Ms Hilde F. Johnson, Minister of International Development
The Water Conference, Stavanger
4 November 2003

Check against delivery

Water for the Poorest

Your Majesty, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

A French proverb says,

"You never know the worth of water until the well is dry."

It is the knowledge of the worth of water and the urgency of the dry wells that have brought us together here in Stavanger today.

Water is the world’s most precious commodity. Water gives life. Water is vital for every person in the world, in every community, on every continent. And it is in short supply.

We know this - yet we act as if we don’t.

We get up in the morning, we flush - we brush - we shower. Even before we put our clothes on for the day, we have consumed far more water than a family in the developing world is able to use for all their needs for the day - cleaning, cooking and drinking.

A few years ago, I spent some time in a small village called Mwazye in Tanzania, doing research for my thesis. I made friends with a lovely woman, a mother of five, among the poor of the village. I call her Agatha.

For Agatha, the chances of an education were slim to non-existent. Travelling abroad? Might as well be talking about the moon. Her dreams were modest by our standards: an ox to help farm the land, a good harvest, an education for all her children. But one of her dreams had already come true before I arrived at Mwayze: A well close by, clean water within a few minute’s walk, easing her gruelling early morning routine. Like so many women of the developing world, Agatha used to have to rise at daybreak to fetch water for her family - a long walk, for one pail of water, which had to last the family the entire day.

A life so different we can hardly imagine it - yet, world-wide, far more common than our turn-on-the-shower lifestyle in the West.

More than one billion people live like Agatha used to - pre-pump. Girls and women spend hours on tasks like fetching water – simply to survive. This is time that could be better spent – on getting an education, on playing, on gathering the means for a way out.

And not only that. The water on which they spend their precious time is often of poor quality. It frequently makes them ill. At any given time, half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-related illnesses. And when we know that the poorest victims never even make it to hospital, we can only guess at the real size of the problem. Every single day, 10 000 people die from illnesses caused by poor-quality water. And many, many of those ten thousand are children below the age of five, who had the bad luck to be born into poor families, poor communities, in poor countries.

Much of what is needed to satisfy the basic human needs for water is neither difficult nor expensive to supply. Mwazye did get its water pump, and it made a huge difference. This pump, a simple and inexpensive construction, had completely changed the lives of Agatha and her women friends. For them, a new water pump equalled new opportunities – opportunities for a less strenuous day, for more time for other tasks, for an education, for a better life.

The work of providing safe water for the poorest is an important part of the fight against poverty. Without water there can be no development, and without development there can be no water for the poorest. Water scarcity leads to poverty, and conversely, poverty leads to water scarcity in arid areas.

The benefits to the poor of obtaining access to safe drinking water are so great that it is our moral imperative to act, to make sure water is provided to all. And we have promised that we will do so.

World leaders are committed to fighting poverty and securing a life in dignity for the 1.2 billion people who live in the most miserable conditions today. The Millennium Summit in 2000 and last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development have given us 12 years to reach the Millennium Development Goals: to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, to reduce child mortality by two thirds, and to halve the number of people who lack access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

There is no time to spare if we are to achieve our goals and keep to the deadlines. But we are doing too little too slowly. The greatest challenge before us is to mobilise sufficient political will and commitment to act on our promises - not next year, not next election cycle, not next time there is a major disaster, but now.

This is why we are here. We are in Stavanger to strengthen our commitment and translate it into action. We are here to find practical ways of ensuring expanded and accelerated delivery of safe drinking water and basic sanitation services to the poorest. We are here to identify concrete priority goals for reaching the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg targets. We are here to discuss how we can pave the way for an integrated approach to poverty eradication, water and sanitation, and we will provide concrete recommendations for how this should be done.

Our focus should be on the responsibilities of local authorities, national governments and international donors, and on the roles of civil society and the private sector in delivering concrete results. And all of you who are here today are the people we need if we are to make progress. Ministers from developing and donor countries, representatives of international and inter-governmental water-related organisations, key people from civil society, NGOs and the private sector, and other water and aid professionals - all of you dedicated to bringing water to the poorest in the world.

Together we can and must move the agenda on water and poverty forward. We must use our time together productively - by formulating concrete recommendations, and by making sure those recommendations are heard and acted on where key decisions on water are taken, such as in the World Bank and other multilateral organisations, as well as to CSD 12, the Commission on Sustainable Development next year.

