Deputy Minister Olav Kjørven

Key Challenges to Reach the MDGs on Water and Sanitation

WASH Forum, Dakar, Senegal,
29 November 2004

Mr. Chairman, Colleagues, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;

“A young girl’s dream in urban slums and even in rural areas is to marry into a household with a latrine”.

This voice of a girl is quoted in UN Habitat’s “Unheard Voices” and it captures the daily struggle of poor people, especially women and girls, in search for their safety, privacy and dignity. It is a humble dream – but it is important.

The world is slowly waking up to the water, sanitation and hygiene crisis. This silent humanitarian crisis each day takes thousands of lives, robs the poor of their health, thwarts progress toward gender equality, causes girls to drop put of school, and hamstrings economic development, particularly in Africa and Asia.

As a representative of one of the founding members of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council I am pleased to note that the Council and its WASH campaign represent a global alliance for making safe water, sanitation and hygiene a reality for all.

You have come a long way since the first Forum in Oslo in 1991!

Mr. Chairman;

We all agree on the importance of water – the essence of life. Sanitation is of equal importance – but we do not talk about it, at least we did not use to. That is why I will like to focus on sanitation today. It was not until Johannesburg that we managed to agree on a target on sanitation. Meeting the target is crucial for reaching the targets in other areas such as poverty eradication, education, child mortality, health and environmental sustainability.

Why does sanitation command so little attention from local and national governments, and from the international community?

Let me give you three challenges, namely an institutional, a cultural and a political.

If no institution has clear responsibility for sanitation at national level, sanitation will most likely not appear in planning and policy dialogues. Sanitation and hygiene must be given an institutional home in order to attract political attention. Senegal is an excellent example in this regard.

Institutions are not enough. Strong cultural and personal taboos against discussing human wastes and their disposal must be properly addressed and understood. Too often such taboos do hamper necessary awareness efforts.

There is also lack of political will to address sanitation and hygiene. Women in many developing countries have limited political power. This means that some of sanitation's strongest advocates are virtually absent from decision-making and priority-setting processes. In addition, the unique sanitation needs of females receive little recognition when discussions about sanitation and hygiene do occur. The problems are part institutional, part political. We must attack them in concert.

In this connection I am pleased to announce that the Norwegian Minister of International Development, Ms. Hilde F. Johnson, is willing to take part in the group called “Global WASH Advocates – Women Leaders for Global WASH”. She is looking forward to contribute to keeping water, sanitation and hygiene high on the international agenda and make sure that the perspectives and needs of women are not ignored.

How can we address the challenges?

Real change begins with people. We know from history that individuals can make a difference. In fact, - they are the only ones who do!

The cultural and personal taboos, not to mention political taboos, against discussing the nuts- and bolts of sanitation makes a people centred approach essential. Community-based programs are the most promising way to raise awareness of and demand for improved sanitation in communities. I believe it is particularly important to mobilise and draw on the strength of the churches and other faith-based institutions. They are present at the ground and they reach out to millions every day.

Indeed, improving and expanding sanitation is - to a much larger extent than the issue of water supply - dependent on motivation and mobilisation of communities. This is crucial in order to promote effective individual and collective action. We therefore need to build coalitions between governments at all levels, utilities and capable civic and/or private organizations to advance the sanitation agenda.

We need clear political will and government responsibility to ensure that national policies for water, sanitation and hygiene are integral parts of national strategies for sustainable development and poverty reduction. We need as well a clear strategy for the role of local governments in service delivery.

Poor people and poor countries must be made a priority, and resources and policies must be focused on spurring and supporting community-led action through empowering poor communities and individuals. A key is granting property rights and securing tenure to the poorest – no ownership, no sustainability, and no expansions of real choices.

Furthermore, we have realised the importance of providing sanitation in the schools. That is a win-win for all the Millennium Development Goals.

Governments and utilities must ensure that users who can pay do pay in order to fund the maintenance and expansion of services – but they must also ensure that the needs of poor households are met.

Improved sanitation services generate both public and private benefits. Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, the Director of UN-Habitat, gave us the numbers this morning – the rate of return is 6-fold, and it might even be higher.

The case has been made!

Governments should be prepared to invest in water and sanitation services for their populations, both as a means of attaining public health and environmental goals, and as a strategy for supporting development and education. This should also include creating an enabling framework for private sector and community participation.

We as donors, have to commit to refocus our development assistance, to target sufficient aid to the least developed countries and to give increased attention to sanitation. Donors and international agencies should more fully align their work programmes around the MDGs and harmonize and coordinate their activities. Norway will increasingly focus on providing support to water and sanitation through multilateral institutions, for example the African Development Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO and not least UN-Habitat, and to strengthen global advocacy through the Council and knowledge networks through the Water and Sanitation Program – WSP.

I am pleased to inform you that the Norwegian government is ready to support AMCOW and the African Water Facility, including the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative. We view these as two promising new initiatives in Africa.

Mr. Chairman,

The Johannesburg Summit and the CSD12 put sanitation firmly on the agenda and identified obstacles and constraints to progress. At CSD13 we will identify policy options. This Forum must contribute substantially to make real breakthrough possible at CSD13.

Let us all work together to ensure that the unheard voices are listened to. The many voices reiterate the fact that almost half of the world’s population are deprived a service we all here take for granted.

A movement is needed to create awareness, motivate and empower actors, mobilize resources and trigger policy reforms and action. WASH will be a key tool and the Council and its partners will play a key role in advancing this agenda. When a latrine is no longer a young girl’s dream but reality – an entitlement – she will certainly continue to have other dreams, and she will be closer to realising them, with dignity. It is for her that we are here. It is for her that we must work hard to achieve progress here in Dakar.