Volume III, Issue 1
January - February 2007
A Bi-monthly Newsletter of the Water for Asian Cities (WAC) Programme
Multi Stakeholder Platform for WDM in Gwalior
UN-HABITAT partners with
Gwalior Municipal Corporation
for implementing a project to
establish the Multi-Stakeholder
Platform (MSP) for water de-
mand management through mo-
bilisation, awareness campaign
and capacity building of the
members of the community in
Gwalior under Water for Asian
Cities Programme.
The project is to be implemented
for the entire Gwalior city in
Madhya Pradesh. The main
objectives of the project are:
• to identify and organize the
various categories of stake-
holders of Gwalior city into
Resident Welfare Associations
and a federated structure
through their respective repre-
sentatives for participating in
the Multi Stakeholder Platform.
• to mobilise various stake-
holders of Gwalior city for a
greater articulation and space
for the ‘collective’ and
‘institutionalized’ voice of the
poor/slum dwellers of the city,
who are typically marginal-
ized from the governance of
city’s water supply and plan-
ning decisions.
The demand for safe drinking
water is more than the supply in
which the poor are deprived of
the available services. A multi-
stakeholder dialogue process
could contribute significantly to
the emergence of least conten-
tious solutions to the mismatch
between supply and demand
through suggestions that entail
extensive use of water in urban
constituencies. However, this
needs to be encouraged by suit-
able policy framework and insti-
tuting measures like graduated
water pricing for domestic users
in urban areas, securing the
essential livelihood water needs
of the poor women and men as
a priority, use of local rain water
harvesting techniques, waste
water recycling for relieving
pressure on demand side etc.
The main stakeholders comprise
of domestic consumers of differ-
entiated income categories;
commercial establishments; in-
dustrial establishments; Govern-
ment organizations; service or-
ganizations; public places, deliv-
ery of water service organiza-
tions, etc. that are spread over
across the Gwalior city. The
activities will focus on:
• Area and category wise con-
solidation of the data on
stakeholders and their actual
organization for representa-
tion of their voice at the MSP.
This social mobilization will
be implemented through series
of public meetings separately
for homogenous groups of
stakeholders
• Consolidation of the existing
Resident Welfare Associations
(RWAs) within the municipal
limits of city will be under-
taken. In case of non-existence
of such association new ones
will be established through
local communities, particularly
in the slum areas and other
low-income localities.
• A common governance code
will be established for their
functioning in the context of a
city-based federation which
will enable the institutional-
ized participation of the civil
society representatives, supply
side stakeholders like city-
based elected representatives,
officers of the Gwalior Munici-
pal Corporation will be mobi-
lized as members of the Plat-
form. Similar consolidation of
representation of other con-
sumer groups like the industry,
commercial establishments,
hospitals etc. will be under-
taken for their participation in
the Multi Stakeholder Platform.
UN-HABITAT will support se-
lected activities related to capac-
ity building / public awareness
programmes, and publication of
monthly newsletter in local lan-
guage so as to create greater
awareness among the stake-
holders. Several activities will be
undertaken such as creation of
Residence Welfare Associations,
particularly in slums, preparation
of IEC materials, orientation
programme for RWA representa-
tives etc. The project will be
implemented over a period of
12 months.
The Right to Water
The United Nations af-
firmed the right of water on
26 November 2002, not-
ing that such a right is
‘indispensable for leading
a life in human dignity’ &
‘a prerequisite for the reali-
zation of other human
rights’. Through its General
Comment 15, the Commit-
tee on Economic, Social &
Cultural Rights of the United
Nations Economic & Social
Council stated: ‘the human
right to water entitles every-
one to sufficient, safe, ac-
ceptable, physically acces-
sible and affordable water
for personal & domestic
uses’. While the right to
water has been implicit in
the rights to health, hous-
ing, food, life and dignity
already enshrined in other
international conventions,
such as the International Bill
of Human Rights & the
Convention on the Rights of
the Child, General Com-
ment 15 is the first to focus
explicitly on the right to
water and the responsibili-
ties that governments have
in delivering clean water &
adequate sanitation ser-
vices to all.
