Ensuring Equitable Access to Water and Sanitation

1. No one left behind Good practices in ensuring equitable access to water and sanitation

2. Approaching the equitable access challenge

3. Why worry about equitable access? ❶ Advances towards universal access to water and sanitation are being made at the expense of putting at the end of the “access queue” the “difficult to reach” ❷ This is not just unfair, it will also undermine reaching the universal access goals

4. Access to water and sanitation in the pan-European region is unequal ❶We still have an access problem – 110 million Europeans do not have access ❷Large in-country differences are not random -- they affect mostly the poor and rural populations. ❸Richer countries also have an equitable access problem EEA, 2007 The rate of access to water and sanitation by rural populations in the EECCA sub-region is 10 percentage points lower than that of urban populations WHO-UNICEF, 2010

5. There are international obligations to end inequities in access The General Assembly, […] Acknowledging the importance of equitable access to safe and clean drinking water […] Recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights UN General Assembly resolution 64/292 Equitable access to water, adequate in terms of both quantity and quality should be provided for all members of the population, especially those who suffer a disadvantage or social exclusion Protocol on Water and Health, Article 5 (I)

6. And opportunities to call for support ❶Governments in developing and transition countries are making efforts – 0.48% of GDP ❷They can call on other countries to help them reach universal access ❸International support amounts to USD 7 billion, but could be better targeted to address inequities in access User-to-user solidarity France, the Netherlands and Switzerland have developed experiences to fund international cooperation on water with a share of the revenues from water services – since 2005 French providers can use 1% of their revenues to that end, with a potential to mobilize EUR 120 million per year

7. Inequities in access need to be fought in at least 3 fronts

8. Steering governance frameworks to ensure equitable access

9. Policy options

10. Good practices

11. Checklist ❶ Reflect international commitments in national legislation ❷ Allocate responsibilities and financial resources ❸ Set equitable access targets ❹ Promote the adoption of an “equitable access lens” among policymakers and operators through capacity development ❺ Invest efforts in better understanding the linkages between equitable access to different public services ❻ Develop programmes to raise awareness among users of their rights and the mechanisms to enforce them ❼ Analyze and publish the progress in closing equity gaps ❽ Develop accountability mechanisms to identify violations and seek redress ❾ Create national or local spaces for discussion and coordination between competent authorities ❿ Ensure that institutional mechanisms monitor and enforce coverage, quality and cost targets and standards

12. Reducing geographical disparities

13. The challenge • Underlying cost structures • Specific technical demands • Political influence in funding decisions • Weak regulation • Also a regional policy issue

14. Policy options

15. Good practices

16. Ensuring access for vulnerable and marginalized groups

17. The challenge • Diversity of needs, diversity of solutions • To a large extent a social exclusion issue • Difficulties in finding resources • Difficulties in articulating integrated responses

18. Different groups face different barriers to enjoy equitable access

19. Policy options

20. Targeted policy options

21. Good practices ❶ Review WSS laws, regulations, policies and operating procedures to ensure that they do not discriminate and that they address the specific needs of VMGs ❷Review WSS budgets to ensure that they address the needs of VMGs ❸ Collect data on access to WSS by VMGs to identify gaps and set priorities for government assistance ❹ Establish requirements for WSS institutions to ensure the representatives of VMGs effectively participate and can influence decision-making

22. Keeping water and sanitation affordable for all

23. The challenge Water can be unaffordable for the poor • Affordability is a growing concern for all countries • Need to combine changes in tariff design with other measures • Funding subsidized access and consumption • Need for “social policy infrastructure” OECD, 2010

24. Policy options

25. Good practices