Statement by Girish Menon to be read during opening statements of

High Level Panel session on post-2015 during Africa Water Week,

Tuesday 270514

Delegates, thank you for the opportunity to take part in this important debate.
It is an honour to be speaking on such an esteemed panel.

Sanitation was not a target in the Millennium Development goals. It did not get
included until 2002. It was left out, neglected, forgotten.

Twelve years later, we live with the consequences of leaving sanitation till last.
Across sub-Saharan African 644 million people live without a decent toilet. At
current rates of progress, it will be take more than 130 years before we reach
the target.

A life without a decent toilet has a cost. It has been estimated that half the
hospital beds across this continent are filled with people suffering from
diarrhoeal illnesses.

The cost is not just measured in our health but in our dignity. I am reminded of
what an elderly woman told me when I visited her village in the Luapula
province of Zambia. She said, Life was full of challenges. For our women,
finding a place to relieve ourselves was a daily challenge. We had to restrain
ourselves all throughout the day and wait till darkness fell, before going to the
bushes to relieve ourselves, constantly conscious of the dangers lurking be
it due to wild animals, snakes or even men who used to take advantage of our
vulnerability. Mercifully, it has now changed. All our houses have a clean
toilet, women in particular have their privacy. Our children no longer fall ill or
die due to diarrhoea, cholera or other diseases. Our lives have been
transformed.

The change that the lady in Zambia experienced shows how access to
sanitation alongside water can yield a transformative change on lives. And it is
it in all of our interests to make this change happen. The World Health
Organisation estimates that for every $1 invested, sanitation returns between
$5 and $8 dollars.
Todays debate asks us to pit water against sanitation and this is a notion that
I firmly reject. We know that water, sanitation and hygiene go hand in hand.
Ensuring people use decent toilets which keep waste away from water
sources amplifies the impact of achieving access to water. A water and
sanitation secure world does not thing to detract from the role of water.
More than this, we support a global goal on water and sanitation that looks at
all aspects of water use. In particular, WaterAid supports targets that would
including:
Bringing freshwater withdrawals in line with renewable supply
Raising the quality of freshwater bodies to meet human and ecosystem
needs
Earlier this year, I had the honour of representing non-Governmental
Organisations in an address to UN member states before they debated the
role of water, sanitation and energy in the post-2015 process. Next to me, UN
General Assembly President Ashe told representatives this:
Universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation services would lead to
a healthier, more just world and would spare the lives of more than 3000
children who die every day.
What President Ashe said reflects what I believe should be at the core of the
Sustainable Development Goals a people centred approach to saving and
empowering lives. What we need now is a clear commitment that sanitation
will be a part of this.
Our discussions in Dakar do not happen in isolation. As we speak today, two
key events are taking place elsewhere.
First, the co-chairs of the 70 members state Open Working Group will release
their final version of the focal areas tonight. These focal areas already
recognise what I have called for today. They recommend a focal area on
water and sanitation with targets on universal access to WASH but also a
range of measures devoted to freshwater extraction and waste water
management. We should be spending our time on how to create and then
secure the best possible targets, not rephrasing a title that has been
supported by more than 60 countries including the representatives of Burkina
Faso, Benin, Madagascar and Mali to name just a few.
Secondly, this Deputy Secretary General is preparing to launch the UNs first
campaign on open defecation. We should be asking ourselves how we can
capture the energy of this campaign, not leave it on the margins.
We have just a little more than one year to work out what the Sustainable
Development Goals should look like. We stand on the precipice of a moment
in history. If we speak with one voice, we can create one goal on water and
sanitation for all. We can correct the mistakes of the past and build a future
that is sustainable for all.