Inside this issue:
WDM Initiatives in 2
Nanjing, PR China
Central Region Small 3
Towns Project in Vietnam
NCRWSS Project in Laos 4
State LFHD in MP, India 5
Ministers’ visit to HVWSHE 6
Classrooms in Gwalior
Recommendations of MTF 6
on WATSAN
 Page 2
Water Conservation and Demand Management Initiatives in Nanjing, China
UN-HABITAT under WAC programme is
developing Water Conservation and
Demand Management (WCDM) strate-
gies and implementation framework
through capacity building of the Munici-
pal Government and the water utility of
Nanjing city in PR China.
Nanjing, located on the lower reaches of
the Yangtze River and the capital of Ji-
angsu Province, has high per capita wa-
ter consumption compared to the na-
tional average. The service area is
around 250 sq. km with the piped distri- • improving the knowledge base of im-
bution system installed over 70 years
ago causing frequent bursts and leak-
ages and need to be replaced. Strength-
Mainstreaming Gender for Improved Sanitation in Siddhipur, Nepal
Siddhipur, a traditional Newar peri-
urban community of 6000 population
near Kathmandu, Nepal suffer from seri-
ous sanitation problem with more than
half of the households having no toilets
and depend on four earmarked open
areas designated as communal toilets for
women. The sanitary conditions in these
open toilets are deplorable as there is no
system for managing them.
The unheard voices of the women and
girl children in using these toilets high-
light their struggles for dignity, humility,
security and vulnerability to disease due This programme is being implemented by
to un-safe sanitation. They do not carry a the Siddhipur Water and Sanitation Us-
bottle of water for cleaning in order to
avoid their identity by men folk that they
are going for open defecation. Instead,
they wear their trousers below the waste,
return home dirty and wash only when
they are satisfied that they are away
from prying eyes. The faeces piled up in
these open areas breed innumerous
warms which are susceptible for health
hazards. There is an urgent need to
mainstreaming gender in WATSAN ini-
tiatives.
Seventy five percent of the population
are women and children with 95 percent
literacy rate among young women of the
age-group of 15-24 years reflecting the
ening water demand management is the
key step to address the issue.
UN-HABITAT initiative to strengthen the
Water Conservation and Demand Man-
agement aims at:
• improving the efficiency and equity of
water supply and use in Nanjing, both
in productive and domestic sectors,
through appropriate water conserva-
tion and demand management capac-
ity building;
pact of urbanization on fresh water
and aquatic ecosystem in Nanjing;
and
process of social transformation in the
community. Recognizing the need and
the potential strength of social transfor-
mation, UN-HABITAT in partnership with
Environment and Public Health Organi-
zation (ENPHO), Water Aid Nepal initi-
ated a Community-based Integrated Wa-
ter and Sanitation Programme to estab-
lish an environmentally sound, effective
and sustainable water and sanitation
system in Siddhipur, ensuring gender
sensitiveness and positive impacts on
gender relations.
• strengthening the capacity of Nanjing
municipal government and water utili-
ties and other aspects on water conser-
vation and demand management.
UN-HABITAT proposes to achieve these
objectives by undertaking a rapid assess-
ment of WCDM and situational analysis;
organizing an extensive water audit with
GIS based mapping and data-bases and
water balance estimation; developing an
action plan for capacity building; orga-
nizing training workshops for building
WDM capacities for the functionaries of
the municipal government, Nanjing wa-
ter utilities, etc; developing WCDM train-
ing manuals in local language.
ers Committee with one third women
members. The programme facilitated
increase in sanitation coverage by em-
powering with financial subsidy and
capacity building for raising awareness
on health, hygiene and promoting moti-
vation, support for construction of ECO-
SAN toilets which collect urine & feaces
separately and recycle as organic fertil-
izer for using as manure in the fields. The
Gender Mainstreaming in sanitation
generated a change among households
for better beginning with determination
and prudence to investments on construc-
tion of toilets and made an impact on the
young minds amending old views.
