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Report of the CSD on its thirteen session E/CN.17/2005/12
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Resolution 13/1
Policy options and practical measures to expedite implementation in water, sanitation and human settlements*

The Commission on Sustainable Development,

3. Decides to call upon Governments, and the United Nations system, within existing resources and through voluntary contributions, and invites international financial institutions and other international organizations, as appropriate, working in partnership with major groups and other stakeholders, to take action as follows:

A. Water

Access to basic water services

(a) Sustain and accelerate progress towards the water access goal, supported by increased resources from all sources, including official development assistance, in response to countries’ needs, with a focus on the following actions:

(i) Prioritizing water in national development plans and facilitating access to water for all;

(ii) Strengthening capacities of national and local authorities in resource allocation and management, quality control, development and implementation of water supply projects, and monitoring of service provision;

(iii) Promoting support for water infrastructure planning and development;

(iv) Involving all stakeholders, particularly women and youth, in the planning and management of water services and, as appropriate, decision-making processes;

(v) Instituting economic incentives to encourage the participation of smallscale water service providers;

(vi) Employing the full range of policy instruments, including regulation, voluntary measures, market and information-based tools and cost recovery of water services, that contribute to the sustainability of services provision, without cost-recovery objectives, becoming a barrier to access to safe water by poor people;

(vii) Targeting subsidies for the poor, including connection costs;

(b) Develop and strengthen human and institutional capacities for effective water management and service delivery, through:

(i) Building capacities of local communities in operation and maintenance of water systems, and training educators, managers and technicians in different aspects of water management;

(ii) Tapping local and indigenous knowledge in project development and implementation;

(iii) Promoting and strengthening commercial capacities of local suppliers;

(iv) Improving monitoring and analytical capabilities of water information management agencies;

(c) Develop and transfer low-cost technologies for safe water supply and treatment, in accordance with countries’ needs, with a focus on the following:

(i) Promoting access to appropriate low-cost and environmentally sustainable water use and supply technologies through North-South and South-South cooperation and partnerships;

(ii) Developing capacities in the area of water desalination, treatment of contaminants, rainwater harvesting and water efficiency through technology transfer and sharing of best practices;

(iii) Investing in research and development projects;

(iv) Addressing the special needs of countries with arid and semi-arid areas due to water scarcity;

Integrated water resources management

(d) Recognizing that the 2005 target on integrated water resources management may not be met by all countries, accelerate the provision of technical and financial assistance to countries in preparing nationally owned integrated water resources management and water-efficiency plans tailored to country-specific needs, paying particular attention to economic development, social and environmental needs, supporting implementation through learning-by-doing, directed, inter alia, towards the following:

(i) Improving water governance through strengthening of institutional and regulatory reforms, capacity development and innovation;

(ii) Providing technical and management support to local authorities and community-based organizations, taking into account research, traditional knowledge and best practices, to improve water resources management within national policy frameworks;

(iii) Providing additional resources, as appropriate, for regional and subregional initiatives, such as the African Water Facility;

(iv) Encouraging effective coordination among all stakeholders in water related decision-making;

(v) Enhancing the sustainability of ecosystems that provide essential resources and services for human well-being and economic activity in water related decision-making;

(vi) Facilitating information exchange and knowledge-sharing, including indigenous and local knowledge;

(vii) Strengthening the prevention of pollution resulting from wastewater, solid waste, and industrial and agricultural activities;

(viii) Developing preventive and preparedness measures, as well as risk mitigation and disaster reduction, including early warning systems;

(ix) Protecting and rehabilitating catchment areas for regulating water flows and improving water quality, taking into account the critical role of ecosystems;

(x) Raising awareness of the importance of water use efficiency and conservation;

(xi) Involving all stakeholders, including women, youth and local communities, in integrated planning and management of land and water resources;

(xii) Encouraging, where appropriate and within their mandates, the use of multilateral environmental agreements to leverage additional resources for integrated water resources management;

(xiii) Promoting higher priority and greater action on water quality;

