Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
Decision on Sanitation
The provision of clean drinking water and adequate sanitation to protect human health and environment.
Actions:
(a) Develop and implement efficient household sanitation systems;
(b) Improve sanitation in public institutions, especially schools;
(c) Promote safe hygiene practices;
(d) Promote education and outreach focused on children, as agents of behavioural change;
(e) Promote affordable and socially and culturally acceptable technologies and practices;
(f) Develop innovative financing and partnership mechanisms;
(g) Integrate sanitation into water resources management strategies.
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WATER GOVERNANCE
Increasing water scarcity in the islands due to salinisation and pollution of groundwater, water services shortfalls in the Male' Urban Region and escalating pollution of the aquifer, near shore and oceanic environment from sewage disposal are socially and politically induced challenges.
The water crisis is increasingly about how we, as individuals, and as parts of a collective society, govern the access to and control over water resources and their benefits.
Water Governance can be defined as the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources and the delivery of water services, at different levels of society.
Water governance addresses, among other things:
* the formulation and adoption of sustainable legislation, policies and institutions,
* the way legislation, institutions and policies are being established, enforced and implemented, and
* the clarification of the roles and responsibilities of all involved stakeholders - local and national government, private sector, civil society - regarding ownership, administration and management of water resources.
The current institutions among the stakeholders are Ministry of Environment Transport and Housing, Maldives Water and Sanitation Authority, Ministry of Health and Family, Male Water and Sewerage Company Pvt Ltd,Island Adminsitrative Offices, Island Development Committees, Water Integrity Network,Blue Peace, Care Society, Water Care, and other NGOs.
The challanges to these institutions are huge. The nation needs their alert attention and effective contributions in order to realise the benefits and intent of MDG.
Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
Decision on Sanitation (cont. from original post)
Decisions on Water Resources
2. Protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development
Launch a programme of actions, with financial and technical assistance, to achieve the Millennium development goal on safe drinking water. which would include actions at all levels to:
(a) Mobilize international and domestic financial resources at all levels, transfer technology, promote best practice and support capacity -building for water and sanitation infrastructure and services development, ensuring that such infrastructure and services meet the needs of the poor and are gender-sensitive;
(b) Facilitate access to public information and participation, including by women, at all levels in support of policy and decision -making related to water resources management and project implementation;
(c) Promote priority action by Governments, with the support of all stakeholders, in water management and capacity -building at the national level and, where appropriate, at the regional level, and promote and provide new and additional financial resources and innovative technologies to implement chapter 18 of Agenda 21;
(d) Intensify water pollution prevention to reduce health hazards and protect ecosystems by introducing technologies for affordable sanitation and industrial and domestic wastewater treatment, by mitigating the effects of groundwater contamination and by establishing, at the national level, monitoring systems and effective legal frameworks;
(e) Adopt prevention and protection measures to promote sustainable water use and to address water shortages.
26. Develop integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005, with support to developing countries, through actions at all levels to:
(a) Develop and implement national/regional strategies, plans and programmes with regard to integrated groundwater management and introduce measures to improve the efficiency of water infrastructure to reduce losses and increase recycling of water;
(b) Employ the full range of policy instruments, including regulation, monitoring, voluntary measures, market and information -based tools, land –use management and cost recovery of water services, without cost recovery objectives becoming a barrier to access to safe water by poor people, and adopt an integrated approach;
(c) Improve the efficient use of water resources and promote their allocation among competing uses in a way that gives priority to the satisfaction of basic human needs and balances the requirement of preserving or restoring ecosystems and their functions, in particular in fragile environments, with human domestic, industrial and agriculture needs, including safeguarding drinking water quality;
(d) Develop programmes for mitigating the effects of extreme water-related events;
(e) Support the diffusion of technology and capacity -building for non-conventional water resources and conservation technologies, to developing countries and regions facing water scarcity conditions or subject to drought and desertification, through technical and financial support and capacity -building;
(f) Support, where appropriate, efforts and programmes for energy -efficient, sustainable and cost-effective desalination of seawater, water recycling and water harvesting from coastal fogs in developing countries, through such measures as technological, technical and financial assistance and other modalities;
(g) Facilitate the establishment of public -private partnerships and other forms of partnership that give priority to the needs of the poor, within stable and transparent national regulatory frameworks provided by Governments, while respecting local conditions, involving all concerned stakeholders, and monitoring the performance and improving accountability of public institutions and private companies.
27. Support developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their efforts to monitor and assess the quantity and quality of water resources, including through the establishment and/or further development of national monitoring networks and water resources databases and the development of relevant national indicators.
28. Improve water resource management and scientific understanding of the water cycle through cooperation in joint observation and research, and for this purpose encourage and promote knowledge sharing and provide capacity -building and the transfer of technology, as mutually agreed, including remote-sensing and satellite technologies, particularly to developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
29. Promote effective coordination among the various international and intergovernmental bodies and processes working on water -related issues, both within the United Nations system and between the United Nations and international financial institutions, drawing on the contributions of other international institutions and civil society to inform intergovernmental decision -making; closer coordination should also be promoted to elaborate and support proposals and undertake activities related to the International Year of Freshwater, 2003 and beyond.
The appex organisation of the water sector in Maldives is Min of transport Housing & Environemtn for MEEW. What are key performance indicators of these two organisations?
The mandates are as follows"
The MEEW mandate as of 2005 is detailed below:
(I) Provide access to safe water and sanitation services to the population;
(II) Promote sustainable water resources management;
(III) Develop strategies for provision of environmentally sound sanitation facilities to the islands;
(IV) Provide technical support and input for the government and private sector in planning, implementing, provision of services, decision making and creation of economic opportunities through water and sanitation services ;
(V) Take necessary actions to promote and introduce appropriate technologies relevant to the Maldivian’ context;
(VI) Undertake necessary actions for the sustainable management of water resources of the country.
The MWSA mandate as of 2005 is detailed below
(I) Develop and implement necessary standards, guidelines and regulations for production, consumption, import, export and selling water in the Maldives;
(II) License water, sanitation and wastewater service providers and monitor the service providers under the provisions of license agreements;
(III) Develop guidelines and standards on sewage and wastewater disposal and monitor the compliances of service providers;
(IV) Develop and implement tariff standards and regulations for providing water and sanitation services on fee basis considering the proposals of service providers and rights of consumers;
(V) Develop and implement strategies based on government policies for open-up the sector for private parties by creating competitive environment for the service providers considering easy and affordable prices for the consumers;
(VI) Conduct scientific research on available water resources and sanitation options in the country; store necessary date and information and provide share the date with relevant organizations;
In terms of water and sanitation Maldives is still in the late 17th century era- time when the industrial revolution begun.
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