World Water Week Daily - Tuesday 27 August, 2019

STOCKHOLM
waterfront
world water week daily | TUESDAY 27 AUGUST | 2019
Stockholm Water Prize laureate Dr Jackie King (right) being interviewed by SIWI’s Maggie White.
BLEAK MESSAGES
AT OPENING CEREMONY
TEXT | ANDREAS KARLSSON
PHOTO | THOMAS HENRIKSON
Few encouraging messages were
conveyed during yesterday’s
opening ceremony, underlining
the increasingly acute water
situation in the world and what
was described as an alarming
inability to address it.
One of the overarching statements
was that we no longer have an excuse
not to act on pressing water and climate
issues. Several speakers, including this
year’s Stockholm Water Prize laureate,
Dr Jackie King, emphasised that there
is no denying that we have the information,
the know-how, the structures and
the technology to bring about positive
change. Yet, she said, there is no momen -
tum in the struggle to fulfil SDG 6,
something which must immediately
change.
SIWI’s Executive Director, Torgny
Holmgren, opened the event with a
similar statement, saying that even
since last year’s World Water Week,
we have acquired important and
alarming knowledge about the state
of the world.
“Compared to just a
year ago, we now know
that we have less time
than we thought to tackle
the climate crisis and the
degradation of our environment.
New reports tell us that the
world’s glaciers and the Antarctic ice
sheet are melting at a much faster rate
than first anticipated.”
Many discussions during the event
also circled around this year’s theme of
inclusiveness, with several statements
suggesting that unequal distribution of
water is a serious violation.
As testified by the award-winning
Swedish photographer Paul Hansen,
denying certain groups access to water
is increasingly being used as a weapon
around the world.
“I have never met a hungry or thirsty
soldier. In conflict zones all over the
world, water and other vital resources
are being withheld to suppress people.
The lack of access is a very powerful
weapon.”
Speaking of his own role as a photojournalist
in some of the world’s most
gruesome conflicts, he said that he truly
believes in the importance of spreading
the word and the impact of individual
stories.
“To bring about change,
we must touch people’s
hearts. They must never
be able to say ‘we didn’t
know’.”
published by stockholm international water institute

TUESDAY: WORLD WATER WEEK DAILY
Piecing together progress
In 2015, the city of Beira in Mozambique
launched a multi-faceted 20 -year
initiative to build resilience, including
a road network, water supply and drainage
systems. In 2019, the plan came
under pressure as cyclone Idai hit.
“Six months prior to the disaster, we
had inaugurated a new drainage system
and it worked perfectly. In the city, we
had 61 deaths, but none because of
flooding, unlike neighbouring areas
with no functioning drainage system,”
said the mayor of Beira, Daviz Simango,
at Climate resilient develop ment in
coastal cities: A 1000-piece puzzle.
PLANTATIONS CAUSING WATER CRISIS IN PERU
Could a product such as asparagus cause severe water crises and human
rights breaches? That was discussed during the showcase Is asparagus to
blame? A value chain review.
Malena Wåhlin, researcher at Swedwatch presented one of the organization’s
recent reports describing the negative impact of asparagus exports
from the Ica valley in Peru.
“Small-scale farmers have been especially hard hit. Some have had to
abandon land because wells are drying up. The lack of water causes health
problems and increases tensions and local conflicts over water,” Wåhlin said.
The problem is aggravated by a number of other factors such as corruption,
lack of control and weak authorities.
“Several Swedish companies import asparagus from the Ica valley and we
have had very good discussions with them. However, there is no easy solution.
It’s not just to pull out because the Ica valley depends on this sector
and if it disappears
that
would create
other human
rights issues.
Starting with
unemployment,”
Wåhlin
said.
Photo: Istock
Building resilience takes a decadeslong
approach, and it needs to be
holistic. Maarten Gischler, Senior Water
Advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, who has been involved in the
Beira process for several years said:
“Usually we focus on a single piece
of the puzzle and pull out. We need
a new approach. Water is a strategic
entry point in a city like Beira, but we
soon realised that all problems are not
water-linked. We also need to involve
many partners, both in the private and
public sector – stretch our comfort
zones and connect the dots.”