 Volume III, Issue 1
Central Region Small and Medium Towns Development Project in Vietnam
UN-HABITAT has a preliminary agree-
ment with ADB to provide capacity build-
ing assistance to its upcoming Central
Region Water Supply and Sanitation
Project. This project which is being imple-
mented at a total cost of US$ 96 million
shall be covering several provincial capi-
tal towns that include Dong Ha, Ha Tinh,
Quang Ngai, Tam Ky, Thanh Hoa and
district town of Lang Co in Thua Thien
Hue province. ADB had approved a loan
amount of US$ 31.7 million in December
2003 and the project is expected to be
completed in June 2009.
UN-HABITAT will undertake the following
activities in support of the project which
will be more focused on capacity build-
ing, pro-poor governance, community
development, gender sensitive initiatives
and demonstrate innovative initiatives:
Successful Water Supply in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Cambodia is one of the poorest countries
in South-east Asia. It is still recovering
from decades of conflict, and all sectors,
including the health sector, require recon-
struction. The life of most people in Cam-
bodia is still defined by poverty and a
very high burden of disease with a gov-
ernment health care system that is ill-
equipped to deal with a range of health
problems. Access to improved drinking
water sources (estimated at 34 per cent
in 2002) is extremely low, even by de-
veloping country standards (WHO/
UNICEF, 2004). In the capital, Phnom
Penh, the water supply and drainage
systems have deteriorated over the years
Demand-Side Water Management: Beijing’s Water Scarcity
Beijing has been facing growing water
scarcity, with falling groundwater tables
and problems securing sufficient surface
water of adequate quality. There are
plans to divert large quantities of water
from the south to the north, a practice
very much in the tradition of demand-
driven water planning. The financial,
environmental and social costs of the
project are very high, and some have
1. Supporting access to sanitation for
poor households,
2. Capacity building for PPMUs, and
3. Fast-track projects for 2 small towns
viz. Cam Ranh & Gia Nghia under
ADB loan project.
The proposed ADB loan in the 5 prov-
inces of Central Region and eight towns
will address water and sanitation issues.
An MoU has been signed between UN-
HABITAT and Government of Vietnam. A
collaborative framework prepared in
consultation with ADB and the Govt. of
Vietnam for supporting Central Region
Water Small and Medium Towns Devel-
opment Project in Vietnam under the
Water for Asian Cities Programme with
a UN-HABITAT commitment to provide
financial assistance of US$ 1 million
due to war, poor management and lack
of maintenance. This problem has been
worsened by the rapid growth of the
urban population. However, successful
rehabilitation projects have taken place
with foreign aid and technical assis-
tance. Since 1993, the Phnom Penh Wa-
ter Supply Authority (PPWSA) has in-
creased its distribution network from
serving 40 per cent of the Phnom Penh
population to over 80 per cent. Non-
revenue water - the result of leaks, mis-
measurement, illegal connections and
illegal sales - has been reduced to 22
per cent (from 72 per cent) and collec-
tions are at almost 99 per cent with full
argued that it would be more beneficial
to invest in demand-side management
and improvements to upstream water
systems rather than investing tens of bil-
lions of dollars to divert billions of cubic
metres of water annually over distances
of more than 1,000 km. Partly because
of the focus on infrastructure. However,
the options and costs of upstream invest-
ments are not well understood or docu-
Page 3
towards the mentioned project in Viet-
nam. The period would be for three
years, 2007 to 2009.
A cooperation agreement to implement a
fast-track demonstration project in Cam
Ranh has been developed in partnership
with Cam Ranh Joint Stock Urban Works
Company. Another cooperation agree-
ment has also been developed with Gia
Nghia Water Utility to conduct rapid
assessment and situation analysis of the
water and sanitation status in Gia Nghia
town. The project will be implemented in
close association with the nodal Ministry
of Construction and Poverty Alleviation at
national level, Central Government, and
the Municipal Corporation of the se-
lected towns at the city level. The cost for
the implementation will be provided on a
cost-sharing basis by UN-HABITAT.
cost recovery achieved. By mid-2004, it
is predicted that the water supply capac-
ity in the city will have increased to
235,000 cubic metres per day. This is
now considered a success story for
which the PPWSA was awarded the
Water Prize of the Asian Development
Bank.
Charging for water and the relative roles
of public versus private management are
controversial issues. Phnom Penh pro-
vides a rare example of an efficient wa-
ter delivery system in a large city run by
a public body.