The importance of good water governance

We are to address three major challenges here today: governance, financing and empowerment. Thecurrent water crisis is essentially a crisis of governance – a crisis caused by lack of adequate water institutions, fragmented institutional structures, sector-by-sector approaches and unpredictable application of legislation. We need reforms to improve water policies and governance. Better governance is the key to improving water management and water and sanitation services.

I think we all agree that the primary responsibility rests with governments.

They must make sure that sufficient financial resources are available and are used effectively, that corruption is eliminated and that all stakeholders become part of water infrastructure processes.

Governments face three major challenges.

• To improve water governance, governments must assign priorities and create appropriate strategies to ensure an integrated approach to water and poverty. But saying that governments have the primary responsibility does not mean they have sole responsibility. The international community can and should assist in these efforts.
• To meet the financing challenge, governments must develop clear and stable legal and regulatory frameworks. This will allow existing resources to be used more effectively, and also attract much-needed investment. Donor countries have a clear responsibility to provide financial and other assistance here.
• To empower the poorest, governments must invest in human resources and implement poverty-oriented policies. People must feel that they are part of the solution, that they are heard and their views taken into account. Otherwise, much of what we try to do will never come to fruition.

Integrated water resources management

The importance of good water governance is highlighted by the achievements and failures of 1980s, which we often call the Water Decade. Between 1981 and 1991, approximately 350 000 people were provided with access to clean drinking water and 200 000 with access to sanitation every day. But much of what was achieved was later lost due to mismanagement - a failure of donors and national governments alike. This led to a significant reduction of aid to large infrastructure projects on water and sanitation, a reduction also reflected in Norwegian development assistance.

We can restore what was achieved during the water decade - but only if we learn from our mistakes. This is the challenge.

We must do a better job this time round. We will need a different approach. This means focusing on more than taps and toilets. We need a comprehensive approach, based on plans for water efficiency and Integrated Water Resource Management - IWRM.

An integrated approach means that water quantity and quality are managed together, that the integrity and functioning of ecosystems are respected. It means upstream-downstream integration to reduce vulnerability for downstream users – usually the poor who depend on rivers and streams for direct domestic use and are vulnerable to floods and droughts.

An integrated approach means water management that incorporates all levels and all sectors, and that encourages stakeholder participation in decision-making. Decisions should be taken at the lowest appropriate level to ensure that the voice of the poor is heard in matters of crucial importance to their livelihood.

The short-term Johannesburg target for all countries to develop integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005 is just around the corner. We cannot afford to miss this target. Failure will mean that we have much less hope of keeping our promises of providing water and sanitation for the poor by 2015. The Johannesburg target is a test – a test of our commitment to the process and a test of our willingness to tackle the difficult problems, to put our money where our mouth is.

Meeting this target will demonstrate our commitment to the entire Millennium and Johannesburg process.

There is general agreement on the basic principles of Integrated water resources management. Now we need to establish multi-stakeholder dialogues committed to producing real and lasting agreement on water management strategies and we must identify priority steps in the reform of the water management system. However, we should keep in mind that there are many ways of organising the water sector, depending on local political, cultural and administrative traditions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for this area. Each country must decide how to organise its own water sector. This means that plans for water efficiency and Integrated Water Resource Management will and should differ significantly from country to country.

A number of countries have already started or completed the necessary planning processes. However, according to the UN Task Force, about 40 countries may find it difficult to get the process underway by 2005. We must all support these countries in their efforts. Norway has already made additional ODA funds available to support Integrated Water Resource Management. Today and tomorrow will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss how such assistance can best be used.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

I am convinced that the policies we need will be more successful if we ensure the active participation and involvement of the poor, particularly women. We need to listen to the Agathas of the world - they are the people we are working to help. They know their communities, and they know what is needed. Their opinions must be part of the process and part of the solution.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) have gradually come to be the main planning documents for poverty reduction used by both bilateral and multilateral donors. The efforts that developing countries put into drawing up these strategy papers gives them a unique political legitimacy. These are the plans and the responsibility of the developing countries themselves. The ownership issue is key – no ownership, no sustainability.

However, bearing in mind the crucial importance of water in poverty reduction, the donor community cannot be content with the modest role played by water and sanitation in the PRSPs. A total of 32 countries have now drawn up PRSPs, and another 21 countries have embarked on the PRSP process. A minimal part of these documents is devoted to water and sanitation issues. This is one of many indications that water issues are not given the attention and the action they deserve. We must make it clear that water and sanitation issues are far more important than present planning indicates.

