Safe water access through Water Partnerships
*A group of ASHA nurses in Gujarat, India explain how their community quickly changed their preferred water sources after learning how to test and map which wells in their community were or were not affected by fluoride. [India, Nov 2022].
‘People understand their water challenges, and they understand their water solutions too.’ That is the universal message that I heard from hundreds of water leaders on five continents during the recent ‘Tools for Water Partnerships’ study based at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). Over the past two years, I was privileged to be hosted by nine non-profit organisations who shared their approach towards long-term improvements for safely managed drinking water, in pursuit of the U.N.’s sixth Sustainable Development Goal. We heard water stories from the NGO field staff and management, community leaders, government ministers, community nurses, teachers, mayors, international NGOs, and women standing in line from 6 am to fill their buckets with water. They spoke about what they believed to be their water challenges, and what approaches would lead to sustainable, long-term, safe water solutions.
I like to say, “If we could invent our way out of poverty and the water crisis, it would have already happened.” But creating lasting improvement for matters of health, like drinking water, requires considering more than just technologies. This ‘more’ relates to needing to consider culture, history, local preferences and values, and local capacity. These are the critical pieces of sustainable development, and they are often prioritised by on-the-ground organisations but can be overlooked by international-level funders and decision-makers, who might favour simpler technical metrics like ‘the number of training sessions delivered’, or ‘per cent of households having a filter’.
However, the clear message from water leaders around the world is that sustainability in safe water solutions comes from Water Partnerships. Water Partnerships unite technical experts, health experts, policymakers, and equipment suppliers, to recommend options towards protecting water sources, treating, and delivering water to households. Most importantly, Water Partnerships empower water users to make value-based decisions, like who should receive improved water services, who should pay how much for water, what water sources and uses are valued locally, and what water treatment approaches could be trusted.
In other words, the recipe for creating lasting progress towards SDG6 involves three ingredients:
- Education on the water challenges and options for solutions,
- Ownership of the solution by the people who will ultimately benefit from it, and
- Resources to plan and act on it.
These ingredients are addressed in the new documentary film co-produced with UBC Studios called Water, Together. The film showcases a dozen water leaders from around the world who share strategies to empower people towards feeling confident and ready to participate in values-based decision-making for water management. These leaders describe a three-step process for water empowerment:
- Awareness of the local water challenges;
- Education of the options for safe water;
- Resources for water action.
Around the world, everyone agrees that sustainable development comes from participation and ownership. Despite having vastly different development and water contexts, people used half a dozen languages to explain what the same pathway to safe water was essentially: empowerment through awareness, education, and resources. That is the topic of Water, Together, the 30-minute documentary film which will be premiering at the 2024 World Water Congress & Exhibition in Toronto, Canada from August 11-15, 2024. We hope to use this international platform to share the voices and messages of community-level water leaders: sustainability comes from Water Partnerships.
The full documentary is available on YouTube:
