Yesterday at the World Water Week we brought together the Swedish and French Government agencies for marine and water environments (SWaM and ONEMA) to discuss how to best combat water pollution from agriculture in Europe. Poland, with roughly 50% of its land being used for agriculture, contributed with the important insights into the challenges that reforming agriculture entails.

Prof. Waldemar Mioduszewski from Poland took part in the seminar

Professor Waldemar Mioduszewski from the Institute of Technology and Natural Sciences in Falenty and Dr. Marek Gielczewski, Warzaw University of Life Sciences in Warzaw spoke of the Polish share of nitrogen and phosphorous load to the Baltic sea which is the largest of all the Baltic countries. But the fact is that Poland is a very populous country and so if looking at the unit load per hectare and per capita, the loads are not very high as compared to other countries. Still, the situation needs to change, but it will be all the more difficult to reduce the load because of the amount of land and people involved.

We compared the pollution situations in Sweden, France and Poland and what we need to do more research on in the future. Also taking part in arranging this seminar was the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the Swedish-French Association for Research and Baltic Compass. You can look at all the presentation here!

On the second day of the World Water Week, we brought together NGOs, policymakers and international negotiators to discuss adaptation to climate change at the local level. We wanted to discuss how achievements in the UN climate negotiations can be translated into concrete actions on the local level. But the strongest outcome of the seminar really was that there needs to be an information flow from the ground level and up. It is also vital to exchange good practices between developing countries that are struggling to adapt to and cope with climate change.

David Molden, Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) showed how people in the Himalayas are trying new crops and approaches to adapt to rising temperatures.

Mohammed Younis Khan from the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme had travelled several days from the Chitral Valley to share his experience on how glacial entrapped valleys in Pakistan manage their water through a community-led governance structure plugging into the region’s customary laws. Roy Anunciacion, Coordinator at the People’s Coalition for Food Sovereignty explained how farmers in Uganda adapt their own practices by improvising local irrigation and planting trees that conserve water. And Joanna Elliott from the African Wildlife Foundation showed how the rapidly disappearing Mau forest in Kenya is now being restored as a result of the involvement of local communities in the reforestation and the government’s firm goal to restore Kenya’s forests.
Ambassador Bo Kjellén pointed out that the UNFCCC climate negotiations is not the real world, but only a projection of it, and that these examples of local struggles are continuously needed for negotiators to hear in order to remember what they are fighting for.

As the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in June approaches, human rights experts and civil society organisations are disappointed about the lack of attention to human rights in the negotiations. The latest draft for the Rio+20 statement does include a reference to the human right to water and sanitation, but it remains contested. In an open letter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, reminds the governments going to Rio that this right is essential for the full enjoyment of life and other human rights. She strongly calls on States to recommit to the human right to water and sanitation at Rio+20 in order to achieve sustainable development that places people at the centre.

This is not a call for new positions. The struggle at this point is more to maintain the support for a human right that has already been recognized under international law, in order not to start moving backwards on the issue. Therefore it is vital to keep explicitly referring to the human right to water and sanitation in the document, in order to prioritize the under-served and to ensure non-discrimination. There are also fears that the recognition of sanitation as central for human dignity and sustainable development will be lost in the negotiations. The UN special rapporteur therefore calls for an inclusion for sanitation in the Sustainable Development Goals, just as sanitation is already part of the current Millennium Development Goals efforts.

The Special Rapporteur's open letter reiterates what the key features of the right are: "A sustainable development target for water and sanitation should aim at achieving access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all without discrimination, in sufficient quantities to protect human health and dignity, particularly for the most marginalized."

Taking a broader perspective, 200 African NGOs in the NGO Forum preceding the 51st session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) issued a joint resolution in calling for a strengthened national resources governance framework in compliance with human rights principles and harmonizing minimum standards. The NGO Forum agreed that governments in Rio should reiterate that all legal frameworks governing natural resources, including  use and pollution of water resources for industrial purposes, should comply with human rights commitments and ensure human rights, prior, free and informed consent for the protection of customary rights, access to information for empowerment, and participation for sustainable and equitable outcomes.

The international organisation Freshwater Action Network joins the choir of civil society organizations applauding the UN Special Rapporteur’s open letter and states that “Now, on the first day of the third round of ‘informal informals, we are calling loud and clear with a united voice: States must recommit to the human right to water and sanitation to achieve true sustainable development.”

