Localizing SDG 6- Transforming Access to Water by Strengthened Capacity of Operators Closest to Water Provision
Global Water Operator Partnerships' Alliance GWOPA/UN-Habitat
(
United Nations / Multilateral body
)
#SDGAction50781
Description
This initiative commits to accelerate support to achieve SDG 6 and 11.1 at the local level by a large-scale effort to implement solidarity-based partnerships between water operators to improve health, livelihoods, water and food security, and wellbeing for an estimated 100 million people. UN-Habitat and UNICEF have also submitted the commitment as one of the High-impact Initiatives for consideration at the SDG Summit.
Thousands of water and sanitation operators provide services to billions of people but are often overlooked as a crucial actor in delivering the SDGs. They are well positioned to address the service gap for those left behind. The role of water and sanitation providers was underscored during the severe need for water brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Investing in this group of local actors is essential— both for day-to-day water needs, and to build resilience for future shocks.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan launched the Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance (GWOPA) in 2009, in response to the recognition that many of these essential water and sanitation operators (90% of which are public) need guidance and technical support, while others are highly capable and willing to support them on a not-for-profit basis. Over the past 15 years, GWOPA has assembled a wide network of partners and led a global movement to professionalize these peer support arrangements called Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs).
The initiative pledges to accelerate the approach of GWOPA to engage at least 100 public water and sanitation service providers across the globe to sign up for a set of criteria of peer exchange and support. This Action is aligned with the UN SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework and is committed to addressing the capacity building of water and sanitation services provides through the scaled implementation of Water and Sanitation Operators Partnership practice, to develop a comprehensive open source infrastructure to provide data driven programming and capacity building and performance monitoring for utilities, to mobilize member states commitments towards establishment of a utility technical assistance facility to support infrastructure planning and financing to improve access to financing, innovative solutions to help with climate transitioning services and infrastructure, and to facilitate knowledge development, sharing and learning through community of practices, global and regional forums.
The initiative will engage in multi stakeholders’ partnerships that assess challenges, builds, and embed knowledge, and design and implement solutions, drawing on a set of global normative tools. This will contribute to strengthening water governance and partnership ecosystem over time.
The Action taps into the growing and broad-based GWOPA members and partners, building on the ongoing engagements by GWOPA utilities, governments, financial institutions, and municipalities, to support more public service providers to provide high quality mentorship to their peers. It expands on the investments already being made in Water Operators Partnerships to scale-up essential capacity development alongside billions of dollars of investments needed in local water and sanitation infrastructure.
Goal 6 of the Water Action Agenda, to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, underlies the attainment of every single other SDG, from ending poverty to eliminating hunger, gender equality, ensuring education, combatting climate change, ensuring life on land, providing renewable energy, supporting industry, and fostering peace and security.
Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is the most basic human right for health and well-being. Billions of people will lack access to these basic services in 2030 unless progress rapidly accelerates, including lagging behind on SDG 11.1 on access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgraded slums. Improved water and sanitation services furthermore help end poverty by reducing costs to the poor and improving livelihoods.
Strong utilities contribute to the achievement of all SDG 6 targets, while poor management and institutional capacity of these entities undermine progress. Water is pivotal to global progress, whether addressing inequalities, combatting climate change, or advancing peace and security. The role of local service providers as frontline actors is increasingly recognized in international processes and platforms such as the annual High-level Political Forum for Sustainable Development and the biennial World Urban Forum, which convene an array of partners to discuss global development imperatives and opportunities.
The Action is a low-cost global-scale movement to radically improve the ability of local service providers to play their full role in achieving the SDGs. Its innovation lies in the multiplier effect, and each new water operator partnership can easily be scaled at national levels. With the backing of Member States, the Initiative is expected to strengthen 100 utilities between now and 2030, benefitting an estimated 100 million people with safer, more responsive, more resilient or more accessible basic services. At the heart of its methodology and implementation strategy is solidarity between water operators globally to improve services, and ultimately access to water for the whole population, including the most vulnerable, in particular women and girls and under-served areas.
Directly addressing SDG 5.5, gender mainstreaming in water and sanitation utilities and Water Operator Partnerships is an integral component of the methodology. Utilities can only improve their performance and achieve SDG6 and the Human Right to Water and Sanitation if they include the gender perspective, both in their service provision and their organizational structure providing opportunities for women equally to those of men still dominating the profession.
By focusing on capacity development and institutional anchoring, the benefits will be multiplied over time by leveraging of finance for investments, which often benefit of spin off from these partnerships. There will be ripple effects, whereby benefiting utilities go on to support more peers through further partnerships.
Beyond direct impacts, the peer-to-peer support mechanism will contribute to practical understanding of solidarity-based partnerships in support of SDG 17 including North-South and South-South water operator partnerships. It will raise the profile of water operators as a key actor in localizing the SDGs, raising the global recognition of basic services providers in achieving the SDGs.