I believe water should be included in the analysis of the poverty situation and the causes of poverty in a country and in the discussion of how to improve poor people’s health. In addition, it should be part of the economic growth strategy, since water is an essential factor of production. Water indicators also need to be part of the monitoring framework of PRSPs.

Donors should provide funding for background studies and analyses of water issues for use in PRSP work. Donors should also facilitate and support consultations on water issues as part of the consultative process around PRSPs. But a word of caution here: the strength of the PRSPs is developing country ownership. The donors must therefore give developing countries enough time, space and flexibility to develop PRSPs that fit their national needs and priorities.

The preparation of a strategy paper or management regime is a long-term process, but there is an urgent need to develop new small-scale and large-scale water infrastructure. It has been estimated that reaching the targets for water and sanitation will require delivering safe water for another 274 000 people and basic sanitation for another 342 000 people every day until 2015. If we are to reach numbers like these, we cannot wait for long term processes to be finalised. Strategies, reforms and investments must be tackled simultaneously. We have no time to spare.

The financial needs

In spite of well-intentioned UN goals, the number of people without access to safe drinking water has not dropped in the last ten years. The financing needs of the water sector are huge. Water projects tend to be capital-intensive. In many countries, the water infrastructure is insufficiently developed. Current annual investments in the water sector total about USD 80 billion. Some estimates indicate that at least a doubling of this investment level will be required to meet the needs of a growing world population for water and sanitation infrastructure over the next 25 years.

The Camdessus-report – "Financing Water for All" - offers interesting proposals on how to increase financial flows to the water & sanitation sectors. It clearly states the need to target regions and social groups most in need of public subsidies. It also states that sub-sovereign entities - local governments, local water authorities - have the greatest potential to increase the quantity and quality of water services. Here, the Nordic countries can offer interesting experience and expertise that could be shared with the developing world.

We must develop a variety of practical solutions for increasing investment in water that will be attractive to a broad spectrum of financing institutions, both public and private. There is an urgent need to allocate more financial resources to the water and sanitation sector. With the financial needs we are talking about, bilateral donors are not in a position to reach the needed levels on their own. Therefore, multilateral financial institutions such as the development banks will have crucial roles to play. This scaling up must be done on the basis of "lessons learned". In addition private sector participation is important. We also need to mobilise the political will to give priority to the water sector in official development assistance and to fulfil our Monterrey obligations.

The role of donor countries

While the primary responsibility for ensuring equitable and sustainable management of water rests with national governments, the international community has a special responsibility to mobilise the political will to act, and to provide technical and financial support to countries that need it. We need more and better official development aid.

External aid is very limited in relation to the enormous needs of developing countries, and bilateral ODA funding can only be a supplement. It should therefore be used to strengthen national capacity building and regulatory frameworks and to develop mechanisms for encouraging investment. It should also be directed towards those who need it most. The Camdessus report Financing Water for All reminds us that only 12 per cent of total aid to the water sector is allocated to countries where more than 40 per cent of the population has no access to satisfactory water sources. This tells us that we still have not got our priorities right.

Developing countries in particular need assistance in developing a regulatory framework that will stimulate the development of financially sound, transparent, efficient and consumer-oriented water utilities. Norway is committed to supporting the development of national institutional frameworks and infrastructure that strengthen the capacity for public service delivery at prices the poor can afford, and that facilitate private sector investment, production and growth.

Donors and financing organisations must harmonise development co-operation to make it more efficient and reduce transaction costs. We need donor reform to fight poverty. And we need donor reform to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Recipient countries must be relieved of the task of catering to hundreds of donors each requiring different reports on single projects. Co-operation and partner country ownership are key words. We need to move away from single projects to support for key programmes and budget support. We need to look closely into where our assistance can make a difference. Capacity building for key government activities in water resources management must be an essential donor activity.

Norway, for one, has provided over 100 million USD to water and sanitation activities in developing countries the last 4 years. We are now providing additional funding for the follow up of the Johannesburg Summit in the period 2003-2005.

I hope that this conference will provide an opportunity to discuss ideas and initiatives for how donors can create, co-operate on, and sustain a strong political focus on the water sector and the MDGs. We need to mobilise resources - and I am not only talking about money. Governments alone cannot fulfil the water and sanitation needs of the millions in poverty. The private sector does and must take on an increasingly important role.

Role of the private sector

Actors other than governments and the public sector will be crucial in the efforts to improve water and sanitation services worldwide. The role of the public sector is changing - to that of a facilitator, an enabler and a regulator. Governments must play a key role in providing the regulatory legal framework and ensuring that the poor are served and that users are protected from excessive costs. The public sector must provide a framework for both public services and private participation in financing of water infrastructure.