Focus on
indigenous
people
To many indigenous people,
water is a sacred element and
holds a central place in culture
and tradition. At the same time,
statistics show that indigenous
people around the world suffer
disproportionally from lack of
access to water and sanitation.
At the opening ceremony
yesterday, Angela Code, who is
a Sayisi Dene First Nation from
Canada, spoke about the deeply
rooted traditional value of water
and how indigenous people
would have a lot to contribute to
the water debate.
During an afternoon session
about indigenous peoples’ experiences
of water management,
several examples were presented,
such as Suriname, where the
Lokono and Ka’lina peoples have
been the victims of extensive
mining, some of it illegal.
“It’s not just a question of
having drinking water. If we
can’t access or rely on traditional
sources, cultural practices may
be lost,” Caitlin Schaap from the
Ka’lina people.
CLARIFICATION: The WWW debate described
in Monday’s issue was a staged debate where
teams take different positions that may not
necessarily reflect their actual views.
5
PEOPLE RELY ON RIVER BASINS THAT
CROSS NATIONAL BOUNDARIES FOR
DRINKING AND DOMESTIC WATER.
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit
NUMBER OF THE DAY2 IN

FRESH THINKING
FOR FRESH WATER
TEXT | Görrel Espelund PHOTO |thomas henrikson
3
questions
to …
As a child, Bole Pan accompanied
his father to university where
he developed a keen interest in
environmental issues. Today, he
is one of 35 finalists of this year’s
Stockholm Junior Water Prize.
“My dad is a professor in environmental
engineering at Jinan University. I used to
go with him to his laboratory and read
books about the environment, that’s how
I got interested in these issues. Also, I
joined the local bird watching club and
our teacher showed us how bad the environment
is. There used to be kingfishers
around our river, but we don’t see them
anymore,” says Pan.
The 16-year-old from Guangzhou, southern
China, ventured out on his first waterrelated
project when attending middle
school. Together with a friend, he investigated
the ammonia nitrogen content and
the pH value of the Liuxi River.
“I used drones to film the river and took
water samples from different locations.
Me and my friends wrote a report and
sent it to the government. They wanted
to reduce the area of the protected zone
around the river – but that would create
more pollution. We never received a reply,
Bole Pan showing the jury his project.
so we published the report in a Chinese
online journal.”
The project Pan is presenting in Stockholm
tackles the freshwater crisis using
waste materials and solar power. To put
it very simply: he makes activated carbon
from peanut shells, he puts the activated
carbon onto electrodes and into a module.
When seawater is passed through it, it
absorbs ions turning the saltwater into
freshwater. The electrical power needed to
drive the mechanism is provided by solar
energy.
“My mum loves peanuts, so we had
plenty of peanut shells at home. When
I read about the Stockholm Junior Water
Prize I thought it sounded very cool and
I am so excited to be here. I’m looking
forward to the Climate Change Symposium,
the Royal Banquet and to meeting
the Princess,” he says.
Though there are still many environmental
challenges in China, not least in terms of
water, Pan has also noticed improvements.
“In recent years the government has been
trying to protect our rivers and last week I
saw people catching fish in the Pearl River.
I have never seen that before. It used to be
a very stinky river where no one wanted to
go. So, I think they are making progress.”
STOCKHOLM
JUNIOR WATER
PRIZE
Stockholm Junior Water
Prize gathers young scientists
and inventors from around
the world. Each finalist has
been selected as the winner
of their national competition,
35 countries take part in the
competition. The entries are
assessed by an international
jury of water and scientific
experts.
This year’s winner will be
announced tonight at the
banquet at Berns Salonger,
by the Patron of the Award
H.R.H. Crown Princess
Victoria of Sweden.
ANYA EILERS,
hydrologist, Aurecon, South
Africa and World Water
Week Junior Rapporteur
What are your first impressions
of being a junior
rapporteur at the Week?
“It’s something I’ve been
wanting to do for a long time;
I obtained funding which is
why I could come this year.
I’m really thoroughly enjoying
it: I like that it brings
together people to collaborate
and share ideas.”
What are the challenges to
achieving equitable water
provision in South Africa?