GWOPA Alliance Members (80+ as of March 2023)
Water Operators’ Partnerships (WOPs) are peer-support partnerships between water and sanitation service providers. WOPs work by harnessing the skills, knowledge and goodwill within a strong utility to build the capacity and improve the performance of another utility that needs assistance or guidance. Critically, WOPs follow a Code of Conduct (French/Spanish) that sets out the principles for practice. (https://gwopa.org/wops/about-wops/)
Women in Water and Sanitation Utilities and WOPs
Women and girls carry the heaviest burden of responsibilities around water collection and caregiving. Access to these basic services directly affects the health, education, income and safety of women and other vulnerable communities. Moreover, less than one in five water workers are women, which GWOPA is working to address. Women are also underrepresented in technical and managerial positions. (https://gwopa.org/resources/wopcast/)
Useful Resources: ( Links accessible on: https://gwopa.org/wops/about-wops/)
Learning Approaches in Water Operators’ Partnerships. Framing the Issues. BEWOP
Framework for Analyzing Water Operators’ Partnerships. BEWOP
Building WOPs for Sustainable Development in Water and Sanitation. IWA, GWOPA/UN-Habitat, Vitens-Evides International
South-South WOP factsheet. BEWOP
North-South WOP factsheet. BEWOP
National WOP factsheet. BEWOP
WOP case studies: Belize Water Services – Contra Costa Water District;Water Authority of Fiji – Hunter Water Australia;FIPAG – Vitens Evides International; More
Utilities Fight COVID-19. GWOPA/UN-Habitat
WOPs and solidarity: A global effort to realise the human right to water and sanitation. Aqua Publica Europea
SDGS & Targets
Goal 5
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
5.1
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
5.1.1
Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex
5.2
5.2.1
Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age
5.2.2
Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
5.3
5.3.1
Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18
5.3.2
Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age
5.4
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
5.4.1
Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location
5.5
Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
5.5.1
Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
5.5.2
Proportion of women in managerial positions
5.6
Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences
5.6.1
Proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care
5.6.2
Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education
5.a
Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws
5.a.1
(a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
5.a.2
Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control
5.b
5.b.1
Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex
5.c
Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels
5.c.1
Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment
Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.1
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.1.1
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
6.2
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.2.1
Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
6.3
By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
6.3.1
Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated
6.3.2
Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
6.4
6.4.1
Change in water-use efficiency over time
6.4.2
Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
6.5
By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.5.1
Degree of integrated water resources management
6.5.2
Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
6.6
6.6.1
Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time
6.a
6.a.1
Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
6.b
Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
6.b.1
Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
Goal 11
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
11.1
By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
11.1.1
Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
11.2
11.2.1
Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
11.3
11.3.1
Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate
11.3.2
Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically
11.4
Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage
11.4.1
Total per capita expenditure on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by source of funding (public, private), type of heritage (cultural, natural) and level of government (national, regional, and local/municipal)
11.5
By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations
11.5.1
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
11.5.2
Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global domestic product (GDP)
11.5.3
(a) Damage to critical infrastructure and (b) number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
11.6
By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management
11.6.1
Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
11.6.2
Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)
11.7
11.7.1
Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
11.7.2
Proportion of persons victim of non-sexual or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months
11.a
Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
11.a.1
Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space
11.b
By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels
11.b.1
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
11.b.2
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
11.c
Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials
Goal 17
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
17.1
Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection
17.1.1
17.1.2
17.2
Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries
17.2.1
17.3
Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources
17.3.1
Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources
17.3.2
17.4
Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress
17.4.1
17.5
Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries
17.5.1
Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries
17.6
Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
17.6.1
Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed
17.7
Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed
17.7.1
Total amount of funding for developing countries to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies
17.8
Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology
17.8.1
17.9
Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation
17.9.1
Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South‑South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries
17.10
Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda
17.10.1
17.11
Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020
17.11.1
Developing countries’ and least developed countries’ share of global exports
17.12
Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access
17.12.1
Weighted average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States
17.13
Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence
17.13.1
17.14
Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
17.14.1
17.15
Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development
17.15.1
17.16
Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
17.16.1
Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
17.17
Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
17.17.1
Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure
17.18
By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts
17.18.1
Statistical capacity indicators
17.18.2
17.18.3
Number of countries with a national statistical plan that is fully funded and under implementation, by source of funding
17.19
By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries
17.19.1
17.19.2
Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration
SDG 14 targets covered
| Name | Description |
|---|
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
Feedback
Action Network
Share
Timeline
Entity
Region
- Global
Other beneficiaries
Water operators in the network particularly based on the South; ultimately local communities/men/women/children in need of access to water.
More information
Countries
Contact Information
Åsa, Head of Programme, GWOPA/UN-Habitat