(e) Support African initiatives in the area of water, within the framework of the African Ministerial Conference on Water, with particular reference to basin-wide initiatives in Africa;

(f) Enhance cooperation among riparian States through relevant arrangements and/or mechanisms with the consent of the States concerned, taking into account the interests of the riparian States;

(g) Develop and strengthen national monitoring systems on the quantity, quality and use of surface- and groundwater resources at national and local levels, and for measuring progress towards internationally agreed goals and targets, as appropriate, as well as for assessing the impact of climate variability and change on water resources, through the following actions:

(i) Establishing and managing water information systems;

(ii) Installing networks for monitoring water resources and quality;

(iii) Standardizing methodologies and developing monitoring indicators;

(iv) Transferring monitoring technologies adaptable to local conditions;

(v) Disseminating information to relevant stakeholders;

(h) Support more effective water demand and water resource management across all sectors, especially in the agricultural sector, by:

(i) Using efficient irrigation and rainwater harvesting technologies;

(ii) Implementing irrigation projects with a focus on the poor, particularly in Africa;

(iii) Training farmers and water user associations in efficient water use and sustainable agricultural land management;

(iv) Promoting the use of wastewater for certain irrigation purposes, subject to health and environmental standards;

(v) Increasing the efficiency and, where appropriate, the use of rain-fed agriculture;

B. Sanitation

(i) Provide adequate sanitation, recognizing the interlinkages among water, sanitation, hygiene and health, including water-borne disease vectors, as well as the positive impacts of access to sanitation on poverty reduction, privacy, dignity, security and education;

Access to basic sanitation

(j) Sustain and accelerate progress towards the sanitation target of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, supported by increased resources from all sources, including official development assistance, in response to countries’ needs, with a focus on the following actions:

(i) Establishing an institutional home for sanitation, prioritizing sanitation in national development plans, and incorporating sanitation in integrated water resources management plans;

(ii) Allocating a specific and adequately resourced budget for sanitation;

(iii) Prioritizing investments directed towards areas of greatest need and greatest impact, notably in schools, workplaces and health centres;

(iv) Employing cost recovery, where appropriate, to contribute to the sustainability of services, with targeted subsidies for the poor;

(v) Instituting economic incentives to encourage the participation of smallscale sanitation and hygiene service providers;

(vi) Conducting assessment of the health impacts of the lack of sanitation at community level;

(vii) Supporting existing regional and interregional initiatives such as the Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all (WASH) programme for water and sanitation;

(viii) Promoting and supporting on-site sanitation infrastructure, especially in rural areas;

(ix) Supporting the provision and maintenance of sanitation services to refugees and refugee host countries;

(k) Ensure effective capacity for building, operating and maintaining sanitation and sewerage systems, including by:

(i) Providing managerial and technical training to public utilities, community-based organizations and small-scale providers for development, operation and maintenance of sanitation systems;

(ii) Strengthening the role of women in planning, decision-making and management of sanitation systems;

(iii) Tapping local and indigenous knowledge in project development and implementation;

(iv) Promoting and strengthening commercial capacities of local suppliers in establishing sustainable sanitation delivery models;

(v) Improving monitoring and analytical capabilities of information management agencies;

(l) Ensure access to culturally appropriate, low-cost and environmentally sound sanitation technologies, including by:

(i) Promoting research, development and dissemination of information on low-cost sanitation options;

(ii) Investing in research and development projects including applications of indigenous technologies and ecological sanitation;

(iii) Providing technology transfer for sanitation, wastewater treatment, reuse and residuals management;

(iv) Strengthening North-South and South-South cooperation in developing and applying sanitation technology;

Sanitation and hygiene education

(m) Support countries in promoting sanitation and hygiene education and awareness-raising, focusing on the following measures:

(i) Promoting gender-sensitive sanitation and hygiene education and awareness, including through social marketing and public information campaigns such as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all (WASH), and improving understanding of the linkages among sanitation, hygiene and health;