“There’s the availability of
water, as we know from
Cape Town, but I think a lot
of it is also on the political
level. Most of the Cape Town
drought was actually caused
by a confusion between
political parties: dams
are managed by national
govern ment, but municipal
infrastructure is managed
by local government and
different political parties so
that caused friction which
largely led to the Cape Town
drought. The other thing is
bringing down our Gini coefficient,
(the poverty-disparity
index), because there are
huge amounts of inequality.
Making water supply more
equitable starts with dealing
with those issues – you can’t
separate them.”
How do you see the future
of equitable water provision,
globally and in South
Africa?
“To be in this field you have
to be an optimist – you won’t
survive longer than a year if
you’re not.”

Including people with disabilities
TEXT | NICK CHIPPERFIELD PHOTO |thomas henrikson
The urgency of including people with disabilities in decision-making
was one of the key takeaways at the Missing billion: What is needed
for disability inclusive WASH seminar.
“You can’t underestimate the power
of being present where decisions
are being made,” Nalule Safia Juuko, a
Ugandan parlamentarian said, stressing
that political representation was key in
improving WASH conditions for people
with disabilities. She called on donors
to learn from those with disabilities:
“People with disabilities must be
involved in decision-making. You can’t
expect people who have no experience
of disability to understand what disabled
people need,” she added, urging
those with disabilities to “amplify their
voices” to increase the representation of
the disabled in leadership roles.
Highlighting the potential for progress,
VK Madhavan, Water Aid India,
spoke about a chain of Indian hotels
where one third of its employees are
people who are differently able – a
move that has improved inclusivity
and reduced the “invisibility” of
people with disabilities.
“Come to me to see what I need so you
can design a technology that is relevant.
Inclusive WASH must start at home.
Inclusive budgets must start from home
– come to us to understand our need.”
“We are the experts. We live this
every day. It’s great to have laws, but if
they are not implemented, they are useless,”
said Ina Åkerberg from Swedish
rights organizations MyRight and RBU.
Nalule Safia Juuko from Uganda.
world water week voices
How can water provision be made more equitable?
Samantha Yates,
UK, Global Water
Leaders Group
“We need to
improve institutional
governance
across and within
organizations and
ask how we make
inclusiveness local
to each individual
community.”
Alida Pham, US,
World Bank Group
“It’s really about
empowering local
actors: getting
champions from
public, private and
civil society together:
you need the
right stakeholders
around the table.”
Karen Gonzalez
Downs, Nicaragua,
Global Water
Partnership
“Consider us [devel -
oping countries]
not only as victims
or people that need
support, but also
consider that we
have know ledge
that experts
don’t have.”
Stephen Wamicha,
Kenya, Upepo
“By offering
local solutions to
water consumers.
Reaching local
communities is a
huge issue due to
infrastructure set
by government and
service providers.”
Everlyne Nabakka,
Uganda, Young Water
Soolutions/EcoUga
Pads
“The number
one thing is
empowerment
of women – if
women are not
in power, I don’t
think equitable
water provision
will progress.”
Enrique Labarta,
Spain, CIDS’
“One thing that
must improve is
the distribution
of clean water by
having better networks
and expanding
the number of
water collection
points.”
App
Digital updates
Don’t forget to download the
World Water Week app, for all the
latest updates throughout the day,
and engage with us on social media.
Join the conversation on #WWWeek!
World Water Week
in Stockholm
Stockholm International
Water Institute (SIWI)
@siwi_water
@siwi_youth
Stockholm
International
Water Institute
www.vimeo.
com/siwi
STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE
Box 101 87 | Visiting Address: Linnégatan 87A
SE-100 55, Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 121 360 00 | www.siwi.org
Publisher: Torgny Holmgren
stockholm waterfront daily • 25–30 AUGUST, 2019
SIWI EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor: Maria Sköld
Graphic Designer: Marianne Engblom
Tips and comments?
Contact us at: waterfront@siwi.org
WORLD WATER WEEK DAILY EDITORIAL STAFF
Görrel Espelund, Andeas Karlsson
and Nick Chipperfield
Photography: Thomas Henrikson
and Mikael Ullén