Practical tools developed under the Protocol on Water and Health can serve as global examples of progress towards ensuring universal and equitable water and sanitation for all. On World Water Day, celebrated on 22 March, at the United Nations Water Conference 2023, countries from the WHO European Region shared their experiences using the Protocol tools to build safe and climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services fit for the future.
In the Region alone, about 16 million people still do not have access to basic drinking-water services, and 29 million lack access to basic sanitation. Coverage rates vary significantly between countries due to their diverse contexts, revealing geographical, economic and social disparities.
During the opening of the UN 2023 Water Conference, WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called on all nations to radically accelerate action to make WASH a reality for all. In urging governments to increase political commitment and government leadership, there is a strong call for more funding and financing for WASH, investment in people and institutions, and enhanced data collection and evidence for decision-making to encourage WASH innovations. The governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands co-hosted the conference. Its primary outcomes are new commitments, pledges and actions by governments towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 on "clean water and sanitation for all" and other water-related goals and targets, compiled in the new Water Action Agenda.
“The lack of access to safe WASH is devastating in health care facilities,” said Dr María Neira, Acting WHO Assistant Director-General. “Hygiene facilities and practices in health care settings are non-negotiable but cannot be secured without increasing investments in basic measures, which include safe water, clean toilets, and safely managed health care waste. We need to increase political commitment to safely manage drinking-water and sanitation. We also need effective instruments that provide a strong framework for commitment to incremental progress and accountability. The European Protocol on Water and Health is a compelling example of such a framework and can serve as a model for replication and scaling-up.”
Protocol in action: experiences from European countries
The Protocol on Water and Health, negotiated in 1999 and supported by WHO/Europe and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), addresses these ongoing challenges. The Protocol is the first international agreement adopted specifically to attain an adequate supply of safe drinking-water and sanitation for everyone and to effectively protect water used as a source of drinking-water or for recreation. It is driven by ministries of health, environment and water.
WHO/Europe, together with Germany, Hungary, Portugal and UNECE, organized a high-level event at the conference on the Protocol’s experience and know-how, with a focus on WASH in health care facilities, equitable access to and affordability of WASH services, and the benefits of the Protocol's governance framework. Márta Vargha, from Hungary and the Chair of the Bureau of the Protocol on Water and Health, presented available tools and shared her country’s experience in advancing WASH in health care facilities through the framework of the Protocol on Water and Health.
From Germany, Stefan Tidow, State Secretary for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, explained the added value of risk-based management tools, with particular reference to the field guide that supports rural communities in improving small-scale drinking-water supplies through water safety planning. Benoit Sevcik, Social Affairs and Health Advisor at the French Embassy in the United States, and Emma Anakhasyan, from Women for Water Partnership, introduced the scorecard supporting countries to establish a baseline on equitable access to WASH, discuss actions to be taken, and evaluate progress.
In addition, Hugo Pires, Secretary of State for the Environment from Portugal, and Helena Costa, from Portugal’s Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority, briefed participants on how their country has set national targets on water and sanitation affordability in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The benefits of accession to the Protocol on Water and Health were presented by Nurkan Sadvakassov, Chairman of the Committee on Sanitary and Epidemiological Control in Kazakhstan.
Last year, the 6th Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol on Water and Health focused on the central role of WASH in addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Around 300 delegates representing 47 countries, as well as several United Nations agencies and regional partners, gathered last November in Geneva, Switzerland, to set priorities in the areas of WASH and health for the coming years in the pan-European region.