UN special rapporteur for water on the need for WASH leadership

UN-Water must be empowered to take more leadership when it comes to tackling the global water crisis, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the United Nations special rapporteur for the human rights to water and sanitation, told Devex. With no single entity dedicated to WASH within the U.N. system, UN-Water acts as an interagency mechanism, coordinating the various efforts of U.N. entities and other organizations. Its main responsibilities include informing policies, monitoring and reporting, and inspiring action through international days and campaigns. Before taking up the voluntary role of rapporteur a year ago, Arrojo-Agudo — a Spanish professor and ecologist — said he had a certain impression of what UN-Water did. Since learning more about the U.N. system in general — the amount of institutions it comprises and the number of experts within it — he’s made a “deep conviction” to amplify its leadership in tackling WASH deficits. Over 2.2 billion people worldwide still lack access to clean drinking water and, as global temperatures rise, climate change puts increasing strains on existing water resources. “UN-Water is the place, the space of the U.N. system, in which this responsibility resides and we [must] empower these possibilities.” --— Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, special rapporteur for the human rights to water and sanitation, United Nations “After the harsh experience with the [COVID-19] pandemic, everyone knows that we need to reinforce, to empower the World Health Organization’s thinking on human health worldwide,” he explained. “In [the same] way, I think UN-water — [which] is not properly an institution but a coordinator of institutions — needs to be reinforced, and the leadership facing the global water crisis must be stronger [and] more relevant.” This follows the questioning by sector professionals last year as to whether UN-Water, if given the right resources and empowerment, could be the global leader the WASH space needed. Despite seeing his capacities as limited — special rapporteurs are appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council to monitor, advise, and report on issues pertaining to human rights while investigating any violations and conducting country visits — Arrojo-Agudo said he will try to collaborate intensely and work to strengthen UN-Water at global level. “UN-Water must lead directly, must develop a stronger … dialogue and links with, for instance, those most interested in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 6,” he said. There should be stronger relations with social movements interested in developing SDG 6, not out of private interests, but because it’s in the interest of humankind, he added. While not refuting the need for private sector leadership on some level, Arrojo-Agudo said it’s U.N. intervention that’s needed to invoke democratic water governance that isn’t influenced by private interests. Those interests may be legitimate, he said, but they are not the right way to convoke everyone. This follows controversy last year around a report released by Arrojo-Agudo’s predecessor, Leo Heller, laying out the human rights risks of privatizing WASH — such as unaffordable services, neglect of sustainability, no improvement or deterioration of services, and corruption — and how to mitigate those risks. While it aimed to provide decision-makers with a practical tool, the International Federation of Private Water Operators, called out the process behind the report as having been “anti-private-sector” and “prejudged.” At the time, Arrojo-Agudo backed the report and said he wasn’t opposed to private sector involvement, but that an open dialogue on the topic was needed. Since then, water has remained a source of controversy as civil society groups protested its emergence on the stock exchange, something Arrojo-Agudo has covered in a new report he’s set to present to the U.N. General Assembly at the end of the month. This latest report focuses on the risks derived from the commodification and financialization of water on human rights to water and sanitation, and aims to “open a pedagogical reflection inside the U.N. system and outside worldwide.” Alongside COVID-19 and climate change, Arrojo-Augdo said the pressures brought about by strategies of privatization, commodification, and even financialization of water, instead of solving the water crisis, have accelerated it by making the 2.2 billion living without access to water more vulnerable. Saying that he wants to “emphasize our own responsibility as a U.N. system,” he added, “UN-Water is the place, the space of the U.N. system, in which this responsibility resides and we [must] empower these possibilities.” Visit the WASH Works series for more coverage on water, sanitation, and hygiene — and importantly, how WASH efforts intersect with other development challenges. You can join the conversation using the hashtag #WASHWorks.