An advocacy guide

Preface : An invitation to celebrate and mark the International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015

The decade between 2005 and 2015 are critical years to focus global attention on what should be obvious: water for life. Apart from demonstrating your personal commitment to organizing events around World Water Day (WWD), it is going to be vital to make 2005 and leading up to 2015 remarkable years in ensuring that everyone is aware of the urgency of the goals to be achieved. Every event and every voice on every occasion will be vital in ensuring new energy and commitment to turning the tide on a situation we can no longer abide.

Each year more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to resort to using potentially harmful sources of water. This perpetuates a silent humanitarian crisis that kills some 3900 children every day and thwarts progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The consequences of our collective failure to tackle this problem are the dimmed prospects for the billions of people locked in a cycle of poverty and disease.

The root of this underlying catastrophe lies in these plain, grim facts: 4 of every 10 people in the world do not have access to even a simple pit latrine and nearly 2 in 10 have no source of safe drinking-water. To help end this appalling state of affairs, the MDGs include a specific target (number 10) to cut in half, by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking-water and basic sanitation. In addition, the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation recently recognized that integrated development and management of water resources are crucial to the success or failure of all the MDGs, as water is central to the livelihood systems of the poor.

The Water for Life Decade starts on World Water Day 2005, 22 March; it is a unique occasion not just to highlight the magnitude of the problem, but also to bring all stakeholders together to apply solutions that work. Whatever kind of events you decide to organize, we hope this will help you leverage the maximum impact, however modest your budget.

All of your efforts will contribute to making Water for Life a landmark event!

International Decade for Action: Water for Life 2005–2015

In many parts of the world, such as Europe and North America, people take it for granted to turn on a tap for safe and clean water to drink, to cook, to wash — yet, more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water. Each year, March 22 — World Water Day — marks a permanent effort to promote access to safe drinking-water and sanitation. It is a springboard for raising awareness about water, stimulating debate and focusing on the dangers that derive from inadequate access to safe water and basic sanitation.

The 10-year period of 2005–2015 will be critical: the time has come for intensifying advocacy efforts and action on the ground. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed this period as the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015, starting on 22 March, World Water Day 2005. The Water for Life Decade gives the world’s goals “a greater focus on water-related issues, while striving to ensure the participation of women in water-related development efforts, and further cooperation at all levels".¹

The good news is that, with 83% coverage in 2002, the world as a whole is on track to meet the MDG target for safe drinking-water. The news is tempered, however, by slow progress in sub-Saharan Africa and stalled action on sanitation in most developing countries. In 2002, an estimated 2.6 billion people were without even basic sanitation facilities. In a broader perspective, the achievement of all of the MDGs will crucially depend on sound water resources development and management linked to health (water supply and sanitation, irrigated agricultural production), livelihoods (reliance products and services of aquatic ecosystems, hydropower generation) and vulnerability (protection against the impacts of floods and droughts).

The Decade offers an opportunity for revitalizing political commitment, but it also provides a unique chance to launch a provocative worldwide advocacy effort to catalyse greater public participation in the Water For Life global campaign. Thus, it is worthwhile to reflect on the following questions:

How many people know that, in 2002:

• 1.1 billion people lacked access to improved water sources (tap water in the house or yard from public distribution systems, protected wells and springs, public stand posts, rain water collection), which represented 17% of the global population.
• 2.6 billion (42% of the world population) lacked access to basic sanitation.
• Of the 1.1 billion without access to improved water sources, nearly two thirds live in Asia.
• 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera); 90% are children under 5, mostly in developing countries.
• 80% of the population without access to drinking-water were rural dwellers, but future population growth will be mainly urban.

Based on current and emerging priorities, the overall objectives of the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015 (which include the campaign elements/messages of World Water Day 2005) are:

• to infuse a sense of urgency and ensure acceleration of effort by all stakeholders in order to meet the 2015 MDG water and sanitation targets;
• to promote greater awareness of the broader picture of how Integrated Water Resources Development and Management critically underpins the efforts to achieve all of the MDGs, not only Target 10.
• To catalyse and scale-up the participation of civil society towards building greater societal commitment for the Water for Life effort.

¹ In order to achieve water-related goals of the MDGs, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development and Agenda 21.

