“Conflict over water – Human right to water” dialogue forum hosted by the Munich Re Foundation on 28 June 2005

Water belongs to everyone!

Is access to water a human right? To whom does this vital resource belong? And how can we ensure water is more readily available, and improve the lives of many? These were questions discussed by experts at the third dialogue forum “Conflict over water – Human right to water” hosted by the Munich Re Foundation in Munich.

An initial overview of the global situation was provided by Professor Peter Wilderer, of Munich’s Technical University, winner of the 2003 Stockholm Water Prize. A total of 1.1bn people are still without a drinking water supply; 2.6bn have no access to basic sanitation. Today, 70% of the world’s water is used for food production; in future, even more will be needed. “In order to solve water problems and combat hunger and poverty, we need new ideas – embedded in local needs”, said Professor Wilderer. The costs are enormous: namely an estimated additional US$ 11.3bn per year in investments to achieve the Millennium Development Goal defined by the United Nations of halving the number of people with no access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation by the year 2015.

Efficiency enhancement and simple solutions necessary

“Water has enormous political significance” – of this Dr.-Ing. Andreas Kuck, Senior Manager at the German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), is convinced. The reason is that 40% of the world’s population live on cross-border rivers and thus have to agree on the use of water resources. He made a plea for more efficient water systems and presented two examples. In Amman, the capital of Jordan, waste water is re-used in agriculture after only minimal treatment and mixing with clean water. If the water quality is adjusted to the specific purpose, this helps to avoid wastage.

However, the starting point of an efficient water supply is how it is obtained. With reference to the example of Mali, Dr. Kuck explained the “water kiosk” model set up by the GTZ. Villagers who used to have to walk long distances to fetch water can now buy clean water at the price charged for tap water elsewhere. This eases the burden on women and girls in particular, who as in other countries, frequently bear the main responsibility for fetching water.

Rethinking in technology and organisation

In the third presentation, the efficiency problem was taken up by Dr. Thomas Kluge, Head of Water Research at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research at the University of Frankfurt, who drew attention to the institutional and technological challenges of water supply systems. He highlighted the institutional and technological challenges of water supply systems. “It is not a question of what legal form water suppliers have but how they are regulated,” explained Dr. Kluge. He called for less energy to be used in water treatment and for increased utilisation of substances present in waste water. Such technologies in Germany have to be brought to market maturity with a view to then exporting them. “Reclaiming phosphates and nitrates is an important contribution to improving the water and food-growing situation", Dr. Kluge concluded.

Lack of political will

“There is not a lack of resources but a lack of political will.” That is how Rosemarie Bär, coordinator for development policy at the Swiss Coalition of Development Organizations, summed up the problem. As well as access to water a guarantee was required that this resource would remain in state hands and would not be privatised. Furthermore, conservation of the resource for coming generations must be safeguarded. To create the necessary political pressure it was important to establish access as a human right under international law. Ms. Bär also called for more efficient procurement systems: “In many countries, girls cannot attend school because they have to carry water!”

In the subsequent discussion, Dr. Kuck pointed out that efficiency enhancement, legal parameters and the securing of rights under international law had to be considered separately. “Even if water resources remain under state control, the water supply service can still be provided in different ways.” Whilst Dr. Kluge underlined the role-model function of the industrialised countries – “We have to practise what we preach” – Ms. Bär advocated developing tailored solutions: “The debate has a strong European bias. What we need is low-cost technology, not industrial-scale projects.” Professor Wilderer closed with an appeal to the politicians and a call to continue the dialogue. This was the only way to safeguard the right to water in the long term and avoid escalating conflicts of interest.