Informal discussions in preparation for Rio+20 are taking place this week.

References

1. Resolution by NGO Forum to the Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
2. Open letter by the Special Rapporteur
3. Statement by Freshwater Action Network
    

Idag hade jag turen att få delta i den franska Stockholm Junior Water Prize-ceremonin i Paris. Den svenske ambassadören Gunnar Lund delade ut priset – att få delta i den internationella tävlingen under Världsvattenveckan - till 4 lyckliga ungdomar från Agen i södra Frankrike som har hittat ett sätt att skörda de alger som skapar stora problem i franska vattendrag och göra ekologiskt gödningsmedel av dem istället. Algerna sprids varje sommar främst runt Bretagne genom övergödning och avger stinkande gaser såsom vätesulfid. Ungdomarna från gymnasiet Lycée Gustave Eiffel de Bordeaux hoppas kunna kommersialisera sin metod att torka algerna  så att de kan användas i jordbuket i större skala.


Pauline Cazeneuve, Nolwenn Gomez, Ollivier Pierre och Téo Laulan vann den franska delen av Stockholm Junior Water Prize och kommer delta i den internationella uttagningen på Världsvattenveckan i augusti

Ann-Mari Karlsson, Programme Officer, Swedish Water House

At a breakfast meeting last Tuesday Mr. Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP, shared his thoughts on the role of water in the green economy with the Swedish Water House network.

The concept of "green economy" is not always clear to everyone. Mr. Steiner however urged us not to get stuck on a definition, but underlined that the green economy is more a set of principles for how economies should develop in order to sustain a sustainable development. This can be done through many different avenues, fiscal and policy reform to stimulate renewable energy are just a few, as is payment for ecosystem services. It entails a range of delicate challenges, such as how to achieve a policy change in parliaments, or achieving economic development in countries where people don’t even have basics rights in place. The idea that a country must develop first and only then worry about the environment is a fallacy. Mr. Steiner emphasized the importance of moving beyond the North and South opposition, and bringing the green economy discussion to the core of sustainable development.
 
Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP. Photo: Ann-Mari Karlsson

Water has many roles in the economy. The way that natural resources are used always affects people very differently and so equity issues are central to water management. At the Rio+20 conference in June, Mr. Steiner hopes that sectors will stop looking at how to capture and manage "their" particular resource against the interests of others, and instead start linking different users of water and to look at the entire hydrological flow to discuss how these flows should be managed.

Policymakers now need ripe advice on how to move forward with economies in light of the environmental state of the world. Mr. Steiner pointed out that it is difficult for decision makers to navigate in the cacophony of voices on biodiversity issues today. Rio will, among other things, discuss the Millennium Development Goals and whether they should be followed up with a set of Sustainable Development Goals to be reinstated for every country. But how to formulate these goals, should we define each domain according to water, forests, mountains, e.t.c or should we take a systemic approach based on the interconnected nature of these domains? While Mr. Steiner warned against too much fragmentation, parts of the audience pointed out that water as a prerequisite for the functioning of all other domains should have its own role in the sustainability goals.

by Ann-Mari Karlsson, Swedish Water House

 
SIWI deltar i över 20 seminarier under det 6e World Water Forumet i Marseille, 12-17 mars. Om du vill veta vilka, se vår flyer. Under konferensen i Marseille passar SIWI på att sända några viktiga budskap inför toppmötet om hållbarhet i Rio de Janeiro, Rio+20. Budskapen handlar om att framtida energibehov kräver en bättre vattenresurshantering, vatteneffektiviteten i jordbruket måste öka, kunskap om vattenresurser måste användas i klimatanpassningsarbetet, stödet till samarbete kring vatten mellan länder måste stärkas, och slutligen, att beslutsfattande kring vatten måste bli mer rättvist och byggas på starkare deltagande av intressenter. Läs budskapen i sin helhet här.

2011 was the year when the UN Human Rights Council took the human right to water and sanitation one step further, with recommendations on how to realize it. Does it mean that in 2012 the battle is over and that it is now "only" up to authorities to start realizing this right? Or, should I say rights? In fact, the distinction between whether this is one or two rights shows that there are still important debates to be held at the global level.