(ii) With an emphasis on children and youth, incorporating gender-sensitive hygiene education in school curricula and ensuring the provision of separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls in all schools;

(iii) Promoting the involvement of women, youth and community groups in sanitation and hygiene education programmes;

Wastewater collection, treatment and reuse

(n) Expand and improve wastewater treatment and reuse, with a focus on the following:

(i) Financial and technical assistance to national and local authorities in deploying cost-effective and environmentally sound sewerage and wastewater treatment systems, including decentralized urban systems;

(ii) Meeting operation and maintenance costs through an appropriate mix of measures including user charges, wastewater reuse and budgetary allocations;

(iii) Establishing sustainable business models and financing mechanisms linked to capital markets such as revolving funds for sewerage services;

(iv) Education and training in building, operating and maintaining wastewater collection and treatment systems;

(v) Research, development and dissemination of information on low-cost and efficient wastewater treatment technologies, including on water quality and reuse;

(vi) Dissemination of information and guidelines on surface- and groundwater quality and the safe reuse of treated wastewater;

(vii) Establishing regional project development facilities to provide seed capital, training and technical assistance;

(o) Support regional and subregional arrangements, to protect water resources from pollution, addressing the specific needs of arid, semi-arid and coastal countries;

C. Human settlements

(p) Provide an enabling policy and regulatory environment and mobilize the requisite means of implementation, including through regional cooperation and international support, including increased financial resources to promote sustainable human settlements development in both urban and rural areas, in accordance with national priorities;

Integrated planning and management

(q) Support integrated planning and management of human settlements, incorporating land use, housing, water supply and sanitation, waste management, energy, employment and income-generation, education and health-care services, transportation and other infrastructure, giving due consideration to urbanization trends, in particular, to the needs of the urban poor in implementing the Millennium Declaration, with a view to preventing new slum formation, by:

(i) Integrating urban-rural linkages into national planning processes and promoting further research to inform policies and measures to manage urbanization;

(ii) Integrating slum upgrading and slum prevention into national development planning, taking into account social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects;

(iii) Including natural disaster risk mitigation, early warning, preparedness and post-disaster considerations and related capacity-building measures in human settlements planning and development, including at regional level;

(iv) Establishing and strengthening regional and subregional initiatives for human settlements planning and development, and supporting such initiatives through capacity-building and resource mobilization;

(v) Strengthening capacities for waste management, including through implementation of the relevant international instruments including the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1673, No. 28911);

(vi) Promoting increased participation of all stakeholders, in particular women and youth as well as slum-dwellers and their organizations, in planning, implementation and, where appropriate, decision-making processes;

(vii) Decentralizing responsibilities to local authorities depending on national circumstances, specificities and legal frameworks accompanied by capacity building and corresponding transfer of resources;

(viii) Promoting international networking for information exchange among local authorities and stakeholders, including for the implementation of Local Agendas 21;

(ix) Resolving to take further effective measures to remove obstacles to the full realization of the rights of the peoples living under colonial and foreign occupation, which are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and must be combated and eliminated;

Access to affordable land, housing and basic services

(r) Assist in providing access for the poor, in urban and rural areas, to decent and affordable housing and basic services, in accordance with the Habitat Agenda, through:

(i) Achieving, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers, as proposed in the “Cities without slums” initiative;

(ii) Designing pro-poor policies, with a focus on tenure security and access to affordable serviced land;

(iii) Promoting stable and transparent land markets and strengthening land administration;

(iv) Targeting subsidies to poor people for housing and basic services, including the consideration of loans and subsidies that reflect the payment capabilities of the poor for housing and basic services;

(v) Improving equal access to basic services and land tenure, with particular attention to the equal rights of women to own and inherit land and other property and to access credit markets;

(vi) Promoting public-private partnerships for financing and developing infrastructure and affordable housing;

(vii) Strengthening enforcement capacity for building codes and laws in the housing sector;

