Universal Access to Water, Sanitation Would Save Billions of Dollars, Lives, Deputy Secretary-General Says at Event Marking International Observance

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the World Water Day event “Better Water, Better Jobs”, in New York today:

This is our first World Water Day celebration since the historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  I sincerely thank the many people I see here today who worked hard to make sure that access to water, sanitation and hygiene are a major part of the new Agenda.

This is more than a diplomatic achievement.  It should lead to a substantive improvement of conditions of life for many millions of people around the world.

World leaders have recognized that water and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) are basic to reaching the interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).  We have a specific SDG on Water, Goal 6, but we know that WASH affects several Goals:  poor hygiene, open defecation, and lack of access to adequate and safe water and sanitation systems are leading causes of child mortality and morbidity (SDG3); they contribute to undernutrition and stunting (SDG2); they act as barriers to education for girls (SDG4); and as barriers to economic opportunity for the poor (SDG1).

WASH is a universal issue of relevance to all countries.  The degradation of water resources is increasingly affecting access to safe drinking water around the world.  More than 1.7 billion people now live in water basins where water use exceeds recharge.  

Further, in countries affected by conflict, we see water be used as a weapon of war when it could be used as a tool to prevent violence.  Also in prosperous countries, we have seen examples like in Flint, Michigan, where citizens, not least children, are now living with the dire consequences of lead poisoning due to unsafe drinking water.

Today, and for the next 15 years, our challenge is to break down silos so that we address access to WASH comprehensively across all sectors, nationally and internationally.

Let us remember that all people need clean water, a safe place to go to the toilet and good hygiene.  Investing in people brings the best and most sustainable growth.  Businesses and industry have enormous impact and influence.  They can be a source of pollution and damage — but they can also be a source of innovation and progress.

I am glad to see our partners in the private sector are eager to improve access to WASH in the workplace, in the communities where workers live, and across supply chains.  This transformative progress is the objective of our new initiative called WASH4Work.

Both water and jobs have the power to transform peoples’ lives.  Water is central to human survival, the environment and the economy.  Decent work can provide income and pave the way for broader social and economic advancements.  Today, almost half of the world's workers — 1.5 billion people — work in water-related sectors and nearly all jobs and work places depend on access to water.

Yet the millions of people who depend on water are often not recognized or protected by basic labour rights.  Take the example of a young girl who has to walk for hours every day to fetch water for her family.  This is a job.  But it's not paid and it's not recognized.  If the access and delivery of water was ensured, this girl could be in school instead.

Water and sanitation also has a strong impact on workers lives and health.  When we prepare and organize workplaces for WASH we see a tremendous effect on productivity and people.  The United Nations family is fully on-board this mobilization of efforts in the WASH sector.  I am glad the International Labour Organization Director-General, Guy Ryder, is now chair of UN Water, championing the relationship between jobs and water.  The only challenge greater than setting a bold and ambitious 2030 Agenda is to carry it out.

I launched my Call to Action on Sanitation in 2013 on behalf of the Secretary-General in order to mobilize the world for WASH, especially for sanitation.  We have been able to break the somewhat embarrassed silence both on toilets and open defecation.  We have raised awareness of urgent needs.  People are seeing meaningful results.

There is also a strong economic case for investing in WASH.  We know that for every dollar invested in water and sanitation, there is a four-dollar return.  Universal water and sanitation coverage would produce gains of more than $11 billion.  It would also avert a heavy toll of human suffering.  We know that investing in WASH cuts death rates.

Let me also recall that the SDGs emphasize partnerships as essential to success.  They reflect a growing international understanding that the private sector can make a major difference.  That is why we must now give priority to boosting our efforts to engage the private sector to improve access to WASH, not least in the work place. 

We already have guidance for business action thanks to many of you.  We have consensus on the human rights to water and sanitation.  And the business case for sanitation is clear.  WASH4Work builds on this momentum to improve the practices of companies and the policies of Governments.  Thank you all for supporting these efforts.