Switzerland
CSD-12 on Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements
New York, April 19-30, 2004
Statement by Ambassador Beat Nobs, Head of the Swiss Delegation
Mr. Chairman
The Secretary General and Jeffry Sachs emphasized that water and sanitation are the
key to poverty eradication. Switzerland reaffirms that we must focus our efforts on the
most vulnerable. We are therefore fully behind the MDGs and ready to contribute our
utmost to achieving them.
There is no blueprint to meet the goals and targets in water and sanitation. But there are
some overriding issues of crucial importance which have to be taken into account:
1)?Ecosystems are the basic infrastructure for water supply and sanitation?
Access to water and sanitation is the basis for poverty eradication. But there is no
sustainable water management without the protection and sustainable use of
ecosystems that capture, filter, store and distribute water, such as forests, wetlands and
soils. Ecosystems are therefore central to integrated water resources management, and
with regard to developing IWRM plans by 2005. Until now, the IWRM concept has
mainly addressed the ?Water for Nature? dimension. It is high time to include a ?Nature
for Water? dimension. This can at least partly be achieved through the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands. The Ramsar Convention, a global legally binding instrument to
which we are nearly all Parties, should therefore also be recognized as a water
convention.
2) ?Sanitation is a business?
There is a need for a paradigm shift in order to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people
with out access to basic sanitation. Put simply, the old paradigm is characterized by
neglect from a public health perspective: Budgets for sanitation are low, the quality of
goods and services poor and the available funds too often invested in untargeted
subsidies. The result has been a vicious circle of inadequate resources and failure.
Under the new paradigm, sanitation must be seen as an opportunity ? actually as a
business. Practical examples from all over the world increasingly demonstrate that
private sector operators ? often very small ? are providing good service to their
customers, who are often poor people but willing to pay for hygiene. This is not to say
that markets for hygiene and sanitation will evolve automatically. The new paradigm
advocates in favour of a strong state, but one that focuses on market creation and on
the enabling environment. while at the same time managing the creativity and energy of
the private sector to provide sustainable and demand driven solutions.
3) ?Principled Pragmatism is required for Private Sector Participation in Water and
Sanitation?
Achieving the goals and targets in both the water and sanitation sectors requires all
actors to collaborate much more closely, that is: pub lic authorities, civil society as well as
private enterprises. The latter ? be they international, national or local businesses ? can
contribute significantly to improve overall performance of the water and sanitation sector
by providing management expertise and capacity which can mobilize additional
investments. Therefore, public-private partnerships with a focus on the needs of the poor
are one promising option to enhance sustainable access to water services and
sanitation. However, in order to ensure that such arrangements with the private sector
are successfully developed and implemented, consistent policy principles and
implementation guidelines are required. Such principles and guidelines are currently
elaborated in the framework of a Swiss initiative. I invite all interested parties to join us in
advancing this initiative and encourage the promoters of similar undertakings to do the
same, so that we can submit the outcomes to the CSD for further consideration at its
13th Session.
4) International water governance should be improved
In order to meet the enormous challenges in the field of water, we need a coherent
political follow-up to the various ongoing activities. Switzerland is therefore of the notion
that one of the major outcomes of CSD-13 must be a clear understanding of where we
want to go with regard to the future of the water agenda. Chances are that if we don?t
address the issue of international water governance within the UN system, it will move to
the background again, and our efforts will remain without consequence.
New York, April 19-30, 2004
Statement by Ambassador Beat Nobs, Head of the Swiss Delegation
Mr. Chairman
The Secretary General and Jeffry Sachs emphasized that water and sanitation are the
key to poverty eradication. Switzerland reaffirms that we must focus our efforts on the
most vulnerable. We are therefore fully behind the MDGs and ready to contribute our
utmost to achieving them.
There is no blueprint to meet the goals and targets in water and sanitation. But there are
some overriding issues of crucial importance which have to be taken into account:
1)?Ecosystems are the basic infrastructure for water supply and sanitation?
Access to water and sanitation is the basis for poverty eradication. But there is no
sustainable water management without the protection and sustainable use of
ecosystems that capture, filter, store and distribute water, such as forests, wetlands and
soils. Ecosystems are therefore central to integrated water resources management, and
with regard to developing IWRM plans by 2005. Until now, the IWRM concept has
mainly addressed the ?Water for Nature? dimension. It is high time to include a ?Nature
for Water? dimension. This can at least partly be achieved through the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands. The Ramsar Convention, a global legally binding instrument to
which we are nearly all Parties, should therefore also be recognized as a water
convention.
2) ?Sanitation is a business?
There is a need for a paradigm shift in order to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people
with out access to basic sanitation. Put simply, the old paradigm is characterized by
neglect from a public health perspective: Budgets for sanitation are low, the quality of
goods and services poor and the available funds too often invested in untargeted
subsidies. The result has been a vicious circle of inadequate resources and failure.
Under the new paradigm, sanitation must be seen as an opportunity ? actually as a
business. Practical examples from all over the world increasingly demonstrate that
private sector operators ? often very small ? are providing good service to their
customers, who are often poor people but willing to pay for hygiene. This is not to say
that markets for hygiene and sanitation will evolve automatically. The new paradigm
advocates in favour of a strong state, but one that focuses on market creation and on
the enabling environment. while at the same time managing the creativity and energy of
the private sector to provide sustainable and demand driven solutions.
3) ?Principled Pragmatism is required for Private Sector Participation in Water and
Sanitation?
Achieving the goals and targets in both the water and sanitation sectors requires all
actors to collaborate much more closely, that is: pub lic authorities, civil society as well as
private enterprises. The latter ? be they international, national or local businesses ? can
contribute significantly to improve overall performance of the water and sanitation sector
by providing management expertise and capacity which can mobilize additional
investments. Therefore, public-private partnerships with a focus on the needs of the poor
are one promising option to enhance sustainable access to water services and
sanitation. However, in order to ensure that such arrangements with the private sector
are successfully developed and implemented, consistent policy principles and
implementation guidelines are required. Such principles and guidelines are currently
elaborated in the framework of a Swiss initiative. I invite all interested parties to join us in
advancing this initiative and encourage the promoters of similar undertakings to do the
same, so that we can submit the outcomes to the CSD for further consideration at its
13th Session.
4) International water governance should be improved
In order to meet the enormous challenges in the field of water, we need a coherent
political follow-up to the various ongoing activities. Switzerland is therefore of the notion
that one of the major outcomes of CSD-13 must be a clear understanding of where we
want to go with regard to the future of the water agenda. Chances are that if we don?t
address the issue of international water governance within the UN system, it will move to
the background again, and our efforts will remain without consequence.
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