The UN special rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque has since her appointment constantly highlighted the right to sanitation, attempting to lift it out of the shadow of the water issue. International organizations and UN agencies have campaigned successfully since the 2008 International Year of Sanitation to break the taboo of sanitation issues so that we can talk frankly of the vital need to have a safe place to pee and poo. But in a legal sense, the right to water and sanitation has often been treated as one combined right. The UN human rights resolution from 2011 (A/HRC/RES/18/1), talks of "the right to safe drinking water and sanitation" - in singular.

Amnesty international however emphasizes that while the Human Rights Council appears to be treating water and sanitation as a single combined right, Amnesty International's view is that water and sanitation are two linked human rights. Amnesty's research from Nairobi's slum areas shows that women have to choose between not using a toilet at night or going to a public toilet and risking sexual violence - thereby pointing to specific problems related to a lack of sanitation and claiming it should be recognized as a distinct right.

Indeed it can be misleading to automatically connect sanitation rights with a right to water, for example there are many forms of dry sanitation that do not and should not require water. But perhaps what defines sanitation more than many other human rights issues, is the concept of human dignity that it evokes. For half of the world’s population, sanitation issues also include how to safely and hygienically manage menstruation. Within the sanitation field, this subject has so far been quite invisible and, in many countries, a taboo within the taboo as it were.

Menstruation management - the new taboo to break
Sanitation is crucial for the health and survival of men, women and children. But some of the most serious aspects of sanitation are more relevant to women and girls, and menstruation management is one of them. Menstruation is taboo in many countries, but the difficulty to manage it under poor living conditions have serious impacts on a woman's health as well as her social and economic conditions. Because access to separate toilets is lacking, approximately 30% of girls from poorer communities in South Africa do not attend school during menstruation. So not only do separate toilets at school enable girls to attend school in the first place, but more girls are likely to stay after puberty and during menstruation periods to complete their education.

Ms. de Albuquerque stresses, however, that "better sanitation conditions will not be achieved simply by building latrines and sanitary tanks". In her view, real changes in hygiene standards are only possible if the population is fully sensitized about improved hygiene practices. To this end, the South African Water Research Commission (WRC) in 2011 arranged a dialogue on menstrual management in support of the Sanitary Dignity Campaign for Women and Girls. In a report made together with The Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Stockholm Environment Institute and the Water Information Network South Africa, the commission shows that 60% of women and girls in South Africa do not have access to traditional sanitary ware (pads and tampons). Forced to use "alternatives" such as rags, toilet paper, newspaper, leaves, "recycled" tampons / pads and disposable nappies. This has dire consequences for women's and girls' health and hygiene, productivity, as well as dignity - and, as the report concludes, confidence to be active members of a society.

Future steps within this field will be for the UN system to clearly define whether the right to sanitation should be singled out s a right on its own. Another challenge for the UN as well as for development partners will be to continue lifting menstruation management out of the shadows and integrating appropriate measures in development programming.

References

• Women and girls and their right to sanitation - press release by UN special rapporteur
• World Toilet Day - press release by UN special rapporteur
• Report of the UN special rapporteur Ms. De Albuquerque on sanitation
• Menstrual hygiene management report, Water Research Commission

Someone just called me to ask whether he was young enough for the Young Water Professionals seminar that we arrange on the 21st of August during the World Water Week in Stockholm. His question was perfectly logical in view of the seminar’s name, and I was happy to convey the message that we do not have an age limit. But the question undoubtedly gave rise to today’s philosophical moment. What defines being young? The age at which you are no longer seen as young seems to differ substantially between countries. A reasonable answer to the question might be “as long as you consider yourself in the beginning of a career”. But then again, with today’s flexible working market you may just as well be older and starting a new career. And somewhere during that career path you will master enough knowledge and skill to become senior. The point at which you go from being “just” an expert to being a senior expert is equally elusive and, naturally, subject to interpretation.

Philosophical meanderings aside, with this seminar we are hoping to provide a platform for young water professionals, however they chose to define themselves, to meet their peers as well as more senior experts, to discuss future challenges in the water sector. This year we have created a scenario for the participants with the task to rebuild the Indonesian city Banda Aceh, shattered by the tsunami in 2004, into a resilient city. The central question that will be guiding the work is: Building a city in this area, how can we create sustainable solutions for energy and water supply, sanitation, industry and agriculture without overexploiting or polluting water sources? Have a closer look at the programme and the case study here. Please note that to join this seminar you need to be registered for the Water Week. However, for Sweden-based young water professionals there are still a couple of free seats left… send me an e-mail no later than tomorrow Friday the 5th if you want to sign up! ann-mari.karlsson@siwi.org

The international tools that are being developed to reinforce everyone's human right to water are largely focusing on individual rights to a certain amount of safe drinking water. The surrounding debates often touch on how to reconcile this right to water with privatisation, pricing of water, decision making processes and the role of the judiciary - problems that arise as water is being fetched or distributed and what to do when it is too expensive or too inaccessible.

