Presentation from the 2014 World Water Week in Stockholm www.worldwaterweek.org

©The Author(s), all rights reserved

www.siwi.org

Targeting universal access to drinking water that is really safe

Stockholm World Water Week 31 August 2014

Gerard PAYEN Member of UNSGAB

Access to water that is safe is a Component of the Human Right to Drinking Water Sufficient quantity

Acceptability

Availability Accessibility

Safety

Affordability

Equity Non-discrimination

Universal access to water that is really safe will not be achieved by chance

Policies targeting contamination are needed The SDG framework is a fantastic opportunity to drive action G.Payen

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Drinking water safety: global issues • No global monitoring mechanism on drinking water safety • The number of people using unsafe water is underestimated by many • The proposed SDG Target on access to drinking water is ambiguous

G.Payen

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Current mechanism monitors the physical types of access to water Physical access Piped water into dwelling, plot or yard Public tap / standpipe Tubewell / borehole Protected dug well Protected spring Rainwater collection Unprotected dug well Unprotected spring Cart with small tank/drum Bottled water Tanker-truck Surface water Total Dec 2012 data, source JMP

6.3

bn

0.748 bn 7.05 bn 4

G.Payen

Drinking water safety at the global level What do we know?  Only estimates, no statistics with regular monitoring  2011-2012 First estimates built on water quality data (Payen, 2011**; Onda, LoBuglio and Jamie Bartram, 2012)

 2014 - meta-analysis of 345 datasets confirms previous estimates. Main result publicly disclosed by UN-Water: 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water that is faecally contaminated* •

This is an estimate of the number of people who use faecally contaminated water on a certain day of the year. As in many locations, weather variations, power shortages or other causes of disruptions of the usual water supply, and other forms of contamination, force people to use alternative sources of lower quality for several weeks a year, it is likely that at least 2 billion people use a source of drinking water that is contaminated at least once in a year.

** see www.aquafed.org/page-5-106.html

G.Payen

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Estimates of water contamination Physical access UN stats Piped water into dwelling, plot or yard Public tap / standpipe Tubewell / borehole Protected dug well Protected spring Rainwater collection Unprotected dug well Unprotected spring Cart with small tank/drum Bottled water Tanker-truck Surface water Total

6.3

bn

Contamination by e-coli Estimates

1.15 bn

0.75 bn

0.65 bn

7.05 bn

1.86 bn

G.Payen

A global monitoring mechanism of drinking water safety is needed  Out of the nearly 2 billion people using contaminated water, there are more people using improved water sources than people using unimproved water sources! The current monitoring mechanism does not assess water safety  Progress on types of physical access is measured, progress (or regress) on safety is unknown,

G.Payen

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Building a global monitoring mechanism of drinking water safety  New global methodology has been prepared by UNWater and is now available  Field tests are under way in several countries Decisions to be made urgently:  Mandating a UN body

 Funding the global monitoring mechanism G.Payen

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Drinking water safety: global issues • No global monitoring mechanism on drinking water safety • The number of people using unsafe water is underestimated by many • The proposed SDG Target on access to drinking water is ambiguous

G.Payen

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The number of people using unsafe water: confusion & underestimation 2002 - UN Summit Johannesburg:

some 1.2 billion people still have no access to safe drinking water 2010 – UN General Assembly:

approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water 2011 - UNSGAB, contribution to Rio+20 Summit:

it is estimated that between 2 and 3 billion people might not have access to safe drinking water. 2012- US Secretary of State: At this rate, nearly

700 million people will lack access to safe drinking water in 2015 G.Payen 10

The number of people using unsafe water is underestimated by many 2013 – European Union Commission:

over 780 million people do not have access to safe drinking water 2013 - Ban Ki-moon, UNSG in Budapest:

“Close to one-third of people drink water that endangers health” [one-third makes 2.1 billion] 2013 – High-level panel on post-2015:

Around two billion people continuous, safe water 2014 - UN MDG report:

lack

access

to

There were 748 million people still relying on G.Payen 11 unsafe drinking water sources in 2012

Drinking water safety: global issues • No global monitoring mechanism on drinking water safety • The number of people using unsafe water is underestimated by many • The proposed SDG Target on access to drinking water is ambiguous

G.Payen

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The proposed SDG Target on access to drinking water is ambiguous 2013 Jan – UNSGAB recommends a post-2015 target to

Achieve universal access to drinking water that is really safe, 2013 May – High-Level Panel recommends to:

Provide universal access to safe drinking water 2014 Jan – UN-Water proposes a dual Target including

- Universal access to “basic” drinking water - 50% progress on “safely-managed”* drinking water services This second sub-target includes an assessment of water quality

2014 July – The Open Working Group resolves to target universal

and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water

G.Payen

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The proposed SDG Target on access to drinking water is ambiguous 2013 Jan – UNSGAB a post-2015 target to The OWG proposalrecommends is different from the UN-Water Achieve universal access to drinking water that is really safe, recommendation In May the context of thePanel MDG,recommends its wording isto: ambiguous 2013 – High-Level Provide to safe drinking water Doesuniversal it targetaccess “improved” or “really safe” water? 2014 Jan – UN-Water proposes a dual Target including

- Universal access to “basic” drinking water - 50% progress on “safely-managed”* drinking water services This second sub-target includes an assessment of water quality

2014 July – The Open Working Group resolves to target universal

and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water

G.Payen

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SDG Target vs MDG Target 2000 current MDG

2015 proposed SDG*

sustainable access to safe drinking water

equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water

Same ambition or step change with respect to water quality?

* Proposal of the Open Working Group to the UNGA, July 2014

G.Payen

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Drinking water that is really safe? How many people will be targeted by the SDG Target on access to water: • 700 million ? • 2 billion ? • More ?

G.Payen

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Conclusion As billions of people are needing water that is really safe, it is essential that the SDG Target that is adopted is understood by all as targeting water that is really safe

Suggestions  UN-Water to communicate more visibly on the number of people using unsafe water

 A global monitoring mechanism of drinking water safety should be built and funded  A clear and precise interpretation of the Target proposed by the OWG should be made available in a public document G.Payen

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Thank you www.unsgab.org

Source: Suez

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