Source: www.adb.org/Documents/News/2004/nr2004012.asp
mented. Few cities consider negotiating
for upstream land and water use prac-
tices that could help them secure better
water supplies within their own water-
shed, partly because the institutional
basis is lacking. New York was excep-
tional when it invested heavily in more
ecologically suitable upstream land use
practices to secure better quality water
supplies. Source: Platt, 2004
 Volume III, Issue 1 Page 4

Northern and Central Regions Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project
(NCRWSSP) in Lao PDR
In July 2006, UN-HABITAT through a ADB had approved
letter of intent had expressed its interest funding a US$ 20.7
to collaborate with the Government of million project to help
Lao PDR to collaborate within the frame- provide safe and reli-
work of the Water for Asian Cities Pro- able water supplies
gramme and provide grants over the and improve the ur-
next five years, subject to the conclusion ban environment for
of a separate grant agreement for pro- up to 100,000 resi-
viding capacity building and community dents of about 12
development as local level support to the small towns in the Lao
ADB financed Northern and Central Re- PDR’s Northern and
gions Water Supply and Sanitation Sec- Central Regions by
tor (NCRWSS) Project. developing new water
sources and constructing optimal sized result of health improvement, time sav-
The Government of Lao PDR had subse-
water supply systems using appropriate ings in collecting water, as well as from
quently accepted this offer of UN-
technologies in August 2005. increased urban efficiency arising from
HABITAT and confirmed that the objec-
improved roads, bridges, drainage, and
tives of the Water for Asian Cities Pro- The Project is expected to benefit about
sanitation. Residents in towns will also
gramme are in line with the Government 89,000 residents by 2010 and 100,000
benefit from lower water costs and from
of Lao PDR’s commitment to achieve sus- by 2015 of about 12 small towns by
savings in health care costs. The project
tainable access to safe drinking water providing safe and reliable piped water
is being implemented by the Ministry of
and improved sanitation systems as part supply and improved urban environment
Communication, Transport, Post and
of its National Growth and Poverty Eradi- that will have a direct impact on the
Construction of the Government of Lao
cation Strategy (NGPES). health and living conditions of the town
PDR.
communities. About 100 core villages
UN-HABITAT has commenced parallel
will benefit directly from village environ- In support of this project, UN-HABITAT
financing capacity building activities for
ment improvements, providing access had organised a workshop on “Water
the Northern and Central Region Water
roads, footpaths, and improved drain- Quality Analysis and Flow Measurement
Supply and Sanitation Project in Lao PDR
age and sanitation in residential areas. of Small Streams” conducted in March
at a total cost of US$ 565,400 under the
Moreover, an estimated 98,000 rural 2006 and a second workshop on
Water for Asian Cities Programme. A
residents in surrounding hinterland will “Settlement, Community and Social Map-
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
benefit from improved roads and bridges ping Using Satellites Imageries” was
for long-term cooperation between UN-
allowing better access to urban markets organized in June 2006 in Lao PDR. A
HABITAT and the Govt. of Lao PDR has
and social services provided in the Pro- detailed GIS mapping of 3 towns have
been signed to support the above men-
ject towns. The towns' economies will also been conducted.
tioned project.
benefit from enhanced productivity as a
The activities under WAC Programme in
Lao PDR will be implemented with a fo-
cus on capacity building activities in
support of the proposed NCRWSS Pro-
ject to be implemented in 12 small towns
in the Northern and Central Regions of
Lao PDR. The overall aim of the Project is
to improve the accessibility, quality, reli-
ability and sustainability of water and
sanitation service delivery in about 12
small towns in the Northern and Central
Regions of Lao PDR by promoting pro-
poor governance and improved manage-
ment practices.
 Page 5
State Legislators Forum for Human Development in Madhya Pradesh
UN-HABITAT has taken the lead in close
cooperation with UN Country Team
members for establishing the State Legis-
lators Forum for Human Development
(LFHD) in Madhya Pradesh for advocacy
and information sharing with the elected
representatives involving both the mem-
bers of the Legislative Assembly of
Madhya Pradesh and the elected mem-
bers of Parliament from both the houses
in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Recognizing the important role of Legisla-
tors in the process of human develop-
ment, the UN system in India has sup-
ported setting up of Legislators’ Fora for
Human Development in the States.