But there is another perspective on the right to water among the indigenous communities around the world. According to a range of international documents and treaties, such as the Article 169 of the International Labour Organization, indigenous peoples not only have the right as individuals to a certain amount of drinking water per day, but they have a special right to access and govern the entire water resource as it flows through the landscape (the right to participate in the use, management and conservation of the natural resources pertaining to their lands, article 15.1 of ILO 169).

In a statement at the recent session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (16-24 May), Catarina de Albuquerque, Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation stated that "As Special Rapporteur, I regularly receive information about threats to indigenous rights, including especially concerns about pollution of water sources. For example, I have received numerous reports about the impact of mining operations - from uranium mining in the US to bauxite mining in India - indigenous peoples are seeing severe impacts on their access to clean water, as well as on their way of life and culture." Mining has serious environmental effects and often causes water pollution which, if not treated, naturally stands in the way for access to healthy drinking water. But the Special Rapporteur also refers to the mining impacts as having unwelcome effects on the way of life and culture of indigenous peoples - something quite larger than a discussion on the adequate amount of drinking water that a state must ensure its citizens. While much of the arguments for a human right to water in fact covers the performance of water services and how they can be used to fulfil individuals’ right to water, the claims made by indigenous communities are to more extensive water rights. These claims are made on the basis of a collective right of a traditional community to a natural resource.

The NGO Friends of the Earth International in 2004 stated that the concept of collective rights emerged because individual human rights do not guarantee adequate protection for indigenous peoples and other minorities exhibiting collective characteristics. Since then, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has clearly formulated in its 25th  article that "Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard." At the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Special Rapporteur de Albuquerque continued to refer to large scale infrastructure projects: "Projects to generate new sources of energy, such as dams and geothermal exploration, have also been reported to me as having a serious impact on access to clean water for indigenous peoples." Concerns about pollution of water sources are rampant in indigenous communities because not only do they threaten access to safe drinking water, but to cultural practices central for upholding a collective identity. A picture is thus emerging in which access to water, cultural heritage and sound environmental management cannot be separated.

UN General Comment No. 15 states that: "States should take steps to ensure that (…) indigenous peoples' access to water resources on their ancestral lands is protected from encroachment and unlawful pollution. States should provide resources for indigenous peoples to design, deliver and control their access to water."  In order to make that happen, indigenous populations need to be more involved in water management. Valmaine Toki of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for 2011 - 2013, in an interview with Media Global on June 2nd points out that policies implemented by governments do not include an indigenous perspective to water. He emphasises that "(…) mismanagement, over-allocation to intensive agricultural practices, and extractive industries such as mining, results in pollution of waterways, ecosystem, and livelihoods (…)" Toki noted that among the forum’s most promising recommendations is the appointment of a Special Rapporteur for the Protection of Water and Water Catchment Areas, mandated to protect indigenous regions that are affected by industrial negligence (see the article here)

The degree of lack of water is often based on a pattern of discrimination in society. Those who are discriminated against in terms of political influence, housing rights, land rights etc and based on their religious, cultural or cast identity or economic status, are those who mostly lack safe water and improved sanitation. Indigenous peoples in many societies constitute a segment of the population that is widely discriminated against and therefore their lack of water and sanitation is often widespread. Their lack of access is not a coincidence but a result of politics which exclude them from shaping their own lives.

But addressing the lack of water of indigenous peoples entails a set of broader issues. Ensuring specific, targeted and deliberate policies and measures to make sure that the overall progress of a society also reaches the excluded segments of the population is just one the cornerstones. At an absolute minimum, affected people should be included in relevant decision-making processes of development projects on their ancestral lands. Amending formal water rights to align more with customary water rights is another measure that indigenous communities call for. Indigenous communities must also be included more at all water policy and implementation levels.

