World Water Week Daily - Wednesday 28 August, 2019

STOCKHOLM
waterfront
world water week daily | WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST | 2019
Woman cleaning the Goa beach during a volunteer event.
POOLING POWER FOR
SOURCE-TO-SEA SUCCESS
TEXT | NICK CHIPPERFIELD PHOTO |MIKAEL ULLÉN and istock
The urgency of successfully
implementing practical steps
to achieve SDG 6 and SDG 14
was the overriding message at
the High-level Panel on Bringing
Together Oceans and Freshwater,
with emphasis on local, inclusive
measures.
“I’m here to find out how we can mutually
improve our act. Let’s get along
the riverbanks, along the foreshores: it’s
not rocket science, let’s get on with the
job,” said Peter Thomson, UN Secretary
General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.
“There’s only a certain amount of H 2
O
on the planet; yes, there’s a freshwater
“What’s good for SDG 6
is good for SDG 14.”
community and a saltwater community,
but we’re all on the same team.
What’s good for SDG 6 is good for SDG
14,” Thomson said.
“Village schemes, individuals – that’s
where the solutions lie. There’s some
great work being done, but there’s a lot
of work that still needs to be done there.
We need to step all that up,” he added.
Isabella Lövin, Deputy
Prime Minister of Sweden
and Minister of Environment
and Climate, echoed
the call to pool efforts to
improve fresh and saltwater
quality, stressing the strong inter linkage
between the two.
“Partnerships across sectors are
needed. We can only solve our problems
if we do this together,” Lövin said.
These were themes that also emerged
at the earlier, related session Preventing
plastics in our waters: more than
banning straws.
Announcing the publication of a
report on marine litter prevention,
Ruth Mathews, SIWI, noted the need
for behavioural change that extends all
the way from local level – river basins –
to national and on to global level.
“We need to transform how we govern
plastics and how we finance interventions
to start controlling our plastic
waste,” Mathews said.
Robyn Gwee, Deltares, urged moves to
more resource-efficient economies.
“I think we need to change the way
we manage our waste, and the way
we design our products.
Banning straws starts a
conversation, but we really
need to move towards preventative
solutions rather
than bans,” Gwee said.
published by stockholm international water institute

WEDNESDAY: WORLD WATER WEEK DAILY
Call for ACTION to
save AMAZONAS
The Amazonas ecosystem is
heavily affected by informal,
so-called artisanal, mining,
primarily for gold. As a direct
result, almost 6,000 square kilometres
of rivers and creeks have
been destroyed and more than
500 square kilometres of forests
removed to give way for smallscale
mining.
Mercury pollution affects
vast areas with resulting health
concerns for humans and animals.
Mining activities also have
a negative impact on human
rights, perhaps most importantly
for indigenous peoples in the
region.
Yesterday, Conservation X
Labs, together with partners,
launched the initiative Artisanal
Mining Grand Challenge, calling
for ideas and inventions to prevent
further destruction and promote
restoration of the Amazonas
ecosystem. There is a cash prize
connected to the challenge,
working as an incentive for aspiring
actors to find solutions.
According to Conservation X
Lab, the model with challenges
and prizes to generate new ideas
and solutions has proven very
successful in the past.
TEXTILE sustainability hampered
Collaboration and transparency are essential for the textile industry to improve
social and environmental conditions throughout the garment supply chain.
That was the conclusion at yesterday’s Promoting due diligence in the textile
sector: European alignment session.
Another discussion point centred on standards and guidelines, and how to
align them to make them more effective.
“There are already many solutions
around, and one challenge is sharing.
Brands that have just started their
sustainable journey should be able to
learn from others. Sharing solutions
is a way of up-scaling. However, there
are so many standards today that
it can get confusing,” said Andreas
Edele, from German Partnership for
Sustainable Textiles.
Asif Masood, Sarena Textile Industries, from Pakistan agreed:
“As a producer, you may work for 15 brands with 15 different standards. There
Andreas Edele.
should be one standard. Also, as an industry, we work with the same processes
and techniques that were invented in the 19 th century. It is not for our era. If we put
more focus on research and development, it could solve a lot of issues,” he said.
NUMBER OF THE DAY
41%
OF GIRLS IN NEPAL MISS
SCHOOL DURING THEIR
MENSTRUATION.
Source: Menstrual Hygiene Day
Photo: iStock
WINNERS OF STOCKHOLM
JUNIOR WATER PRIZE 2019
Last night the 2019 winner of Stockholm Junior Water
Prize was announced – Macinley Butson from Australia.
The H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden presented
the prize to her during a festive ceremony at Berns Stora
Salongen in Stockholm. Macinley Butson was awarded for
a novel and innovative ultraviolet radiation sticker that
can be used to measure solar UV exposure required to
sanitise drinking water.
Read more about the winner in tomorrow’s
WaterFront Daily! Photo: Jonas Borg

