Access to Water should not be a question of where you are born

World Water Day 2010

In our world today, more than one billion people do not have access to clean water. Over two billion people do not have adequate sanitation facilities. Some four million people die each year from diseases associated with the lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. 4,000 children under five years old die every day from those same associated diseases. Added to this, in times of disaster and crises, the urgency to meet basic water and sanitation needs saves lives, reduces diseases and restores dignity. Water means life for our planet.

Access to clean water is a right and not about where you are born. The little girl's name is Widline (photographed). She is one of the thousands of Haitian children affected by the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince in January. Next to the camp which is now her home, Widline often comes to the water distribution centre set up by Red Cross volunteers. It is currently the only access she and her family have to clean water, a vital element that helps keep them safe from disease and from the risk of deadly epidemics. In this sense, seen from the outside and compared to others children in Haiti, Widline could almost be considered ‘lucky’.

However, the truth is that Widline is certainly unlucky. Not just because her home was destroyed by the earthquake but, even more importantly, because she was born in one of the world’s poorest countries. In Haiti, mother and child mortality is high and diseases are often endemic, further fuelled by poor access to health services, housing, inadequate water and sanitation as well as urban and political violence. This reality faced by millions of Haitians certainly did nothing to prepare them to face such a devastating disaster.

Bringing emergency help is obviously essential. However, even though we do not know when exactly Haiti will be hit again by an earthquake, we are all aware that this is a disaster-prone country, affected by powerful cyclones almost on an annual basis. So why don’t we use the current tragedy to shift from a purely disaster response approach to a vision that also includes building up the resilience of communities? We must help people to be better prepared for the next crisis as first responders (and not mere ‘victims’) bringing solutions to their own recovery?

Making sure Haitians and people living in other disaster-prone countries have a well-equipped and maintained water and sanitation system will make it easier to quickly restore basic services when another disaster strikes. Access to clean water will also reduce the spread of diseases and epidemics.

Linking water and sanitation activities and programmes more concretely with other health activities such as emergency health, preparedness, and community-based health activities will maximise the effect of both. A more holistic approach that makes water available, improves sanitation, focuses on access to health services, and informs communities on how they can help themselves is the direction to take.

As we mark World Water Day today, lets help little Widline and her family – and the countless thousands like them - to believe in their future, by making Haiti a healthier and better place to live. After all, access to clean water, sanitation and health education should not just be “all about luck” depending on the place you were born. It is a human right that should be given to each and every one, rich and poor. 

To mark World Water Day 2010 we also produced a short video slideshow of what we are doing to ensure access to water is a right and not a matter of luck.

/PC

Conflict, Climate and Fragility

An excellent new report from the peace-building organization International Alert presents a strong case for better understanding the relationship between conflict and climate. 

In all the talk about adapting to climate change, "scant attention" is being paid to "the dangers of ... [adaptation strategies] going astray in fragile and conflict-affected" countries, warned a report released on 28 November.

Just under three billion people live in 46 conflict-affected countries, where climate change could create a high risk of violent conflict, according to International Alert's research.

In its latest report the NGO urged policy-makers to take into account the interaction between the impact of climate change and "the social and political realities in which people live that will determine" their capacity to adapt.

The political dimension of adapting to climate change, and the underlying causes of vulnerability in a fragile state that cannon carry out its core functions has to be factored in, as "technical fixes will only act as sticking plasters" cautioned  the report’s authors, Dan Smith and Janani Vivekananda.

"It is difficult to walk the line between alarmism and complacency," said Smith. "There is no point in exaggerating the risks, but there is equally no point in denying that with each year of inaction the risks of climate-related conflict and political instability increase."

He cited conflict-ridden Yemen where the water situation is "dire", to illustrate the impact of stress on essential resources in a fragile country. Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, is expected to run out of water in 10 to 15 years. "The consequences for the people of Yemen of worsening water shortage could be catastrophic. The risk of the state ceasing to be effective cannot be discounted.

The ground reality 

Policies for adapting to water stresses brought on partly by climate change in many conflict-ridden countries, particularly in the Arab region, were not being given priority, according to Hosny Khordagui, Director of the Water Governance Program in Arab States.

The Arab region - the Middle East and North Africa - is home to five percent of the world's population but has access to only one percent of global fresh water resources; according to the UN it is the most water-stressed region in the world.

Some of the world's biggest and longest-running conflicts are also playing out here: in Iraq, Sudan and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories.

A rising number of droughts, lower water levels in rivers, stunted agricultural production, and sea level rise brought on by climate change will turn millions of people, particularly in the Nile River Delta and the coastal areas in the Persian Gulf, into "environmental refugees", warned the UNDP Arab Human Development Report 2009.

Tensions over natural resources not only pose a threat to security among communities, but also nationally and regionally. The UNDP report cited Sudan, which has "experienced internal conflicts in Darfur ... between pastoralists and farmers over access to water sources", and Palestinian farmers, who "suffer because Israeli settlers monopolize most ground water sources".

Climate-Proofing Peace Builing

International Alert recommended that adaptation strategies should be more conflict-sensitive, so that water management in water stressed countries was shaped by understanding the systems of power and equity: involve everyone and avoid pitting groups against each other.

Peace-building needed to be climate-proofed by paying attention to the availability of resources for livelihoods such as agriculture - which could be under pressure because of climate change - for returning ex-combatants or people displaced by conflict.

The International Alert report cited Liberia, which is in the process of recovery from war. Many returnees and ex-combatants will come back to villages and make a living from agriculture, but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a global scientific body, has projected that crop yields in parts of West Africa could halve by 2020.

"The prospect arises of returned fighters becoming resentful unemployed farmers, and thus potential recruits, with their combat experience, in a new conflict," the authors commented.

The efforts of rich countries to shift to a low-carbon economy must be peace-friendly and supportive of development. The International Alert report noted that the diversion of food crops and land use to biofuel production had played a role in pushing food prices up in 2007/08, causing conflict in many countries.

The capacity to absorb is absent

Vulnerability to climate change is also about the capacity to adapt and many countries do not have the money to make themselves resilient. The UNDP report noted for instance that the Arab region would need around US$73 billion, an annual average of $2.6 billion over the next three decades, to enhance its desalination capacity to provide fresh water. 

Many countries do not have the information or the capacity to factor the impact of climate change into their policies.  They need more reliable regional and country-specific data to be able to plan; they also need to identify the most vulnerable communities to help them become resilient. 

International Alert is an independent peacebuilding organisation that has worked for over 20 years to lay the foundations for lasting peace and security in communities affected by violent conflict. Our multifaceted approach focuses both in and across various regions; aiming to shape policies and practices that affect peacebuilding; and helping build skills and capacity through training. This post was based on an original report published by our good friends in IRIN.

/PC