From agreements to action - where do we go from the Summit?

Nearly a quarter of a million people are dying every month because they lack safe water.

Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull

By Sally Warren, WaterAid's Campaigns and Information Officer

Towards the end of the summer there was a media furore over the World Summit on Sustainable Development. WaterAid was there too. Sally Warren asks was it worth it and what happens next?

In the weeks up to the World Summit water and sanitation issues topped the bill of many national papers and news broadcasts. This unprecedented coverage had not been seen before in this country. With comments from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, naming water and sanitation in his top five priorities for the Summit and Nelson Mandela featuring in hand-washing advertisements on South African national television the issue was reported far and wide.

These signs gave the first glimmer of hope for WaterAid, which had been campaigning for over a year to ensure that water and sanitation were prioritised at the Summit. Attending the preparatory  meetings to lobby delegates in 'the corridors of power', working with our contacts in the Department for International Development, and here in the UK your support of the Water Matters campaign directed specifically at the Prime Minister all seemed to be starting to pay off.

On Wednesday 14 August Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott accepted over 120,000 signatures to the Water Matters petitions at No. 10.

On Wednesday 14 August Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott accepted over 120,000 signatures to the Water Matters petitions at 10 Downing Street. Speaking from the steps of Number 10 Mr Prescott said: "Nearly a quarter of a million people are dying every month because they lack safe water - that's equivalent to the number of people in my Hull constituency. This startling fact is simply unacceptable."

He added: "The Summit is not about a hotel room, not about how you fly, it's about stopping children dying unnecessarily because we can't organise access to safe water. So I'm delighted to receive this petition today."

So what exactly did happen at the World Summit held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002?

The most significant achievement was that all governments agreed to a target to halve the proportion of people without access to adequate sanitation by 2015.

Prior to this meeting sanitation has never been an issue of its own on the development agenda. A topic that was once a taboo subject became a topic of conversation in all areas of the Summit.

In addition, as part of the Water Matters campaign, WaterAid called on the UK Government to urge other governments to prioritise programmes of action to reach the previously agreed target to halve the proportion of people without access to water by 2015. This was prioritised at the Summit.

Both of these targets demonstrate the political commitment to reducing poverty, especially from the UK Government. Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, wrote to WaterAid shortly after the Summit. "The Tearfund and WaterAid [Water Matters] campaign has been very effective in raising public awareness of the issues of water and sanitation in developing countries. I greatly appreciate the effort that many of the NGO community have made around the World Summit on Sustainable Development and hope that we can continue to work together in the future."

This response demonstrates the strength of the Water Matters campaign and we would like to thank everyone who contributed to this success. Now the challenge for the world community is to make sure that there is practical action to reach these targets.

This will take time and over the next few years WaterAid will be monitoring the progress and taking action to ensure the targets are reached.

This year, the UN International Year of Freshwater, there is further momentum to urge governments to take action in providing the basic needs to help people out of poverty. The Third World Water Forum takes place in Japan during March, providing the first main opportunity to review plans to implement agreements made at the Summit.

For two days of the Forum, there will be a Ministerial Meeting where ministers covering water, development, environment and agriculture will meet to review their country's actions on policies for water. At this early stage WaterAid does not expect there to be detailed action plans. However the process of sharing information and progress will be an important step.

So was the World Summit on Sustainable Development worth it?

WaterAid recognises that during the Summit some concerns and areas that should have been covered were simply not given the commitments required.

However the new targets and programmes of action for water and sanitation that were set will ultimately change the lives of millions, and this is something we should all feel proud of. And so for the issue of water and sanitation, yes, the Summit was definitely worth it, but in the words of Kofi Annan "We have to go out and take action. This is not the end. It's the beginning."