3
questions
to …
Peter Njaggah from Kenya’s Water Services Regulatory Board.
FIGHTING CORRUPTION
IN THE WATER SECTOR
TEXT | ANDREAS KARLSSON PHOTO |MIKAEL ULLÉN
Corruption often thrives in societies
where there is a lack of collective
action for a common good. In a
well-attended session yesterday,
corruption in the water sector
was discussed and illustrated with
examples from around the world.
The level of mutual trust within a system
is usually thought of as a key factor to
combat corruption. As described by many
political scientists and philosophers over
the years, interaction and cooperation
tends to promote such trust, which in
turn helps combat corruption.
During the session Building collective
action against corruption in the water
sector, Peter Njaggah from Kenya’s Water
Services Regulatory Board, spoke about
the importance of increasing consumers’
sense of participation. This can be difficult
in a complex political environment.
“In Kenya, we have many institutions between
the top political level and consumers.
Enabling consumers to make their voices
heard has been an important tool for us in
the fight against corruption,” Njaggah said.
Creating consumer-driven water action
groups as well as a web-based service
where consumers can complain and report
corruption using their mobile phones has
proven effective, according to Njaggah.
“Unfortunately, corruption shows itself
in many ways and trying to contain it is
a bit like trying to contain water. You fix
one leak and it starts pouring out somewhere
else. We must also remember that
the fight against corruption is an important
part of general social development,
because the poorest people – already the
most vulnerable in society – are the ones
who suffer most from corruption,” he said.
In an example from Argentina, José Luis
Inglese from AYSA, the country’s largest
water and sanitation provider, described
how his organization has worked actively
to combat corruption.
“In the past, we had a situation where
bidders [for government projects] and
officials knew who was going to present
proposals and they often arranged how
many proposals there would be, who
would win, and at what price,” he said.
By simplifying the procedure, making
it more transparent, yet at the same time
withholding information about bidders
until the closing date, AYSA has doubled
the number of proposals made for each
tender.
Over three years, successful quotes have
gone from being an average of nine per
cent over estimated budget to being 21 per
cent under.
“Key components have been a commitment
from the top, technology to facilitate
transparency, and, perhaps most importantly,
a significant reduction of bureaucracy.
Every step of bureaucracy will
certainly increase the risk of corruption,
so that is a major issue to deal with.”
RAJIV RANJAN
MISHRA,
NATIONAL MISSION FOR
CLEAN GANGA
What are your expectations
for the Week?
“We are here to learn from
others, as well as showcasing
what we have done. National
Mission for Clean Ganga
is probably the largest and
biggest river cleaning project
in the world. River Ganges
is 2,500 kilometres long and
43 per cent of the Indian
population depend on its
water. I have made presentations
in some seminars
and I have attended others.”
Who has visited your
exhibition stand?
“We have had government
representatives from African
countries who have shown
an interest in learning
from our experiences; I
just spoke to a representative
from Australia about
similarities between our
countries and how we can
collaborate. And then we
had a man from NASA who
had seen our panels and got
interested in our mapping.
I didn’t expect that.”
How can we achieve water
for all?
“We need to pool our
resources and prioritise.
We need to encourage the
public not to waste water,
harvest rainwater, protect
water and learn how to
store water. Water management
is a most pressing
issue, one can only distribute
water to all if you have any
water to distribute.”
Photo: Görrel Espelund

Busting myths on water and migration
TEXT | NICK CHIPPERFIELD PHOTO |MIKAEL ULLÉN
The dangers of simplistic arguments linking migration with water
stress were exposed at the Demystifying the water security-migration
nexus session yesterday, which unpicked misconceptions related to
water and displaced people.
“Water has an important relationship
to migration, but it is often proximal
or secondary. The reality is deeper and
more complex,” Guy Jobbins, Overseas
Development Institute, said.
According to Jobbins, cross-boundary
migration lies beyond the reach of
the poorest people, who are typically
unlikely to be able to finance migrating
to a new country. He cited evidence that
suggests people who have adequate access
to water are more likely to migrate.
“It is the responsibility of water professionals
to draw attention to nuance
and to avoid simplistic messages. We
need to be careful not to perpetuate
myths, otherwise we risk propping up
xenophobic narratives and obscuring
other policy options,” Jobbins said.
While water security has a role in
migration, evidence shows that water
should be considered more as a threat
multiplier, with the core causes of
migration more likely to be related to
governance issues, economic opportunity,
and other drivers.
Fatine Ezbakhe, MedYWat, also
stressed the risk of over simplified
conclusions leading to poor policy
development for migration and other
developmental issues.
“It’s really important to look at
existing governance frameworks: water
governance can mitigate effects of environmental
drivers, but poor governance
could amplify them,” she warned.
world water week voices
What’s your best water saving advice?
Danielle Pedi, US
Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation
“Buckets and
timers in showers,
grey water to flush
toilets. When it’s
brown flush it
down, when
it’s yellow let
it mellow.”
Farah El Aoufir,
Morocco
Moroccan Ministry of
Energy, Mines, Water
and Environment
“We need to
communicate
better and sensitise
the public about
water scarcity.
Good governance,
on all levels,
is key.”
Gulnora Khushkadamov,
Tajikistan
The Regional Environmental
Centre for
Central Asia
“At the
University of
Central Asia in
Khorog, water is
treated and reused.
The same goes for
all new buildings
in the city.”
Sakshi C. Dasgupta,
India Swiss Agency
for Development
Cooperation
“More restrictions
on things such
as swimming
pools in luxury
housing complexes,
which waste
water meant for
other purposes.”
Kulule Mekonnen
Duffera, Ethiopia
Amref Health Africa
“Drip irrigation
for agriculture,
grey water in
schools for agricultural
projects,
taps that close
automatically,
laundry water
to flush toilets.”
Matt Hangen, US
Water4
“Effective
pricing is key.
Today, we pay
less for water than
what is sustainable.
Balance this for the
poor with technical
solutions.”
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Water Institute (SIWI)
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International
Water Institute
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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