outweigh its costs . These benefits will extend well beyond the water domain as it is normally understood . The development of health , education , agriculture and food production , energy , industry , and other social and economic activities all depend on the effective management , protection , and provision of water and the delivery of safe water supply and sanitation services . Communities also need protection from the dangers that waterrelated hazards can present .
Meeting the goal will call for improved water governance and actions in the realms of policy-making , legislation , planning , co-ordination , and administration . Tools for project preparation , monitoring , and management will also need to be developed to enable effective implementation to take place . All this will require enhanced institutions and human capacities at all levels .
Supporting targets
The global goal for water is supported by a coherent , cohesive , and mutually reinforcing set of targets . Used together , these would enable the global goal to be met . To facilitate understanding of the multiple functions that water plays in society , the framework is structured into five measurable and interconnected targets . The short versions of these targets are : 1 . Achieve universal access to safe drinking water , sanitation , and hygiene . 2 . Improve by ( x %) the sustainable use and development of water resources in all countries . 3 . All countries strengthen equitable , participatory , and accountable water governance . 4 . Reduce untreated wastewater by ( x %), nutrient pollution by ( y %), and increase wastewater reuse by ( z %). 5 . Reduce mortality by ( x %) and economic loss by ( y %) from natural and human-induced water-related disasters .
These short versions are provided for ease of communication . Text that is more detailed , and the complete and operative wording of these targets , together with indicators for monitoring progress for each of them , can be read in the annexure . These targets are designed to meet the need for precise definition that would enable implementation . The targets are measurable at national level to enable comparisons to be made between countries and allow aggregation at a global scale . The aim is for target percentage values for each target to be set at the national level and the global percentage values given above would be determined based on averages aggregated from those nationally set targets and associated elements . This is further discussed in section 3 of the full paper .
These proposed targets are relevant to all countries . They build on existing commitments and experience to address challenges that globally are considered most critical to progress .
The suggested global goal for water builds on and extends existing commitments . A global goal for water is fundamental to all other development goals and the proposed framework works for all countries .
The targets for the goal for water have important explicit and implicit inter-linkages , making them mutually supportive . For example , access to drinking water and ensuring it is fairly shared requires good governance — balancing competing demands — and the protection of natural supply systems from pollution and water-related disasters . Furthermore , the goal for water and its targets are of direct importance to addressing other proposed areas within the post-2015 framework , such as health , energy , food , employment , gender equality , and environmental sustainability .
As water is crucial to all dimensions of sustainable development , it should be feasible to demonstrate strong links between water and other goals and their related targets . Integrating the different development goals into a coherent structure offers the best hope of delivering maximum sustainable benefits for the greatest number of people .
Building the global consensus for water
It is increasingly obvious that the current use , development , and management of the planet ’ s infinite water resources , and the services they provide , is unsustainable . At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 ( Rio + 20 ), governments recognised that water is “ at the core of sustainable development as it is closely linked to a number of key global challenges ”. Achieving the development objectives of ending poverty , overcoming inequalities , realising human rights for all , and boosting and sustaining economic development are reliant upon healthy freshwater systems .
The proposed global goal for water addresses the priorities agreed at Rio + 20 and in other intergovernmental processes . It draws on lessons learnt from the MDGs , the unfinished business of implementing the MDG agenda , and on outputs from global , national and regional stakeholder consultations . The goal also reflects the reports of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda , the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network , the UN Global Compact , the UN Development Group , the Progress Report of the co-chair of the intergovernmental Open Working Group on SDGs ( OWG ), and the Budapest Water Summit , among others .
Towards the future we want
The aim of UN-Water ’ s paper , Post-2015 global goal for water , is to inform ongoing discussions on the post-2015 agenda . UN-Water members and partners recommend that the many interrelated water issues need to be addressed coherently through a dedicated water goal to achieve the future we want .
The suggested water goal and targets recognise the development aims of societies , while ensuring achievements are sustainable over the long term . The suggested water goal would promote the following development outcomes , among others :
• Healthy people through universal access to safe drinking water , sanitation and hygiene , improving water quality and raising service standards .
• Increased prosperity through the sustainable use and development of water resources , increasing and sharing the available benefits .
• Equitable societies through robust and effective water governance with more effective institutions and administrative systems .
• Protected ecosystems through improved water quality and wastewater management , taking account of environmental limits .
• Resilient communities through reduced risk of waterrelated disasters to protect vulnerable groups and minimise economic losses .
8 Water Sewage & Effluent March / April 2017