27

International Conference on Water and

the Environment, 1992

Access to safe water and hygienic sanitation is an essential part of the quest for
food security and a sustainable environment, as recognized by past international
conferences. But, as the UN Conference on Water held at Mar del Plata, Argentina,
in 1977 noted, relatively little attention had been attached to the systematic meas-
urement of water resources and the compilation and processing of whatever data
were available had been seriously neglected. To heighten international awareness,
the UN declared the 1980s as the International Drinking Water and Sanitation
Decade, and a Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) was
established to stimulate and monitor progress. Despite failure to meet the quant-
itative goals established for the decade, much was learnt from the experience
gained, including realization of the importance of comprehensive and balanced
county-specific approaches to water and sanitation problems. It was also appreci-
ated that the achievement of the goals set at the beginning of the decade would
take more time and investment than originally thought. A Global Consultation
on Safe Water and Sanitation for the 1990s was held in New Delhi, India, in 1990.
The New Delhi Statement that was approved at the end of the consultation, and
appropriately entitled ‘Some for all rather than more for some’, stated that: ‘Safe
water and proper means of waste disposal    must be at the centre of integrated
water resource management’. And the World Declaration on the Survival, Protec-
tion and Development of Children’ adopted at the World Summit for Children in
1990 stated: ‘We will promote the provision of clean water in all communities for
all their children, as well as universal access to sanitation’.
As the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro earlier in June 1992 had recognized,
scarcity and misuse of fresh water posed a serious and growing threat to sustain-
able development and protection of the environment. Not only food security
but also human health and welfare, industrial development and the ecosys-
tems on which they depended were all at risk, unless water and land resources
were managed more effectively than they had been in the past. Inspired by
the Earth Summit, an International Conference on Water and the Environment was
held in Dublin, Ireland, between 26 and 31 June 1992, just 12 days after the
Earth Summit ended. The conference was attended by about 500 participants,
including government-designated experts from 100 countries and representatives

299
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© D. John Shaw 2007
300 The 1990s and Beyond: International Conferences

of 80 international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The

experts saw the emerging global water resources situation as critical.
At the closing session, the conference adopted the Dublin Statement and confer-
ence report. The statement emphasized that the problems highlighted during the
conference were not speculative in nature nor were they likely to take affect in the
distant future. They were already present. The future survival of many millions
of people demanded immediate and effective action. The conference participants
called for fundamental new approaches to the assessment, development and
management of fresh water resources, which could only be brought about through
political commitment and involvement from the highest levels of government
to the smallest communities. That commitment would need to be backed up by
substantial and immediate investment, public awareness campaigns, legislative
and institutional changes, technology development and capacity building. Under-
lying all should be a greater recognition of the interdependence of all people and
of their place in the natural world.
The Dublin Statement set out what were called for ‘guiding principles’. First,
fresh water was a finite and valuable resource, essential to sustain life, develop-
ment and the environment. As such, a holistic approach was required for the
effective management of water resources, which linked social and economic devel-
opment with protection of natural ecosystems, and land and water uses across the
whole of a catchment area or groundwater aquifer. Second, water development
and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users,
planners and policy-makers at all levels. Decisions should be taken at the lowest
appropriate level, with full public consultation and involvement of users in the
planning and implementation of water projects. Third, was the recognition that
women played a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of
water resources. But the ‘pivotal role’ of women had seldom been reflected in insti-
tutional arrangements for the development and management of water resources.
Positive policies were required to address women’s specific needs and to equip and
empower them to participate at all levels in water resource programmes in ways
defined by them. Finally, water had an economic value in all its competing uses and
should be recognized as an economic good. The basic right of all human beings
was to have access to clean water and sanitation at appropriate prices. Past failure
to recognize the economic value of water had led to wasteful and environmentally
damaging uses. Management of water as an economic good was an important
way of achieving efficient and equitable use and of encouraging conservation and
protection of water resources.
Recommendations were made in an Action Agenda to enable countries to tackle
their water resource problems on a wide range of fronts resulting in a number
of major benefits. One major benefit was seen to be the alleviation of poverty
and disease. At the start of the 1990s, over a quarter of the world’s population
still lacked the basic human needs of enough food, a clean water supply and
hygienic means of sanitation. It was recommended that priority be given to water
resource development and management to accelerate the provision of these basic
human needs to the unserved millions. Another major benefit was protection