Access to Safe Drinking Bottled Water - The High Cost of Water
Over the last decade, sales of bottled
water have increased dramatically to
become what is estimated to be a US
$100 billion industry. From 1999 to
2004, global bottled water consumption
grew from approximately 26 billion gal-
lons to over 40 billion gallons. In several
cities of the developing world, demand
for bottled water often stems from the fact
that the municipal water supplies - if
available at all - fail to
meet basic criteria for
drinking water quality. But
companies manufacturing
bottled water are also gen-
erating large revenues in
developed countries. Bottled water sales
in the United States in 2004 - higher
than in any other country - totalled over
US$ 9 billion for 6.8 billion gallons of
water, that is, enough water to meet the
annual physiological needs of a popula-
tion the size of Cambodia. Countries in
the top ten list of bottled water consumers
include Mexico, China, Brazil, Italy,
Germany, France, Indonesia, Spain and
India.
When asked why they are willing to pay
so much for bottled water when they
have access to tap water, consumers
often list concerns about the safety of tap
water as a major reason for most compa-
Orissa and Sikkim are the first two States
to set up the Legislators’ Fora or Human
Development and MDGs. The Fora in
these States has been set up under the
aegis of the Hon’ble Speaker’s office.
The objective of the Forum is to facilitate
Legislators to discuss the concerned is-
sues in a more structured manner and
enable them to adopt a more result ori-
ented approach towards development
issues.
UN-HABITAT will forge a knowledge
partnership with the Madhya Pradesh
Legislative Assembly. Some mechanisms
through which this partnership could be
executed are as follows:
nies market this product on the basis that
it is safer than tap water, various studies
indicate that bottled water regulations
are in fact inadequate to ensure purity or
safety. The World Health Organization
(WHO, 2000) warns that bottled water
can actually have a greater bacterial
count than municipal water. In many
countries, the manufacturers themselves
are responsible for product sampling and
safety testing. In the United States, for
example, the standards by which bottled
water is graded ([regulated by the Food
and Drug Administration) are actually
lower than those for tap water (regulated
by the Environmental Protection Agency).
The explosive increase in bottled water
sales raises important questions related
not only to health, but also to the social
and environmental implications of the
phenomenon. It remains to be seen, for
example, how the growth of this industry
will affect the extension and upkeep of
municipal water services upon which the
poor depend. In fact, those most likely to
need alternative, clean water sources are
• Research support needs of Legislators
as per their request to support develop-
ment issues such as health, education,
water and sanitation, livelihoods etc.
• Creation of solution exchange forum to
access information and deliberate on
development issues.
• Focus Group Discussions, bringing in
national experts and practitioners to
interact with the Hon’ble Legislators.
• Constituency level support for the Leg-
islators to analyse and assess constitu-
ency level achievements and gaps.
• Round Table discussions around the-
matic areas etc.
also those least likely to be able to afford
the high cost of bottled water. In China,
where roughly 70 largest demands for
bottled water comes from city dwellers,
for in rural areas people are too poor to
pay for this alternative.
Most water bottles are meant to be recy-
clable. However, only 20 percent of
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the
substance used for water bot-
tles, is actually recycled. In
Greece, it is estimated that 1
billion plastic drinking water
bottles are thrown away each
year. In addition, the PET
manufacturing process re-
leases harmful chemical emissions that
compromise air quality.
Where safe tap water is temporarily
unavailable, bottled water can provide
an effective short-term solution for meet-
ing a population's needs. But as noted
above, the massive growth in sales of
bottled water worldwide comes at a cost,
A better appreciation of how people
value water may help us understand how
the bottled water phenomenon is impact-
ing society's health, economic and envi-
ronmental goals.
Sources: BBC, 2005: Gleick et al., 2004; IBWA. 2005;
NRDC. WW: WHO, 2000; Yardley. 2005
 Page 6
Valuing Water, Valuing Women
In most of the developing countries, col-
lecting water for the family is women’s
work. While water for drinking and
cooking must be carried home, dishes,
clothes and often children may be car-
ried to the water source for washing.