(viii) Promoting research, production and use of local construction technologies and building materials and integrating traditional knowledge and practices, as appropriate, in national housing policies;

(ix) Facilitating transfer of technology for low-cost housing construction using local materials;

(x) Strengthening the capital base and building the financial capacity of community savings and microfinance institutions serving the poor;

(xi) Encouraging donors and international financial institutions to provide innovative financing for low-income housing and community improvement, including through loan guarantees, seed capital for revolving funds, and facilitating access of local authorities to capital markets;

(xii) Providing increased financial assistance, including by multilateral and regional development banks, for slum prevention and upgrading;

(xiii) Providing support to refugee host countries in developing and rehabilitating infrastructure and environment, including affected ecosystems and habitats;

Employment and enterprise promotion

(s) Support national measures encouraging private sector investment, entrepreneurship and job-creation, including the following:

(i) Incorporating employment and enterprise development policies into national planning and slum prevention and upgrading programmes;

(ii) Facilitating the development of the microfinance sector;

(iii) Enhancing capacity in managerial, environmental and technical skills of small and medium-sized enterprises, including in the informal economy, to improve their access to finance and marketing opportunities;

(iv) Providing education and vocational training to women and youth, particularly the urban poor, to improve their access to decent jobs, combining provision of financial services with mentoring, business training and counselling;

D. Interlinkages and cross-cutting issues

(t) Address water, sanitation and human settlements in an integrated manner, taking into account economic, social and environmental aspects, related sectoral policies and cross-cutting issues as identified at the eleventh session of the Commission, as well as national, subregional and regional specificities, circumstances and legal frameworks, with particular attention given to the
requirements of women, youth and workers, through a range of measures and approaches such as:

(i) Interlinking measures on water, sanitation and human settlements to increase their synergy, efficiency and impact by developing integrated and inclusive policies of planning and management in water, sanitation and human settlements;

(ii) Improving national coordination efforts to address water and sanitation, to manage the competing demands for water, including those for agricultural production;

(iii) Enhancing inter-ministerial and cross-sectoral coordination and planning mechanisms, as well as mechanisms for coordination between different levels of administration;

(iv) In accordance with paragraph 14 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns in all countries, with developed countries taking the lead and with all countries benefiting from the process, including through the Marrakech Process, in the areas of water, sanitation and human settlements;

(u) Devise water, sanitation and human settlements policies and actions taking account of the need to address the impacts of rapid urbanization, desertification, climate change and climate variability and natural disasters, including by:

(i) Assessing the impact of natural disasters, climate change and climate variability on water resources, water supply, sanitation and human settlements;

(ii) Supporting the implementation of monitoring and early warning systems and of relevant mitigation and adaptation technologies;

(v) Noting that the water and sanitation targets are to halve the proportion of people who lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015, and that the target for slum-dwellers is to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers by 2020, support countries, including through the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in their ability to provide data and information on existing slums with a projection on new slum formation by 2020, and thereafter to adopt and implement plans to achieve these targets, linked to poverty reduction strategies, national sustainable development strategies or other relevant policy plans;

(w) Resolve to take further effective measures to remove obstacles to the full realization of the rights of people living under colonial and foreign occupation, which are incompatible with the dignity and worth of human persons and must be combated and eliminated;

(x) Concerning the means of implementation, mobilize adequate resources to meet the water, sanitation and human settlements goals and targets, tapping both domestic and international sources through a range of financing approaches, such as:

(i) Increasing donor financial support, upon request, to water, sanitation and human settlements initiatives in developing countries;

(ii) Identifying and promoting innovative and sustainable means of financing;

(iii) Enhancing the sustainability of ecosystems that provide essential resources and services for human well-being and economic activity and developing innovative means of financing for their protection;

(iv) Encouraging the Bretton Woods institutions, the Global Environment Facility within its mandate and the regional banks to enhance their assistance to the water, sanitation and human settlements sectors;

(v) Establishing and promoting public-private and public-public partnerships;

(vi) Increasing allocations from national and subnational budgets;