The Decade

The Decade directly reinforces and urges countries to meet the MDG 7, Target 10. The Millennium Declaration, adopted in September 2000 by the heads of 189 UN Member States, set clear, time-bound targets for making real progress on the most pressing development issues we face. The water Target 10 was reiterated at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, where a sanitation target was added. Achieving these targets will directly affect the lives and future prospects of billions of people around the globe. It will also set the world on a positive course at the start of the 21st century.

The MDG 7 is to ensure environmental sustainability. One of its targets, expanded in 2002 in Johannesburg, is directly linked to safe drinking-water and basic sanitation and specifically calls to:

Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking-water and basic sanitation.

The world is on track to meet the drinking-water target, but sub-Saharan Africa lags behind. Between 1990 and 2002 considerable worldwide progress was made, with about 1.1 billion people gaining access to improved water sources. Global coverage in 2002 reached 83%, putting the world on track to achieve the MDG target. Progress in sub-Saharan Africa was also impressive: coverage increased from 49 to 58% between 1990 and 2002, a 9 percentage point increase. But this falls far short of the progress needed to achieve the MDG target of 75% coverage by 2015.

Global sanitation coverage rose from 49% in 1990 to 58% in 2002. Still, some 2.6 billion people — half of the developing world — live without improved sanitation. Sanitation coverage in the developing world (49%) is only half that of the developed world (98%). Meeting the MDG target requires that, between 1990 and 2015, the world must reduce by half the proportion of the population lacking improved drinking-water sources and sanitation. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process that can assist countries in their endeavour to deal with water issues in a cost-effective and sustainable way. Investment in integrated water resources development and management can contribute to meeting the MDGs as a whole, both through broad interventions designed to promote sustainable development in an area (such as multipurpose river basin development and acquifer management) and through targeted action addressing one of more particular goals in a specific locations (such as watershed management within degraded areas farmed by poor families). Both types of interventions are important for turning many of the MDGs into a reality. Among the approaches shown to be effective in speeding up progress in spite of several obstacles are the devolution of responsibility and ownership and providing a choice of service levels to communities, based on their ability and willingness to pay. Meeting the drinking-water targets will mean better health, longer lives and greater dignity for billions of the world's poorest people.

Although the MDG 7 is specifically related to water, all MDG goals will have some impact in advancing and reaching the water target just as the water target will be important in advancing and reaching all MDG goals.

The following highlights the importance of safe water and how it can contribute to each MDG by goal:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• The security of household livelihoods rest on the health of its members; adults who are ill themselves or must care for sick children are less productive.
• Illnesses caused by unsafe drinking-water and inadequate sanitation generate high health costs relative to income for the poor.
• Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases, particularly helminth infections, which rob their hosts of calories.
• The time lost because of long-distance water collection and poor health contributes to poverty and reduced food security.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

• Improved health and reduced water-carrying burdens improve school attendance, especially among girls.
• Having separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys in school increase girl's attendance, especially after they enter adolescence

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Reduced time, health and care-giving burdens from improved water services give women more time for productive endeavours, adult education and leisure

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

• Improved sanitation and drinking-water sources reduces infant and child morbidity and mortality.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

• Accessible sources of water reduce labour burdens and health problems resulting from water portage, reducing maternal mortality risks.
• Safe drinking-water and basic sanitation are needed in health care facilities to ensure basic hygiene practices following delivery.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases

• Safe drinking-water and basic sanitation help prevent water-related disease, including diarrhoeal diseases, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trachoma and helminths.
• The reliability of drinking-water supplies and improved water management in human settlement areas reduce transmission risks of malaria and dengue fever.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Adequate treatment and disposal of wastewater contributes to better ecosystem conservation and less pressure on scarce freshwater resources. Careful use of water resources prevents contamination of groundwater and helps minimize the cost of water treatment.

Goal 8: Develop partnership for development

• Development agendas and partnerships should recognize the fundamental role that safe drinking-water and basic sanitation play in economic and social development.

The day: World Water Day 2005 (and beyond)

Water for Life!