Women and gins are often seen queuing
with their water pots at all-too-scarce
taps, then walking long distances home
balancing them on their heads or hips. If
the water is contaminated and a family
member falls ill, it is often the woman
who must care for them. Children in par-
ticular are vulnerable.
In different parts of the world where
AIDS is rampant, individuals with weak-
ened immune systems also easily fall
prey to pathogens in the water supply.
The low status of women in many socie-
ties means that their contribution - in
terms of the time and energy spent, for
Ministers’ Visit to HVWSHE Classrooms in Gwalior
Mr. Narayan Singh Kushwa,
Minister for Social Justice
and Welfare Department,
Government of Madhya
Pradesh and Dr. Narottam
Mishra, Minister for School
Education, Government of
Madhya Pradesh visited
WATSAN Classroom estab-
lished in Gwalior in Padma
Raja Vidhyalaya.
The HVWSHE classroom has
been developed by UN-
HABITAT in collaboration
with Government of Madhya Pradesh
(GoMP). Basic objective of these class-
rooms are to educate the students about
the values of water and sanitation in our
day to day life.
The Ministers inspected the panels and
models on water and sanitation issues
displayed in the Classroom and inter-
acted with the Principal and the Resource
teachers of the School. He enquired
about the activities being conducted in-
volving students and advised the Princi-
example, in fetching
water - is considered to
be of little value. In eco-
nomic terms, the oppor-
tunity cost of their labour
is perceived as near
zero. Where women
have been given access
to education and to
money-making work,
such as handicrafts pro-
duction, and are permit-
ted to sell their products and to earn
income for the family, their social as well
as financial position improved dramati-
cally. Attitudes toward water-collecting
can also shift. The time women spend
collecting water, especially when simple
and readily available technological alter-
natives exist, looks very different and far
more costly to the family and society as a
whole, when women have income-
pal and the Resource Teachers to organ-
ise programmes for the students in asso-
ciation with other schools for populariz-
ing the HVWSHE classroom and its ac-
tivities at the city level. The Ministers
stated that the WATSAN classrooms will
help the children to grasp the values
related with Water and Sanitation and
the School will fill the gap in the curricu-
lum and the practices. He also expressed
willingness to upscale these activities in
other schools.
earning opportunities. Thus, investments
made to improve access to safe drinking
water are both a reflection of the value
placed on water for human well-being
and the value accorded women. Provid-
ing regular and dependable access to
safe drinking water is one way of im-
proving the position of women as well as
society as a whole.
Source: UNICEF/WHO, 2004.
Benefits of Improved
Sanitation
The best way to prevent faecal-orally
transmitted diseases such as diarrhea is
the sanitary disposal of human faeces in
pit latrines or other improved sanitation
facilities. Improved sanitation is also the
only long-term sustainable option for
controlling intestinal worms and schisto-
somiasis.
Improved sanitation has important addi-
tional benefits, especially to women. In
many cultures, the only time when
women or girls can defecate, if they
have no latrine, is after dark. The walk to
the defecation field, often in the dark, is
when women run the greatest risk of
sexual harassment and assault.
The lack of adequate, separate sanitary
facilities in schools is one of the main
factors preventing girls from attending
school, particularly when menstruating.
In Bangladesh, a gender-sensitive school
sanitation programme increased girls’
enrolment by 11 per cent.
Source: www.lboro.ac.uk/well/resources/fact-
sheets-htm/wps.htm
 Volume III, Issue 1
Recommendations of the Millennium Task Force on Water and Sanitation
At the end of a three-year project, the
UN Millennium Project Task Force on
Water and Sanitation identified five
guiding principles and ten critical actions
essential to reaching the water and sani-
tation MDGs.
Five Guiding Principles
These are as follows:
1. There must be a deliberate commit-
ment by donors to increase and refo-
cus their development assistance and
to target aid to the poorest countries.
2. There has to be delib-
erate commitment by
middle-income country
governments that do
not depend on aid, to
reallocate their re-
sources so as to focus
funding on their un-
served poor.
3. There have to be de-
liberate activities to
create support and
ownership for water
supply and sanitation
initiatives among both women and
men in poor communities.
