Eftirfarandi ávarp flutti Svandís Svavarsdóttir umhverfisráðherra á hliðarviðburði um vatn og hreinlætisaðstöðu, 19. júní 2012 á Ríó+20, ráðstefnu Sameinuðu þjóðanna um sjálfbæra þróun. Ávarpið er á ensku.

Dear moderator,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is of great pleasure for me to take part in this panel discussion on Water and Sanitation as a Human Right. This is an extremely important topic, central to any discussion regarding sustainable development.

In my short intervention, I would like to focus on three major issues:

1. Water as a human right in general,
2. Giving a voice to those who can't speak for themselves, and
3. Human rights and women's rights.

First; Water as a human right in general.

Water is a unique and very valuable resource, which makes an irreplaceable contribution to people's health and ecosystems. Water can hardly be considered as “just” a human right, it is the fundamental basis of the human existence, the source of life on earth – or if we choose the jargon, the foundation for vibrant ecosystems services.

Let's just mention a few numbers to begin with, to set the scope of the problem. Since 1990, more than 2 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water resources – resources which are not necessarily “safe” – according to the Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation update from UNICEF and WHO. This still leaves 890 million people in the world without access to improved drinking water.

Two years ago, the General Assembly declared safe and clean drinking water and sanitation to be a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights. And right they were, at a time when almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water and a total of 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. I'm sure we all agree, that this is not a part of our vision for the future – our 21st century selves want this basic resource available to the whole of mankind.

But we must never forget, that access to clean water is not only important for the human race – water is the fundamental element for life on Earth, of which we humans are only a humble part. The natural cycles of ecosystems are not external to ourselves – if they are disrupted, so are we.
 

We must all applaud the fact that access to water has been given increased importance by promoting it to the level of human rights. But maybe we should look towards our colleagues in Bolivia, with their “pachamama” – Law of the Rights of Mother Earth – where nature has a set of rights independent of humans.

In Iceland, we went through a collapse of the economy in the fall of 2008. This gave us the opportunity to reflect on values we had seen as given, and one of the results of that reflection is that we are currently going through changing our constitution, working on a proposal drafted by a constitutional council last year. In that proposal, we have an article on the nature and environment – which we don't have in the current constitution. This article starts by saying: “Iceland's nature constitutes the basis for life in the country. All shall respect and protect it.” I would say that these words echo those from Bolivia.

Second issue; giving a voice to those who can't speak for themselves.

In the past years, the green color seems to have transcended the typical boundaries of political parties. I would however like to voice one opinion from the political left. One of the main tenants of left wing politics is the demand for equality – a call for social justice which has been championed by different political sectors throughout the years. This has meant giving a voice to those who don't have ready access to financial implements or other traditional tools of the ruling classes. Therefore, the left has a long tradition of voicing concerns for the working class and other less privileged groups.

This is a role we need to develop. We must be champions for the rights of women, for future generations, and for nature itself. This is a legacy of the political left, the next step in its development – but also an important task for those of us engaged in the propagation of sustainable development. It doesn't matter if we're left- or right-winged politicians, officials of governments or the UN, or working for NGOs – most of us share this common element central to our work. The next step in the quest for social justice is ensuring equality between generations. This is the basic premise of sustainable development.

Iceland today is a privileged country when it comes to water and sanitation. We have access to more fresh water than most other countries, and at the same time we are perhaps the most wasteful when it comes to our water resources. This was not always the case. In the beginning of the 20th century, waterborne diseases were common due to lack of sanitation and because Icelanders were unaware of the problem. In 1907 the municipality of Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, agreed to build the first water works – but in that year 100 people out of the town's 5000 inhabitants died of an infection due to water.

Finally, I would like to touch upon the third issue; Human rights and women's rights.

It's a special pleasure to be with you today, on June 19th. Since the year 1915, when women received the right to vote and the right to hold office, this day has been celebrated in Iceland - today is our women's rights day.

I mention this, because the access to clean water and adequate sanitation has a very strong gender aspect. If we look for instance on sub-Saharan Africa, we find that women and girls bear primary responsibility for water collection, at considerable cost in terms of their time. It is estimated that women spend a combined total of at least 16 million hours each day collecting drinking water, men spend 6 million hours and children 4 million hours.

When children spend a large proportion of their days fetching water, they have less opportunity to attend school and obtain the education necessary to escape from poverty. When women are forced to spend time carting water, they have little opportunity for gainful employment elsewhere.

To sum up my points,

1. I have reminded us that water and sanitation is more than a human right; it is a right we might reserve for Mother Earth herself, and it is an issue fundamental to our very survival.
2. I have pointed out that it is the responsibility of us, seated in this room, to ensure that the voices of the under-represented are represented in this important debate.
3. I have stated that access to water and sanitation has an extremely strong gender aspect, which must be taken into account when we look for a way to bring clean water to the hundreds of millions which are lacking today.

I thank you for the opportunity to take part in this panel, and hope we have a good discussion afterwards.