The theme/slogan puts at centre-stage the various links and communicates a sense of urgency and immediacy. The theme is also “open-ended” and lends itself to creative visual and textual interpretation for expressing a multiplicity of individual/collective human emotions and contexts. The theme can also be interpreted relatively easily into different contexts, cultures and languages. Water for Life can be interpreted in many different ways, based on regional and national priorities/contexts. In its broad interpretation, the theme allows for the establishment of intersectoral linkages that would otherwise remain unexplored, such as between irrigated agriculture and health, or between wetland conservation and health. The public-at-large, civil society and the media are the primary audience. National governments and policy-makers are the secondary audience.

The theme is a call to reach out beyond the community and to link with worldwide efforts of international agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments and the community-at-large. It is an opportunity to capitalize on the energy and commitment of people, and to achieve a common goal: to bring global and local attention and to galvanize action, so that every person on the planet is less vulnerable to water stress, water-related disasters and poor water quality.

All actions planned for World Water Day 2005 will work towards raising awareness of the general public and bringing about a positive change in public opinion, which in turn influences policy-makers. A range of activities in every country will make the difference.

World Water Day is a unique opportunity to draw attention and to create momentum that compels governments, the international community, civil society and individuals to take action. On the day, it is anticipated that your organization will be one of the hundreds of organizations around the world hosting events related to Water for Life. It is expected that each country will celebrate World Water Day in its own manner. Join us now in planning a successful day.

The logo

The logo for the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015 depicts two horizontal waves of water at the bottom from which two human hands are emerging. The hands are cupped around a single fountain of water spray depicted by a dotted line that branches into two after leaving the hands. The words "Water for Life 2005–2015" appear below the wave and are centred in the middle of the image. The image is in a single shade of blue and can also be used in black and white.

Organizers are reminded that the design, slogan and the logo are copyright property of the United Nations and should be used together solely to identify events and materials related to World Water Day and the Decade. The design may not be reproduced for the purpose of self-promotion or obtaining any commercial or personal financial gain, nor may it be utilized in any manner which implies the UN's endorsement of the activities or products of a commercial enterprise. For full details of use of logo, please see Annex A.

The web site will emphasize the importance of the Decade and World Water Day(s), featuring information from around the world on the day and throughout the year. The web site will be updated regularly up to and beyond 22 March. The web site for the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015 address is www.un/waterforlifedecade.

The web site

If your organization wishes to share information about your events, you are encouraged to complete Feedback Form A at the end of the Advocacy Guide.

As the lead agency, the activities of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) will consist of the launch of the Decade through a booklet, video and song on CD. The Decade will be officially launched at the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York in April 2005. The booklet for the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015 will be presented on World Water Day, 22 March 2005, when the Water for Life Decade is launched.

Events

Aims of the booklet

Key steps in your planning process:

• To communicate the purpose and aim of the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life 2005–2015.
• To introduce key issues relevant to water: the current challenges and situation, some facts and figures. The main areas covered are: water for health, biodiversity and environment, agriculture and energy. Cross-cutting issues are: a gender perspective on water and sanitation, and water and the MDGs.
• To provide suggestions/recommendations of what can be achieved in the Decade.

Pasos principales del proceso de planificación:

Getting started

Transform your local/national statistics into key messages and stories; use statistics to develop a list of key messages and stories that can be used depending on the target audience. The messages and stories should support successes, identify gaps and set out the next steps in your Water for Life campaign. Afterall, your campaign is a media event, so work with them and assess your impact.

• Collect information
• Develop key messages
• Mobilize others and plan events
• Work with the media
• Assess impacts of your efforts.

Collect information: Why Water for Life?

This resource sheet is designed specifically for World Water Day 2005 and will be valid throughout the decade 2005–2015. Each year for every new theme on World Water Day, a new resource sheet will be prepared. They will form an integral part of the Advocacy Guide and will be added to it. During any major conference or news breaking story relating to water, a new resource sheet will be tailored to provide all organizers with the relevant one page information.

Develop the message

Document the problem

Facts based on solid research are crucial to any advocacy campaign. Although many global statistics exist, local data will be most persuasive to local politicians and media.

Box 1 provides some of the information that could be gathered to help communicate your message, as well as how the information could be used.