References

• 24 May 2011, Statement to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Catarina de Albuquerque, Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation
• Media Global article
• 2002, General Comment No.15
• 2007, Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
• 2004:"Our environment, our rights. Standing up for people and the planet" Friends of the Earth International
• Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

But the fact that behaviour change is necessary is not an argument against improving laws and regulations. Both things need to be done. Law shapes politics and reflects the vision of a society. Safeguarding the rights of people is a crucial role of the law. The lack of access to water and sanitation is an obstacle to human development so vast that it should be beyond dispute that constitutions, laws and legal systems need to reflect the problem and define the obligations of government institutions. In the two years since the last SACOSAN conference in 2008, a staggering 750,000 South Asian children under the age of five have died from diarrhoea, caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water. Whose fault is it – the local communities’ or the governments’? Developed countries who did not devote enough assistance to water and sanitation projects? It is probably fair to say that it is a combination of these things, which is why efforts on all fronts are crucial. Strengthened provisions in international law mean stronger tools for national lawmakers, civil societies and donor countries alike to focus their respective resources in order to realise access to water and sanitation access for the many individuals who lack it.

References to the resolution:
The English version of the resolution is available here
Proceedings in the webcast
Unofficial summary of the proceedings on the adoption of this resolution

Vill du volontärarbeta som Junior Rapporteur under årets Världsvattenvecka den 21-27 augusti? Som Junior Rapporteur hjälper du ledande experter att sammanfatta och analysera allt som händer under Världsvattenveckan.

Uppdraget är inte betalt med ger mycket bra möjligheter till nätverkande! SWH står för din avgift, luncher och sociala event. Vi vänder oss i första hand till personer baserade i Sverige. Vi behöver din ansökan senast den 1 maj. Se mer information om hur du ansöker här.
Du kan också arbeta som assistent. Senaste ansökningsdag för assistenter: 18 april. Se mer information om hur du ansöker här.

av Ann-Mari Karlsson, Swedish Water House

Last week the UN human rights council (UN OHCHR) passed a resolution that prolongs and the mandate of the independent expert on the right to water and sanitation and upgrades it to that of a special rapporteur. The fact that the holder of the mandate, Catarina de Albuquerque will now have the same title and task as the special rapporteurs for the human right to food, health, and housing is very encouraging. I am also happy that the Swedish government decided to co sponsor the resolution as a way of showing its support. A range of organisations in Sweden have been working for some time to push for a change in the government's approach to this human right, and in doing so, also strengthening the status of social and economic human rights. For example, the Church of Sweden collected thousands of signatures in 2008 for a Swedish signature on the resolution calling for an independent expert.

The Swedish Water House hosted a cluster group for 3 years including development and environmental organisations who came forward with a joint policy brief last year. Since 2008, it has been unclear at least to the civil society including Amnesty International where the Swedish government stands on the issue, so it is a relief that they are now back on track. But what does the government's co-sponsorship really mean? It shows support for the mandate of the special rapporteur, and recognises the human right to water and sanitation. It is a very encouraging step in the right direction! I do believe that the support of developed countries for this human right, which is part of the already existing right to an adequate standard of living, will contribute to the realisation of the right on the ground. It does so by creating a legal framework and a tool for those without adequate water and sanitation to claim access to them from their government.

by Ann-Mari Karlsson,
Swedish Water House

Det har varit tre intensiva dagar för en samhällsvetare. Först nationell dricksvattenkonferens där vi fick reda på allt om brunvatten, den senaste membrantekniken och ökande humushalter i dricksvattnet.

Vi fick lära oss allt från klimatberedskap i europeiska städer till hur man implementerar en Water Safety Plan från a till ö. En avslutande paneldiskussion gav intressanta inblickar i hur politiker, regeringstjänstemän och forskningsråd ser på dricksvattenfrågor. Det verkar som om det behövs en bättre samordning av allt som rör dricksvatten, även om vi redan tagit det första steget med en nationell dricksvattenkoordinator. Den tydliga slutsatsen jag tar med mig från konferensen är att vi svenskar är så vana vid vårt goda tillgängliga dricksvatten, att det är svårt att ställa om samhället till att bli mer riskmedvetet. Klimatförändringar kommer öka risker för smittat vatten även här och det måste vi ju förbereda oss för.