4. There must be deliberate recognition
that basic sanitation in particular re-
quires community mobilization and
actions that support and encourage
such mobilization.
5. There must be deliberate planning
and investment in sound water re-
sources management and infrastruc-
ture.
GIS for School Sanitation and Hygiene Education: Tamil Nadu, India
GIS has been applied innovatively in
Tamil Nadu for improving the school
sanitation programme. With UNICEF
assistance, GIS was used for the first
time in India in the village of Panchayat
to create water and sanitation facility
mapping for schools focusing on five
indicators: availability of drinking water,
toilets, water for toilets, washing and
school sanitation and hygiene education
Ten Critical Actions
These actions are needed not only to
meet the water and sanitation targets but
also to facilitate the sound management
of water resources for all MDGs:
1. Governments and other stakeholders
must move the sanitation crisis to the
top of the agenda.
2. Countries must ensure that both poli-
cies and institutions for water supply
and sanitation, and for water re-
sources management and develop-
ment, respond equally to
the different roles, needs
and priorities of women
and men.
3. Governments and
donor agencies must ad
together to reform invest-
ments for improved water
supply, sanitation and
water management.
4. Actions to meet the
water and sanitation tar-
gets must focus on sustain-
able service delivery and
not just on the construc-
tion of facilities.
5. Governments and donor agencies
must ensure that local authorities and
communities have the authority, re-
sources and professional capacity
required to manage water supply and
sanitation service delivery.
6. Governments and utilities must ensure
that those who can pay for services
do pay, so that the revenues to fund
operation, maintenance and service
(SSHE). This triggered significant
changes in planning for SSHE, especially
the use of spatial data. When the first
GIS maps were displayed during a re-
gional workshop, they shocked the dis-
trict officials, as they did not have any
idea about the coverage of water and
sanitation facilities in schools. They were
drawn towards the GIS maps and started
comparing coverage levels between dif-
Page 7
expansion are available, while at the
same time ensuring that the needs of
the poorest households are met.
7. Within the context of national poverty
reduction strategies based on the
MDGs, countries must produce coher-
ent water resources development and
management plans that will support
the achievement of the MDGs.
8. Governments and their civil society
and private sector partners must sup-
port a wide range of water and sani-
tation technologies and service levels
technically, socially, environmentally
and financially appropriate.
9. Institutional, financial and technologi-
cal innovation must be provided in
strategic areas.
10.UN agencies and Member States
must ensure that the UN system and
its international partners provide
strong and effective support for the
achievement of the water supply and
sanitation targets and for water re-
sources development and manage-
ment.
In addition to these guiding principles
and critical actions, the Task Force report
sets out an Operational Plan specifying
the steps that the key players - national
and sub-national governments, donors,
civil and community organizations and
research institutions - need to follow in
support of achieving the MDGs.
Source: ‘Health, Dignity and Development - What Will it
Take?’ - a summary of the key recommendations of the UN
Millennium Task Force on Water and Sanitation’s Final Report
ferent districts and decided to take up
joint planning and use pooled resources.
The data has been used to prepare dis-
trict action plans for SSHE, jointly owned
by the local governments. Higher offi-
cials in offices far away also became
sensitized to local problems after looking
at the GIS data.