Package the message

Once you have collected and analysed data, transform it into something everyone can relate to. Sound bites (short, catchy facts) are the best for this purpose, but remember that the message may need to be changed to fit the target audience. Below are a few examples of short messages that could be used under different conditions.

Water, poverty and hunger

• The security of household livelihoods rests on the health of its members; adults who are ill themselves or must care for sick children are less productive.
• Illnesses caused by unsafe drinking-water and inadequate sanitation generate high health costs relative to income for the poor.
• Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases, particularly helminths, which rob their hosts of calories.
• The time lost because of long-distance water collection and poor health contributes to poverty and reduced food security.

Water and sanitation

• 2.6 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation, which represented 42% of the world's population.
• Over half of those without improved sanitation — nearly 1.5 billion people — live in China and India.
• In sub-Saharan Africa sanitation coverage is a mere 36%.
• Only 31% of the rural inhabitants in developing countries have access to improved sanitation, as opposed 73% of urban dwellers.
• In order to meet the sanitation MDG target, an additional 370 000 people per day up to 2015 should gain access to improved sanitation.

Water and gender equality

• Reduced time for health and care-giving burdens from improved water services give women more time for productive endeavours, adult education and leisure.

Water and disasters

• Almost 2 billion people — one-third of humanity — were affected by natural disasters in the last decade of the 20th century. Floods and droughts accounted for 86% of the disasters.
• Floods are the second most frequent cause of natural disaster after windstorms, and they affect more regions and more people than any other phenomenon.
• Drowning, which is closely linked to flooding, adds considerably to the burden of disease attributable to flooding disasters. People who have lost everything in a flood: their homes, food, livelihood are also more vulnerable to disease.
• Flooding increases the ever-present health threat from inadequate drinking-water and sanitation systems; water supplies can become contaminated with industrial waste and by refuse dumps.
• Droughts cause the most ill-health and death because they often trigger and exacerbate malnutrition and famine, and deny access to adequate water supplies.

Water and health

• 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera); 90% are children under 5, mostly in developing countries.
• 88% of diarrhoeal disease is attributed to unsafe water supply, inadequate sanitation and hygiene.
• Improved water supply reduces diarrhoea morbidity by between 6% and 25%, if severe outcomes are included lmproved sanitation reduces diarrhoea morbidity by 32%.
• Hygiene interventions including hygiene education and promotion of hand washing can lead to a reduction of diarrhoeal cases by up to 45%.
• Improvements in drinking-water quality through household water treatment, such as chlorination at point-of-use, can lead to a reduction of diarrhoea episodes between 35% and 39%.
• Improving access to safe water sources and better hygiene practices can reduce trachoma morbidity by 27%.
• 1.3 million people die of malaria each year, 90% are children under 5; better management of water resources reduces transmission of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
• An estimated 160 million people are infected with schistosomiasis; basic sanitation reduces the disease by up to 77%. In Africa, irrigation development is basically synonymous with schistosomiasis transmission.
• In Bangladesh, between 28 and 35 million people consume drinking-water with elevated levels of arsenic. Arsenic reduction is aided by identifying alternative low arsenic water sources or by using arsenic removal systems.
• Unreliable drinking-water supply systems have encouraged the habit of domestic water storage, often creating conditions favourable for breeding of Aedes mosquitoes, the vectors of dengue fever. As a result, dengue outbreaks have rapidly expanded across the globe, and they have spread from the traditional urban environment to rural settlements.

Mobilize others

Approach local partners with an outline of activities and events for World Water Day and ask for their involvement and support. Explain how their participation shows enlightened self-interest: as well as supporting a good cause, it will increase their profile and visibility in the community.

Discussions, forums, seminars and courses are useful for exchanging information with the public, NGOs, policy-makers and decision-makers, and with associations for physicians, teachers, children and environmental health. You can discuss the implications if no action is taken, and state what can and should be done to improve the situation in a water emergency.

Boxes 2 to 5 provide checklists of actions you might choose to take, and examples of people/organizations you may want to involve.

Organize events

Parades, competitions, street events and quizzes using the World Water Day 2005 theme all create media attention and get the message out to large numbers of people in an entertaining and stimulating way. This is a good way to reach people who might not be attracted to more traditional events, such as seminars or meetings.

It is also a good idea to involve celebrities as spokespersons, but remember it takes time and preparation to get celebrities involved. See box 6.

Work with the media

The media is potentially the most effective tool for communicating a message, but to work with the media you must understand how the media works. Timing is everything and sound bites provide the best messages. Before approaching the media, prepare talking points. The title and opening line of a presentation are important, since they will determine whether you attract the attention of listeners and readers and encourage them to listen/read further. You should be an advocate for Water for Life in general and share credit and visibility with partners.

News reporters will be most interested in information that is newsworthy (i.e. is new, surprising, compelling or has an impact on the public). Make sure the story you wish to present to the media is newsworthy. See box 7.

The news conference

Perhaps the single most effective means of winning media coverage for your World Water Day event is to hold a news conference. See box 8

On-site arrangements include renting hotel rooms for event participants, placing name signs on the podium for speakers, and providing audiovisual equipment and refreshments.

Sound bites

News agencies: Don’t neglect them

In addition to newspapers and magazines, you should contact the national news agencies, also known as the wire services. If they put out a dispatch on World Water Day, the story will go out to every newspaper, magazine, radio station and television network in your country.

Broadcast media: Communicating in pictures and sound

TV and radio

Hosts and hostesses of talk shows are almost always looking for people to interview on radio and television. So, just call up your local radio station, ask to speak to the executive producer of the show you’re interested in, and suggest someone for an interview (ideally one with charisma and able to articulate the message).

When you have only a few seconds in front of a microphone either for radio or television, you need to use memorable phrases — sound bites — that will stay with your audience long after you have left. The best sound bites get to the heart of the problem without lengthy qualified explanations. Broadcast producers cannot resist them, and listeners and viewers remember them. The sound bite should capture and communicate the one key message you want to leave with the audience, if they remember nothing else. Try to repeat the sound bite in different way to reinforce the message during an interview with the media.

Make a splash on World Water Day!

50 ways of celebrating and promoting the Day and the Decade

• Organize “Save our Water” concert
• Produce advertising spots on television
• Create banners with a strong message for WWD
• Produce booklets and brochures on the theme
• Call for donations in newspapers
• Organize children’s drawing competition
• Prepare comic strip books about WWD
• Place commemorative advertisements in newspapers
• Sell commemorative mugs or glasses to be sold
• Compile a song book with a water theme
• Create and distribute CD-ROMS
• Create water and health greeting cards
• Produce drama groups perform plays on WWD
• Produce film shows on water and health
• Design flags promoting the day in your city
• Distribute flyers highlighting the day
• Lobby for government statements
• Organize information events at workplaces
• Involve medical students in research
• Sponsor a journalist award for the best article written on water and health
• Make a compilation of your committee's favourite songs on water
• Organize marathon runs with entry fees and sponsorship
• Plan and promote media workshops for journalists
• Produce music videos
• Prepare new book releases
• Encourage North–South Cooperation
• Organize performances by musicians and artists to raise money or awareness
• Organize photo competitions
• Organize picture exhibitions on issues of water
• Produce pins and stickers to be distributed among the community to promote the day
• Print postcards and send them to members of parliament
• Organize poster exhibitions in banks, schools, civic centres
• Prepare a documentary
• Produce public service announcement on radio
• Produce public service announcements on TV
• Publicize WWD through a “blue and white” party
• Perform role plays on Water for Life issues written and performed by students
• Organize round-table talks on a specific them related to water
• Run a quiz on water with sponsored prizes
• Plan scientific conferences
• Organize slogan competitions
• Create stamps on Water for Life
• Sponsor a film
• Produce stickers with WWD slogan
• Organize swimming competitions to promote the event
• Offer a University lecture on Water for Life
• Promote and create web sites with information about WWD.
• Produce bookmarks
• Promote the Water for Life for the next 10 years
• Evaluate progress continually.

Assess the impacts of your efforts

Lessons learned

In order to plan for follow-up action, find out what impact your efforts have had and assess the success of the day.

Compile a summary of events

Review successes and challenges with the planning committee to understand what was accomplished, what needs immediate follow up and what lessons can be learned. Disseminate the summary widely among your planning committee partners and other groups. This information can be useful in planning for future events.