Sedan hastade jag vidare till Danish Water Forums årliga Forskningsplattform Vatten. Om jag hade svårt att hänga med i naturvetarsvängarna i Stockholm var det inget jämfört med detta. Här har vi marinerats i molekyler och metaboler, för att inte tala om det intrikata samspelet mellan arsenik och fosfat i relation till kalk, eller kloroformets olika former i jordlagret. I Danmark tar man nästan allt dricksvatten från grundvattnet, vilket kan förklara det intensiva inresset för dess kemi. Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) presenterade också en studie i mer samhällsvetenskaplig stil som visade att relationen mellan tillgång på vatten och konflikt inte är enkel och rak. Det är inte mängden vatten utan oförutsägbara variationer i tillgången på vatten som skapar spänningar mellan människor. Och där det finns institutioner som hanterar fördelnignen av vatten, oavsett om den är rättvis eller inte, så hindras konflikter från att växa.  Mycket nytt och intressant både här och i Stockholm! Kanske en gemensam konferens nästa år?

av Ann-Mari Karlsson, Swedish Water House

The Cluster Group on Water and Rights launched their policy brief “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation - Securing access to water” for basic needs at World Water Week 2011. The UN Independent Expert on the Rights to Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, came by the book launch event and gave support to the work of the cluster group as well as stressed the importance of the newly published policy brief. The policy brief can be downloaded here.
 

Catarina de Albuquerque, the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Gunilla Björklund, independent consultant and expert and Åsa Elfström international water expert Svenska Kyrkan and Ann-Mari Karlsson, SWH/SIWI.
 
 

Klimatförändingar påverkar vattentillgång - det vet vi redan. Det blir för mycket vatten på vissa ställen, och för lite på andra. Men hur påverkas rätten till vatten och sanitet specifikt? Översvämningar leder till förorenat dricksvatten, torka leder till brist på sjunkande grundvattennivåer, gamla vattenledningar går sönder under både ökade och minskade vattenflöden, och priset på vatten ökar när tillgängligheten blir sämre. FNs oberoende expert för rätten till vatten och sanitet, Catarina de Albuquerque presenterade ett positionspapper inför COP-15, med rekommendationer om hur klimatförhandlare bör agera för att skydda dessa rättigheter.
Rekommendationerna lyder:

The Parties to the UNFCCC must
o Recognise the pivotal role of water, including its human rights dimensions, in adapting to climate change in order to increase resilience and achieve sustainable development.
o Recognise the adverse impact of climate change on the enjoyment of human rights, especially the rights to water and sanitation, and ensure that future strategies and plans integrate human rights principles.
o Ensure that human rights standards and principles inform and strengthen policymaking in the area of climate change, promoting policy coherence and sustainable outcomes.
o Establish a sectoral focus, or develop a ‘mechanism’ within the Nairobi Work Programme specifically mandated to bring together experts and implementers on adaptation in the water sector under the Nairobi Work Programme. In this regard special attention should be given to safeguarding the human rights to safe drinking water and to sanitation.
o Integrate a human rights based approach in the National Adaptation Plans of Action and give special attention to the duty of States to guarantee the human rights to safe drinking water and to sanitation.

Läs hela rapporten på:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/Iexpert/

Se min artikel på samma tema i GPPNs newsletter Outreach:
http://www.stakeholderforum.org/fileadmin/files/Outreach_issues_2009/091210-outreach-color.pdf

Ann-Mari Karlsson i korridorerna på COP15

Igår var jag med när nystartade Finnish Water Forum godkände sin strategi, och alltså är formellt igång. Riktigt kul, de är redan runt 40 medlemmar varav hälften är företag som vill jobba hållbart med vatten både i Finland och i utvecklingsländer.

Danish Water Forum som också var där och hälsade på, har också många företag i sitt nätverk. Vi på SWH har ju mest jobbat med universitet, NGOs, myndigheter och visserligen delvis privata delar av vattensektorn hittills, och med inriktning på policyutveckling. Men ganska nyligan började vi utforska hur vi kan jobba mer med företag kring t ex Water Footprint-metoder, så det var intressant att se hur Danmark och Finland gör. Och att de är ganska inriktade på att främja export. Vi pratade om att göra något tillsammans under nordisk flagg på internationella konferenser, och att företag som konkurrerar med varandra också har mycket att vinna på att samarbeta.

