The Geneva Actions on Human Water Security recognise the many global declarations and principles on water going back to at least 1972. To deliver on these declarations, the world requires a Global Human Water Security Fund to provide investments in water security for people and the flora and fauna that depend on freshwater systems.
The time for a dedicated allocation of money and resources, the Global Human Water Security Fund, is now. To ensure water security for all, this fund would annually invest an additional amount, over and above existing spending commitments, equivalent to at least US1 cent per person per day (USD27 billion in 2017).
Success in responding to the world’s global water needs does not just depend on how much money is spent. It requires investments in actions that generate the greatest long-term payoffs, including:
Action One: Secure the Delivery of Basic Water Needs for People
Action Two: Secure Improvements in the Condition of Watersheds, Streams, Rivers and Aquifers
Action Three: Secure Better Water Planning, Management and Governance
If you care about our common water future, please become a signatory to the Geneva Actions on Human Security. By acting together and mobilising our resources, time and energy we can make the world a better place and ensure a sustainable and more secure water future for all.
The Geneva Actions on Human Water SecuritY
We, the undersigned, recognise that securing access to water is fundamental to life on earth and is of utmost value physically and spiritually to all people.
We acknowledge the following global declarations, statements, goals, values and principles on water, the environment and sustainable development: Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972); Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development (1992); Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992); United Nations Millennium Declaration (2000); World Health Organization’s Right to Water (2003); Brisbane Declaration on Environmental Flows (2007); Outcome of the International Experts’ Meeting on the Right to Water convened by UNESCO (2009); UN Resolution 64/292 on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (2010); UN Resolution 70/169 on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation (2015); Bonn Declaration on Global Water Security (2015); Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis ‘On Care for Our Common Home’ (2015); United Nations Resolution ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (2015) that encompasses the goals to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’ (Goal 6) and ‘Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’ (Goal 16); OECD Principles on Water Governance (2015); and the Rome Declaration on the Human Right to Water (2017).
To deliver on these declarations, we believe the world requires a Global Human Water Security Fund to provide investments in water security for people, fauna and flora. To ensure water security for all, this fund would annually invest an additional amount, over and above existing spending commitments, equivalent to at least US1 cent per person per day (USD27 billion in 2017).
We commit ourselves to support, foster and deliver on the following Three Actions for Human Water Security.
Action One: Secure the Delivery of Basic Water Needs for People
Context: Billions of people either lack access to a safe and secure supply of drinking water or adequate sanitation. This contravenes their human right to water.
Pathways: (1) Invest to secure environmentally sustainable water services for those people who are least able to afford these services. (2) Ensure, as a first priority, investments from the Global Human Water Security Fund meet the basic water needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable people for drinking, hygiene, and cooking.
Action Two: Secure Improvements in the Condition of Watersheds, Streams, Rivers and Aquifers
Context: Many locations in the world are suffering a decline in the quantity and quality of surface and groundwater caused by over extraction, pollution and misuse of water resources. This deterioration diminishes people’s welfare and the integrity of flora and fauna that depend on freshwater systems.
Pathways: (1) Establish an independent scientific body under the auspices of UN-Water and the Global Human Water Security Fund. (2) Ensure this body builds on traditional and existing knowledge to understand the trade-offs and also to innovate, develop, field-test, adapt and disseminate solutions to improve the condition of freshwater systems. (3) Support these knowledge solutions through an initial USD1 billion investment from the fund.
Action Three: Secure Better Water Planning, Management and Governance
Context: Governance failures in terms of planning, pricing and provision of urban and rural water services exist in most countries. Investments to improve the expertise and decision-making capacity of water institutions, and to support them to respond effectively to people’s values and water needs, are urgently required.
Pathways: (1) Develop, review, adapt and actively disseminate governance solutions that are consistent with the OECD Principles on Water Governance. (2) Support these governance solutions through an initial USD1 billion investment from the fund.
We judge that the delivery on these Three Actions for Human Water Security is fundamental to our common future.