World Water Week at Stockholm was full of events! Thursday August, 29th, we were excited to have our CEO, Amanda Loeffen, participate in one of the Talkshows hosted by SIWI to talk about the power of involving the community when it comes to decision-making and preserving the human rights to water and sanitation. Along with Amanda, the talkshow included the perspectives of Alejandro Iza, Director of the International Law Centre at IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Tanya Huizer. Water Resilience Specialist at ADB (the Asian Development Bank). Thank you to Hajar Yagkoupi for moderating this session.
Figure 1. Talkshow guests: Amanda, Alejandro and Tanya
The power of community, as Alejandro elaborated, comes from the idea that there there should not need to be a decision between one or the other because humans are part of nature. The talkshow explored the importance of protecting our water resources through nature. If you protect nature and its biodiversity, then communities have a long-term source of water that is necessary for their survival. Alejandro explored the idea of how, from a legal point of view, nature is also dependent on humans to set the rules. Humans and nature are intrinsically linked and dependent on one another for survival and there is a need to take an ecocentric approach when it comes to decision-making.
“Granting rights to nature will inevitably contribute to the realisation of human rights“, Alejandro Iza
The talkshow emphasised the importance of nature and conservation to ensure human rights. There is a need for our natural environment to be safe and healthy in order for societies to survive. Alejandro explained how there needs to be clean air and water, a living ecosystem and many other elements for human rights to be fulfilled.
Tanya provided insights on how the principle of participation has been integrated into ADB projects.
“ADB has invested in a large amount of effort into community engagement for water infrastructure to secure the rights to water and sanitation”, Tanya Huizer
She cited a project in Cambodia where it was significant for the community to maintain their traditional well systems, and how the inclusive approach resulted in a project that was adapted to integrate the modern pipe system rather than replace the wells. Tanya explained how ADB is sharing best practices that demonstrate a human rights based approach to improve the quality of their work. They are trying to create more awareness, internally and externally, on the fact that it is possible to have a more sustainable impact through a more inclusive approach.
“If we are going to achieve SDG 6, we need to think more carefully about how we get more people involved in finding solutions“, Amanda Loeffen
Amanda stresses in the talkshow how it is essential to include vulnerable communities throughout the decision-making process for water projects given that these people are often the ones most affected water scarcity or pollution, and they can find it difficult to find a voice. By taking an inclusive and community-based approach, projects ensure that all affected parties are able to share their local knowledge and concerns, resulting in more sustainable outcomes. It is the only way that we will manage to provide water and sanitation to all marginalised communities and achieve SDG6.