Nya Muminmuggen har vattentema

Jag tror faktiskt detta var början på mer nordiskt samarbete vilket är jättekul!
 

av Ann-Mari Karlsson, Helsingfors den 20 november 2009

Jag skyndar in från den osande hettan och regnperiodens sista hällregn. Inne i det svala FN-huset hälsar Thailands regering alla NGOs och regeringsdelegater välkomna med varsin färgglad sjal. SIWI och Stakeholder Forum är här för att lobba för vatten som anpassningsfråga.

Vårt arbete tidigare under året har burit frukt och nu finns flera referenser till vatten, mark och ekosystem med i förhandlingstexten. Men ländernas delegationer kämpar med att komma överens om hur texten kan skäras ned. Och vi kämpar för att vatten och mark ska stå kvar som viktiga områden för anpassning. 


Genusperspektiv saknas i klimatförhandlingarna menar en del

’Vatten är inte bara en sektor bland alla andra’ är vårt budskap, utan en mer genomgående nödvändighet, något som alla andra sektorer är beroende av. Vi diskuterar med länderna på plats om de tycker att anpassning är en nationell fråga, eller om de håller med oss om att det är viktigt med ett regionalt perspektiv. Det kan ju vara svårt för att land att anpassa vatten- och markresurser till att klara klimatförändringar om inte grannlandet arbetar mot samma mål. Men detta berör ju delvis frågan om gränsöverskridande floder, vilken är känslig. En del tycker inte den hör hemma i detta dokument.

För EU är det också viktigt att inte lägga sig i för mycket hur u-länder ska anpassa sig till klimatet. Det bör vara upp till varje land att själv bestämma. EU jobbar på att skapa ett bättre förtroende mellan Nord och Syd, och då är det svårt att komma med pekpinnar om vilka sektorer som bör prioriteras i anpassningen. Men det finns många länder i Syd som tycker att vatten är en prioriterad fråga och därför bör synas i förhandlingsdokumentet, t ex Bangladesh som har svåra erfarenheter av översvämning och giftigt grundvatten. Pakistan, Egypten, Holland och Danmark är också engagerade i vattenfrågorna, och Sydafrika reste sig under en session och uppmanade de andra länderna att se anpassning som en regional angelägenhet eftersom vi delar på naturresurserna länderna emellan. 


Förhandlingarna pågick till sent på kvällen
 

av Ann-Mari Karlsson

The hot topic of the right to water was discussed also at this World Water Week. The UN Independent Expert on the obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque came to the Week to present her first year's conclusions. For the assembled water community, the issue of pricing of water, as well as the privatisation of water services are still highly relevant topics. Catarina de Albuquerque emphasised that from a human rights perspective, it does not matter whether services are public or private, as long as everyone's right to access is fulfilled.
 

Just as with other rights, such as the right to food and the right to education, people who can afford it are often required to pay to have these things - but states need to consider that prices are affordable for all. The important thing is for states to make sure that those who cannot afford water and improved sanitation are not deprived of their rights. One of the added values of recognising the human right to water and sanitation is that it can help strengthen focus on the rights of those who are underserved, marginalised or discriminated in society.
 

by Ann-Mari Karlsson, Cluster Group Leader, SWH Cluster Group Water and Rights

I can start feeling the heat from the upcoming World Water Week (16-22 August), or the Week as we say here at SIWI/SWH. We are all on the hunt for the world’s leading experts and committed grassroots to arrange fruitful seminars and side events with interesting debates. So many actors are in place during one week!

The activity at SIWI is intense in the summer, and it is clear that summer is approaching. I co-organise a side event together with the Church of Sweden, the agricultural university SLU, and the German Ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ) on water as a human right, Tuesday the 18th August (followed up on Wednesday the 19th).

We will get a quick visit by the UN Independent Expert on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, which is really great. It will be interesting to hear her thoughts, after the first out of three years on the post, on how governments can improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation for those who lack it.

by Ann-Mari Karlsson

Nu börjar jag känna hettan från den annalkande Världsvattenveckan(16-22 augusti), eller Veckan som vi kallar den här på SIWI/SWH. Alla är vi på jakt efter att samla världsledande experter och engagerade gräsrötter för att ordna idérika seminarier och side events med intressanta debatter. Så många aktörer på plats under en vecka!