(vii) Developing and supporting local financial institutions and markets, including pooled financial facilities, revolving funds, loan guarantees and microcredit facilities;

(viii) Providing support to regional and subregional initiatives such as the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development and the Meeting of Ministers of Housing and Urban Development of Latin America and the Caribbean;

(ix) Providing support for capacity-building in developing countries;

(x) Providing environmentally sound technology to developing countries in accordance with paragraph 105 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation;

E. International institutional arrangements for monitoring and follow-up of decisions on water, sanitation and human settlements taken by the Commission at its thirteenth session

(y) Reaffirm that the Commission for Sustainable Development should continue to be the high-level commission responsible for sustainable development within the United Nations system;

(z) Also reaffirm the mandate of the Commission as stipulated in Agenda 21, General Assembly resolution 47/191 of 22 December 1992 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation as well as Economic and Social Council resolution 2003/61 of 25 July 2003 on the future programme, organization and methods of work of the Commission;

(aa) Support, strengthen and implement voluntary monitoring, reporting and assessment of the thematic areas of water, sanitation and human settlements at the national and regional levels and through existing mechanisms at the global level to keep track of progress in achieving sustainable development, bearing in mind the specific needs of developing countries, by the following measures:

(i) Improving data collection at all levels;

(ii) Enhancing the comparability of data at the regional and global levels;

(iii) Facilitating the contribution of major groups to national reporting activities;

(iv) Requesting the Commission secretariat to update the policy options and practical measures contained in the Chairman’s summary of the interactive discussions held at the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting, on a regular basis, so as to make it a living document, and to develop web-based tools to disseminate information on implementation and best practices;

(bb) Encourage Member States to continue to work on the development and application of indicators for sustainable development at the national level, including integration of gender aspects, on a voluntary basis, in line with their national conditions and priorities, and in this regard invites the international community to support the efforts of developing countries;

Follow-up on water and sanitation

(cc) Requests UN-Water to give equal consideration to the thematic issues for the Commission’s thirteenth session of sanitation and water in its terms of reference, and to promote, within its mandate, system-wide inter-agency cooperation and coordination among relevant United Nations organizations, funds and programmes on these issues, and requests the Secretary-General to include in his report to the Commission the activities of UN-Water as they relate to the aforementioned thematic areas, including the roles and responsibilities of relevant United Nations organizations, funds and programmes in implementing and monitoring the water and sanitation agenda, including identifying duplication, overlap and gaps;

4. Decides to devote, in 2008 and 2012, without prejudice to the programme, organization and methods of work of the Commission adopted at its eleventh session, a separate segment at the end of its review sessions, for a duration to be determined by the Bureau in advance, using one to two days as a benchmark, to monitor and follow up the implementation of decisions on water and sanitation, and their interlinkages, taken at the Commission’s thirteenth session;

Follow-up on human settlements

5. Requests UN-Habitat as the focal agency for human settlements, to facilitate, in close collaboration with relevant United Nations organizations and programmes as well as other partners, effective global monitoring of progress in the implementation of human settlements goals and targets, as well as measures agreed at the thirteenth session of the Commission concerning human settlements;

6. Calls upon Member States to strengthen the capacities of UN-Habitat to provide, within its mandate, increased assistance to developing countries, and countries with economies in transition, including through the current pilot phase of the Slum Upgrading Facility;

Follow-up on small island developing States

7. Decides, recalling the decision taken by the Commission at its eleventh session that small island developing States-related issues were to be both considered cross-cutting issues at each session of the Commission and included in the thematic cluster for the Commission in 2014/2015, to devote one day of the review sessions of the Commission to the review of the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States11 focusing on that year’s thematic cluster, as well as on any new developments regarding the sustainable development efforts of small island developing States using existing modalities. In this regard,
the Secretary-General is requested to submit a report to the Commission at its review session concerning progress and obstacles in respect of sustainable development in small island developing States and making recommendations on enhancing its implementation.

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