Prepare a brief questionnaire

Key questions to ask about your planning efforts include:

• What elements contributed to your success?
• What were the main obstacles to your success?
• How many people did you reach?
• What are the main follow-up actions?

Collect news paper clippings, TV spots, radio broadcast, etc.

For record keeping and evaluation of the success of the day, collect clippings and other media sources. This is also useful for future planning.

Thank the planning committee

Organize a “Thank you” event for members of the committee. This is a way to build on the success of World Water Day and to strengthen relations between the committee members. This can lay ground for the future collaboration.

Beyond World Water Day: Keeping up the Decade momentum!

World Water Day should not be the only advocacy effort of the year!

World Water Day should be a catalyst for bringing together new partners, generating media interest and mobilizing resources that can build on throughout the year. World Water Day can continue throughout the year to keep the issues at the forefront and to build momentum towards the next World Water Day! Every year the theme changes, but the theme is always broad enough to adapt to particular water interests.

Remember to keep the International Decade for Water bubbling throughout the years 2005–2015!

For further information, contact:

Secretariat of UN-Water
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
Division for Sustainable Development
2 UN Plaza, DC 2, Room 2024
New York, NY 10017
USA
Fax: 1 212 963 4340
E-mail: unwater@un.org

References and acronyms

References cited in advocacy guide

Bartram J. "Focusing on improved water and sanitation for health." Lancet, 18 January 2005, Lancet stock 05/art/1020.

International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations (UN). Ideas for Water Awareness Campaigns. http://www.collinsassoc.ca/water/contents.htm.

United Nations (UN). Second Committee recommends proclamation of International Decade on "Water for Life, 2005-2015. New York, UN. 9 December 2003. Press release GA/EF/3068.

World Health Organization (WHO). Advocacy Guide to Organizers, World Water Day 2001. Geneva, WHO, 2001.

World Health Organization (WHO). Facts and figures: water, sanitation and hygiene links to health. November 2004. WHO. Mimeo.

World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Joint monitoring programme for water supply and sanitation: meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target. A mid-term assessment of progress. Geneva, New York, WHO/UNICEF, 2004.

Acronyms

Feedback Form A

Kindly complete this form to report to the lead agency on the outcome of activities planned for World Water Day 2005.

Organization name:

Contact name:

Address:

Telephone:

Fax:

E-mail:

Short description of event:

Please include the subject addressed, type of activity, specific audience for which it was organized, and the attendance rate.

The activity received the following press coverage in our area:
You may attach press clippings for our reference

We plan a follow-up activity:

 Yes  No

Submit this form by e-mail to Unwater@un.org

Annex A: International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015

1. Design

The Water for Life Decade Logo depicts a fountain of water painted in dark blue. The fountain consists of two cupped hands rising out from an ocean of water represented by two horizontal broad wavy lines. In a point-line style the water streams out of the fountain in both directions, portraying water that is harnessed 'for Life'. The words "Water for Life 2005-2015" appear below the artwork. The Water for life decade logo will be available in the six official United Nations languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The Water for Life decade logo might be subject to national variations. A national variation of the logo should maintain the core design, but may add, to top or bottom, the name of their country (or a city or locality within that country) and/or slogan judged appropriate to the Decade and suitable in the national or local context.

2. Uses of the logo

The Water for Life decade logo is primarily intended for three kinds of promotional use: information, fundraising and use by a commercial entity, as outlined below:

a. Information uses of the logo

Information uses of the logo are those which are:

• Primarily illustrative
• Not intended to raise funds; and
• Not carried out by a commercial entity

All entities interested in using the Water Decade logo for information purposes should apply for approval to the Secretariat of UN-Water.

When requesting approval, the entities should provide:

• A short statement of identity (membership, objectives, etc.);
• An explanation of how and where the logo will be used.

Before the logo is used for information purposes, a waiver of liability (please see text below) in accordance with section III below must be signed by the entity requesting to use the logo.

b. Fund-raising uses of the logo

Fund-raising uses of the logo are those intended to raise resources to cover costs of activities for the International Decade for Action “Water for Life”, 2005-2015. Fund-raising uses of the logo may be undertaken only by non-commercial entities.