Aktiviteten på SIWI är febril under sommaren, och det känns att sommaren närmar sig. Själv samordnar jag ett side event tillsammans med Svenska kyrkan, lantbruksuniversitetet SLU och tyska departementet för ekonomiskt samarbete och utveckling (BMZ) om vatten som mänsklig rättighet på tisdagen den 18 augusti (med uppföljning onsdag den 19e).

Vi kommer få ett blixtbesök av FNs Oberoende Expert för vatten och sanitet som mänsklig rättighet, Catarina de Albuquerque, vilket verkligen är toppen. Efter det första av hennes tre år på posten ska det bli intressant att höra hur hon tycker att regeringar kan förbättra tillgången till rent vatten och sanitet för de som saknar det.

av Ann-Mari Karlsson

Förra veckan satt jag i lobbyn i Hotel Maritim i Bonn, medan klimatförhandlingar pågick i stora och små rum på hotellet. Märklig att sitta så nära stora beslut, men ändå utanför. Jag och mina kollegor från vår partnerorganisation Stakeholder Forum passade på att prata, över ändlösa koppar kaffe, med alla möjliga beslutsfattare om vatten och anpassningsfrågor. Vi pratade om att anpassning till klimatförändringar i mångt och mycket handlar om vatten. Och att de översvämningar och torka som klimatförändringar leder till, kan mildras om vi sköter vatten- och ekosystem rätt. Men hur ska detta budskap komma in från lobbyn till själva klimatförhandlingarna? Vi försökte hitta ingångar för vattenfrågorna till det avtal, den mekanism som länderna ska enas om.

Alla vill vi vara med i Mekanismen. Men denna mekanism som diskuteras av länderna är väldigt övergripande. Den handlar i mycket om koldioxidutsläpp, och den benämner helst inte enskilda ’sektorer’ som skog och vatten. Därför sitter vi alla med våra specialintressen i lobbyn och runtom om mig hör jag upprörda röster från andra fåtöljgrupper: ”avskogningen, det största problemet är ju ändå avskogningen!” eller ”Ingenting kommer fungera utan genusperspektiv!” och ”det viktigaste här är ju kustområdena!”.

Deltan och Bergsområden. Själv tycker jag förstås att vatten är ett av de mest grundläggande elementen att ta hänsyn till ju mer press ekosystemen utsätts för. Jag lärde mig också ett och annat om just vatten, bland annat på det side event vi arrangerade tillsammans med SIWI, tyska Miljödepartementet, Co-operative Programme on Water and Climate, och Tearfund. En konkret lärdom är att deltan och bergsområden är lite bortglömda, extra känsliga områden för klimatförändringar. Därför vore det bra om man i Köpenhamn kunde inkludera deltan och bergsregioner i listan av ’hotspots’, områden som bör prioriteras för anpassningsarbete, på samma sätt som man gör med öriken och torra områden.

Låt Anpassningen Börja. Att få in en rad om vatten i texten som kommer ut av klimatförhandlingarna i Köpenhamn är ett viktigt första steg, men sedan följer en lång rad steg för att sätta igång och anpassa. Anpassning kan t ex vara att satsa mer på ’rainwater harvesting’ och mer effektiv användning av vatten för att klara torka, eller dränering och säkra sanitetslösningar för att bättre klara av översvämningar. Det gäller att titta på vad som har funkat i olika länder och sprida de goda exemplen. 
 

SIWIs/Stakeholder Forums side event på UNFCCC-mötet i Bonn för att diskutera “Bridging the water and climate agenda” – fokus på vattnets roll i klimatanpassning. I panelen: Felix Dodds och Hanna Stoddart från Stakeholder Forum, Henk van Schaik från Co-operative  Programme on Water and  Climate, Thomas Stratenwerth från tyska miljödepartementet och Sara Shaw från Tearfund.

Kolla även GPPNs färska rapport om vatten och klimatanpassning!

Rapport från lobbyn i Bonn
av Ann-Mari Karlsson, Swedish Water House

Is drinking water and water for domestic purposes a human right? The question is provocative to many people, I have noticed. The most common reactions are:

by Ann-Mari Karlsson, Water and Rights cluster group leader

Är dricksvatten och vatten för hushållsbehov en mänsklig rättighet? Frågan provocerar många har jag märkt. De vanligaste reaktionerna är:

av Ann-Mari Karlsson, Water and Rights klustergruppledare