Government ministers meet to decide policies needed to reach goals and targets on water, sanitation and slums
Key issues include financing, utility management, service charges, water efficiency, tenure security and low-cost
housing development.
(New York, 11 April 2005) – More than 75 Ministers with a broad range of portfolios including finance, trade,
development, planning, environment, water, housing and health, will meet at the United Nations over the next two weeks
to decide on policies and practical measures to accelerate progress towards achieving the internationally agreed goals
and targets related to water, sanitation and human settlements.
These targets include halving by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation, developing by 2005 integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans, and significantly
improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
The Commission on Sustainable Development’s 13th session (CSD-13), to be held from 11 to 22 April 2005, will be its
first policy-setting session since the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg in 2002.
The meeting follows the CSD’s Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting (IPM) held from 28 February-4 March 2005 and the
release in January of the Millennium Project Task Force reports which included recommendations to governments for action
to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The CSD-13 provides the first opportunity for governments to decide what they
believe are the most appropriate and effective options in the three thematic areas.
“This year’s CSD aims to turn political commitments into action. The policy options that Governments are expected to
agree on at CSD-13 will underpin our common endeavours in the coming years to meet the Millennium Development Goals and
the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation targets and commitments on water, sanitation and human settlements,” stated H.E.
Dr. John W. Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda), Chairman of CSD-13.
CSD-13 will build on last year’s session which reviewed progress and identified obstacles and constraints in achieving
the international development goals and targets related to water, sanitation and human settlements contained in Agenda
21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
“These three issues encapsulate the silent humanitarian crisis in the world today, where roughly four thousand children
die each day of diarrheal diseases caused by poor sanitation and contaminated drinking water, and where the living
conditions in crowded slums are exacerbating public health issues such as communicable diseases,” stated Mr. José
Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
Reports issued by the Secretary-General in advance of the meeting, together with the Chair’s text from the CSD-13
Preparatory Meeting last month (all available at ww.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd13/docs.htm), set out the key policy
options and practical measures that will be the focus for deliberations. These include:
Extending Water and Sanitation Services to those Unserved
• Strengthening management and financing of public water and sanitation utilities
• Ensuring service access by the poor through targeted subsidies
• Tariff reform to improve cost recovery for operation and maintenance
• Increasing donors’ financing for water and sanitation as part of overall increase in official development assistance
(ODA) commitments towards the 0.7 per cent of GNI target
• Enhancing hygiene education and awareness raising, combining that with gender-segregated sanitation facilities in
schools
• Enhancing the role of women in planning and managing water and sanitation systems
• Raising investments in waste-water treatment
• Defining the role of the private sector, notably small-scale providers
Improving Efficiency of Water Allocation and Use
• Developing integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans
• Improving water efficiency in agriculture
• Not “wasting” wastewater, but considering it as a resource
• Technology transfer for efficient water use, recycling and re-use
Improving Housing, Services and Employment for the Urban Poor
• Improving security of tenure in slums and informal settlements
• Providing decent and affordable housing
• Developing credit facilities suitable to the needs of the urban poor
• Creating jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in urban settlements, in particular for poor women and unemployed
youth
• Realizing women’s rights of full and equal access to land, housing and property.
Highlights of CSD-13 will include: 11 April Opening of the CSD-13 including an opening address by Chairman John W. Ashe
(Antigua and Barbuda). 14 April Distribution of Chair’s draft elements for negotiation. 18 April A panel of finance and
development cooperation ministers, moderated by the Minister of Finance, South Africa and the Minister of International
Development, Norway, will discuss the economic benefits of implementing sound policies on water, sanitation, and human
settlements. Representatives of the World Bank and UNCTAD will lead off the discussion. 19 April 1:15pm Press conference
by Chairman Ashe at the conclusion of negotiations on draft policy decisions. (Webcast live at 20 April Opening of the
High-level Segment (20 to 22 April) featuring several keynote addresses, including by His Royal Highness Prince
Willem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange, and by Stockholm Water Prize winner Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science
and Environment, India. A discussion on the Millennium Development Goals related to water, sanitation and human
settlements led by Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning. A panel on
the impact of natural disasters: prevention and response will be led by Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World
Meteorological Organization and Salvano Briceño, Director of the Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction.
Major Group Priorities About 1000 people representing some 150 major groups’ organizations have registered to attend the
CSD-13. A wide array of stakeholders, called “major groups”, have an opportunity to present their priorities (Document
E/CN.17/2005/5). Examples of priorities expressed this year include:
• Women’s groups indicated that “the liberalization of water markets is pushing large sectors of the population further
into poverty, forcing the use of unsafe sources of drinking water.” • Youth organizations emphasized “basic sanitation
services should be available in every school”, while affirming that basic sanitation is a “precondition for education.”
• Indigenous peoples stressed that “issues with regard to human settlements, in both urban and rural areas, deserve
equal attention.” • Local authorities advocated that “improving access to financing for (water-related) targeted service
provision requires increased financial autonomy of sub-national and local authorities.” • Workers and trade unions
called for recognizing “access to water, sanitation and habitation as fundamental human rights.” • The business and
industry sector declared that “it is vital that Governments and all major groups recognize the enormous and very diverse
contribution that business will make to the development of new and sustainable models for meeting the world’s needs for
water, sanitation and human settlement.”
The focus on water at CSD-13 coincides with the launch of the International Decade for Action “Water for Life” which
aims to promote efforts to fulfil international commitments made on water and water-related issues by 2015, placing
special emphasis on the involvement and participation of women in these efforts.
The Commission on Sustainable Development is the United Nation’s high-level forum responsible for ensuring follow up to
the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and monitoring progress towards achieving internationally-agreed
development goals.