All entities interested in using the Water for Life Decade logo for fund-raising purposes should apply for approval to the Secretariat of UN-Water. When requesting permission to use the logo for fund-raising purposes, the entities should provide:

• A short statement of identity (membership, objectives, etc.);
• An explanation of how and where the logo will be used;
• An explanation of how the fund-raising will take place;
• A summary budget; and - An explanation of how the proceeds would be allocated to cover costs of activities for the International Water-for-Life Decade 2005-2015.

Before the logo is used for fund-raising purposes, a waiver of liability in accordance with section 3 below must be signed by the entity requesting to use the logo.

c. Uses of the logo by a commercial entity

The uses of the logo by commercial entities are all those undertaken by or involving commercial entities, as well as any use intended to lead to commercial or personal profit.

All commercial entities interested in using the Water for Life Decade logo should apply for approval to the Secretariat of UN-Water. When requesting permission to use the logo, the entities should explain:

• The nature of the company or enterprise;
• The proposed uses of the logo;
• The names of countries/territories where the logo will be used;
• The nature of products/services that the entity produces/sells in those areas;
• How the products relate to disseminating the messages behind the International Water-for-Life Decade 2005-2015;
• What profits the ntity is expected to make from the use of the logo; and
• A summary budget, giving the expenses and any proposed royalties or contributions the entity is expected to make to local, national or international activities for the preparations of the International Water for Life Decade 2005-2015 or in favour of implementation of the activities of the International Water for Life Decade 2005-2015.

Before the logo is used by a commercial entity, a contract must be signed with the Secretariat of UN-Water. In particular, such contracts must include provisions concerning the waiver of liability in accordance with section 3 below. Such contracts must also provide the detailed terms and conditions concerning the use of the logo, including the details of the information enumerated above. Additionally, such contracts must contain the United Nations General Conditions of Contract.

3. Liability

All entities authorized to use the Water-for-Life Decade logo for the purposes specified herein must agree to the following provisions on waiver of liability:

• The entity is responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out in accordance with the applicable law and for ensuring that the appropriate insurance is maintained to cover the risks arising out of such activities;
• The United Nations does not assume any responsibility for the activities of the undersigned; and
• The entity shall hold harmless and defend the United Nations and its officials against any action that may be brought against the United Nations or its officials as a result of the use of the logo.

When the logo is used for information and fund-raising purposes, the waiver of liability form must be signed by the entity.

When the logo is used by a commercial entity, the above provisions on waiver of liability must be incorporated into a contract to be signed by the entity.

All duly signed waiver-of-liability forms and contracts must be received by the Secretariat of UN-Water before the proposed activities are carried out.

4. Inquiries

Secretariat of UN-Water
Mr. Manuel Dengo
Chief Water, Natural Resources and SIDS Branch
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Division for Sustainable Development
2 UN PLAZA, DC2, Room 2024
New York, N.Y. 10017
USA
Fax: +1-212-9634340
Email: unwater@un.org

Please send to: UN Water Secretariat, Fax: +1 (212) 963-4340

Acknowledgements

This guide is prepared by the Water, Sanitation and Health (WSH) unit of the World Health Organization (WHO) by Ms Nada Osseiran with the guidance of Dr Jamie Bartram, WSH Coordinator, and input from UN-Water and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), New York, as a contribution to the celebration of the International Decade for Action: Water for Life 2005–2015 and World Water Day 2005. This document was copy-edited by AvisAnne Julien and designed by Jean-Claude Fattier, WHO.

UN-Water

• promoting coherence in, and coordination of UN-system actions;
• involving partners and stakeholders;
• supporting countries in meeting the Millennium Declaration goals on water;
• acting at global, regional and local levels.

UN Agency Members

• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Gender & Water Task Force (DESA GWTF)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
• United Nation Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• United Nations Environment Programme Global Environment Monitoring System (UNEP/GEMS)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO)
• United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT)
• United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
• United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)
• United Nations University (UNU)
• UN-Water World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• The World Bank (WB)

Partners

• Columbia University
• European Water Initiative (EUWI)
• Global Water Partnership (GWP)
• International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
• International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
• International Water Association (IWA
• International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID)
• International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
• International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
• International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)
• Public Services International
• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Secretariat
• Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
• Word Water Council (WWC)