keep themselves and their
surroundings clean.
“A new decade for action on Water for Sustainable
Development would continue a much-needed focus on the
enormous challenges ahead,” he said.
However, he cautioned, the action should also focus on
sanitation and hygiene, because without these, clean water
is neither achievable nor sustainable, and neither are the
health benefits nor economic progress that results.
Over the years, the United Nations has continued to place
water-related issues on its socio-economic agenda: the firstever International Year of Water Cooperation; World Water
Day commemorated every year on Mar. 22; and the annual
World Toilet Day on Nov. 19.
Ban said the world achieved the Millennium Development
Goal target for safe and sustainable drinking water five
years ahead of schedule.
In the course of one generation, 2.3 billion people – onethird of humanity – have gained access to an improved
drinking water source.
The United Nations General Assembly declared access
to clean drinking water and safe sanitation to be a human
right, he pointed out.
Torgny Holmgren, executive director at the Stockholm
International Water Institute (SIWI), said his organizat