If we look soberly at the realities of today, and consider the needs of billions of people, we cannot afford to exclude any parties who are in a position to provide competence and capital. The challenges are far too great. The developing countries cannot alone fulfil the needs in the water sector. There is an urgent need to seek alternative sources of funding. Private actors can offer much-needed investments and cost-effective solutions. The challenge is to find the best combination of public sector legal and regulatory mechanisms and service delivery, and private participation. We need all these if we are to ensure that the needs of the poor are met by 2015.

And - we need to make sure that it really is the poor who will benefit. So far, we have often seen that water and sanitation projects have benefited the urban middle class more than the poor. As in so many other areas, the poorest have been left out - left to fend for themselves in a market that can demand a price of water ten times higher for the poor than for the better-off. This is unfortunate, unfair - and unacceptable.

Poor infrastructure, corrupt civil servants, imbalanced distribution, no public services – this is the reality of everyday life for a large proportion of the world’s poor. They often fall outside the public service network - left to private providers in an unregulated market. Ironically, in this regard, water services for the poorest are privatised.

Our starting point must be that governments are responsible for providing basic services to the poor, services they are entitled to. However, how these services are provided must be the government’s decision. If the government’s priorities are right, and the legal framework is in place as regards access, affordability and sustainability, the question of whether services are provided by private or public contractors need not be an issue. The focus must be on results, not on actors.

Community-based organisations, user groups and autonomous water utilities can and should play an active part in the management, operation and maintenance of water services. This not only increases efficiency, but also improves another important aspect: Participation and empowerment of the people whose needs we are looking to fulfil.

Empowerment

In my opinion, the most important issue at this conference is how to empower poor people and give them the means to change their situation to the better - to provide water for the poorest. How can we scale up appropriate low-cost technologies and community based management arrangements? How can local resources be mobilised and the poorest be included? How can more money and management skills be made available to local governments? I hope we will see some concrete and innovative proposals on these issues on the table here in Stavanger.

The most sustainable water successes have often been small-scale projects involving local people in the whole process from planning to construction and maintenance. It is particularly important to include women.

One good example of a decentralised approach is rainwater harvesting. It has proved to be a successful means of providing water security both for agriculture and for domestic water supplies.

Small-scale or community-level private sector involvement should be promoted in order to reach and empower the poor and create sustained water and sanitation supplies. Many local communities and organisations have recently become involved in the supply of water and sanitation services. They have important roles to play in the sustainable management of water resources. These pro-poor initiatives focus on access to sustained, reliable services rather than on construction of infrastructure. Micro finance and community banks that allow poor people to finance small-scale water infrastructure for both domestic and agricultural use form part of this picture.

People have a right to safe water supplies that satisfy their basic needs at a price they can afford. But does this mean that people have a right to free water? Ideally it should, but water scarcity and limited resources make it highly unlikely that we can achieve this. It is not sustainable. Water cannot be managed as if it were a limitless and free resource that people can exploit at will. We have to look at how water supply services can be priced and differentiated to reflect the ability of different user groups to pay - regardless of whether services are provided by the public or private sectors. We have to look at new and different types of targeted subsidies in order to meet the needs of the poor. This will imply that those with money must pay more and those without less. I believe both South Africa and Brazil can provide useful examples here. Here, the international community has an important role to play in bringing about equitable solutions. We need to re-examine the way in which we provide assistance in this area.

Conclusions *

I started today by telling you about Agatha. There are millions like her, and they are the people we must keep in mind during our discussions. They are the people who need results – and soon, because they have waited much too long already. We have made promises and pledged funding – now we must prove that we can translate our words into action and scale up our efforts.

World leaders have recognised that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today. We know that if we fail to act, two out of three people on earth will be suffering moderate to severe water shortages within the next twenty years. We know that we are facing a daunting challenge, but we also know that it is possible to deal with it successfully.

John F. Kennedy said

"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

Let us not forget our reason for being here in Stavanger: To help the many - those who live without the most basic water and sanitation facilities, who need us to speak for them, who need us to make others act. Let us use our time here productively and focus on concrete, realistic proposals. Let us make progress on the water agenda by pushing for action where it matters most. Let us make sure that the voices of the poor, the voices of Agatha and her friends are not only heard, but amplified - through all of you here in Stavanger.

Thank you for your involvement.

Thank you for your attention.