Source: DDWS, 2004

Editorial Board
Hazari Lal, Director,
Government of India
Sewaram, Secretary,
UADD, State Govt. of M.P
Krishna Prasad Acharya,
Joint Secretary, MPPW,
Govt. of Nepal
Somphone Dethoudom,
Director General, MCTPC,
Govt. of Lao PDR
Nguyen Sinh Hy, Director
General, Ministry of Con-
struction, Govt. of Vietnam
Zheng Guangda, Deputy
Director General, Ministry
of Construction, PR China
K.E. Seetharam, Senior
Water and Sanitation Spe-
cialist, ADB Manila
Ravi Narayanan, Consult-
ant, Bangalore, India
Avi Sarkar, Chief Technical
Advisor, MEK-WATSAN,
UN-HABITAT, Lao PDR
Chief Editor
Andre Dzikus, Programme
Manager, UN-HABITAT
Nairobi
Managing Editor
Kulwant Singh, CTA, WAC
Programme, UN-HABITAT,
New Delhi, India
Water is Life
Sanitation is Dignity
UN-HABITAT
Water for Asian Cities
Programme Regional Office
EP-16/17, Chandragupta Marg,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi -110021
Tel: +91-11-42225019 / 22
Fax: +91-11-24104961
Email: Wac.India@unhabitat.org
Web: www.unhabitat.org/water
Benefits Vs. Costs of Improved Water and Sanitation Services
Adoption of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
that deal with extending the
availability of water and sanita-
tion services has prompted in-
terest in assessing the net eco-
nomic benefits of such pro-
grammes. Hutton and Haller
evaluated five different scenar-
ios with different levels of inter-
vention for seventeen World
Health Organization sub-
regions. The five levels of inter-
vention were:
1.Water improvements required
meeting the MDG for water
supply (halving by 2015 the
proportion of
those without WHO Sub-region
safe drinking
water). Sub-Saharan Africa
Americas
2.Water improve-
ments to meet Europe
the MDG for
water supply South East Asia
plus the MDG Western Pacific
for sanitation
Note: The parenthetical letters WHO Sub-regions as classified by epidemiological (health risk) indicators.
Management of Aquifer Recharge -An Example from Vietnam
The Binh Thuan province is lo-
cated along the coastal plain in
the lower part of central eastern
Viet Nam; its principal city is
Phan Tiet, 200 km East of Ho
Chi Minh City. The area of the
province is approximately
8,000 km2, with a total popula-
tion of 1 million. Before 1975,
the area was covered by a
dense tropical forest, which
was cleared to make room for
rice fields and resulted in mas-
sive desertification. Due to an
uneven rainfall distribution and
a four-month period (from De-
cember to March) of very little
precipitation, the area suffers
from considerable water short-
age during the dry season.
In order to combat desertifica-
(halving by 2015 the propor-
tion of those without access to
adequate sanitation).
3.Increasing access to im-
proved water and sanitation
for everyone.
4.Providing disinfectant at
point-of-use over and above
increasing access to im-
proved water supply and
sanitation.
5.Providing regulated piped
water supply in house and
sewerage connection with
partial sewerage connection
for everyone.
Population
(Million)
481
93
223
1689
1488
tion, improved practices in eco-
system rehabilitation as well as
remediation techniques to re-
store aquifer systems and
groundwater storage capacity
are being developed. In particu-
lar, these techniques are being
used in the Hong Phong sub-
district (Bac Binh district), lo-
cated about 25 km northeast of
Phan Tiet, with an area of ap-
proximately 300 km2 encom-
passing three villages.
The geo-hydrological assess-
ment of the area, consisting of
a semi-permeable bedrock and
porous material (sand dunes)
with a thickness of up to 150
m, allows for the use of SAR
(storage and aquifer recovery)
techniques by redirecting rain-
Page 8
Costs were determined to be
the annualized equivalent of the
full capital cost of the interven-
tion. Benefits were measured in
terms of several variables: the
time saving associated with
estimated benefit-cost ratios for
selected regions. Economic
benefits were found to greatly
exceed the costs for all interven-
tions, particularly level (4), a
result that was robust for all
regions and under alternative
intervention scenarios.
Sou rc e: Hut ton an d H aller. 2004
w w w . w h o . in t / w a t e r _s an i t a t i o n _ h ea l t h /
wsh0404.pdf
Benefit-cost ratio by intervention level
11.50 12.54 11.71 15.02 4.84
10.01 10.21 10.59 13.77 3.88
6.03 3.40 6.55 5.82 1.27
7.81 3.16 7.88 9.41 2.90
5.24 3.36 6.63 7.89 1.93
fall during the rainy season and
making use of the resource dur-
ing the dry period (December-
March).
The project's implementation by
UNESCO is ongoing and the
results achieved thus far have
allowed for the selection of the
site for the Aquifer Recharge
Project in the morphological
depression of Nuoc Noi, where
the aquifer water table is very
close to the ground level. The
use of the bank filtration tech-
nique is already producing
satisfactory results as water
quality increases. Groundwater
can be abstracted and used,
after natural filtration, for differ-
ent purposes (human and agri-
cultural).