Topic: ‘‘Safeguarding Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in India amidst Climate Emergency”
Meeting link: https://ungeneva-vc.webex.com/
Meeting number: 2742 513 3631
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INTRODUCTION
Water and sanitation is a basic human right of every individual earth, and its importance cannot be overemphasised. However, despite its critical role it remains a significant challenge for many communities worldwide with 1 in 4 people– 2.2 billion people without access to safely managed drinking water, while 4.2 billion go without safe sanitation services and 3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities. Rapid urbanisation, climate change, and unsustainable water management practices have all contributed to the global water and sanitation crisis especially amidst the climate emergency that is staring us in the face. It is driven by overdemand, mismanagement and the impacts of the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Unless we act now, almost half of the world’s population will suffer acute water stress by 2030. A recent study indicates that more than 75% of India’s districts are extreme weather event hotspots and more than 80% of the Indian population resides in districts highly vulnerable to extreme hydromet disasters i.e., floods, cyclones and droughts. Water scarcity, water quality deterioration, infrastructure damage and an increased spread of diseases due to unsanitary practices and disasters are some of the impacts that occur due to climate change.
OVERVIEW OF INDIA
In the last decade the government has brought many policies and flagship programmes for Water and Sanitation adopting both top down and bottom-up approach. For Sanitation the Swachh Bharat Mission/ Clean India Movement where over 105 million toilets were built and transformation in sanitation habits through mass scale behaviour change of more than 600 million Indians was achieved. For complete water security and access to safe water an initiative of Jal Jivan Mission/Water Life Mission was launched to achieve safe and affordable drinking water in rural households by 2024. As per government reports at the time of the launch of the Mission in August 2019, 16.65% had access to tap water Official Side Event 54th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council while now 67.71% rural population have access to clean drinking water. Community members have been trained for drinking water source augmentation, greywater treatment and its reuse, and regular O&M of in-village water supply systems. Women have been trained in rural areas for testing water samples using Field Test Kits to ensure water quality.
OBJECTIVE
In this side event we analyse the policies and programmes in India related to the human right to Water and Sanitation especially in the context of the climate emergency the world is grappling with. Since climate change affects everything from where a person can live to their access to health care, millions of people could be plunged further into poverty as environmental conditions worsen.
Eminent Speaker
Dr. Arvind Kumar |
Mr. Satya Tripathi |
 Dr. Arvind Kumar is a strategist and key-influencer in development sector with more than 28 years of experience as an author, columnist, Water activist, and specializes in concepts like ecosystem-based adaptation, water-energy-food nexus, with specific emphasis on Transversal approach of inter-linkages between water, environment and SDGs. He has published over 500 plus research articles and several books. He is a proud recipient of Achievers Award for his contribution to the Environment from International Human Rights Organization in collaboration with United Nations Information Centre, India. |
 Mr. Satya S. Tripathi is Secretary-General of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet. A development economist, lawyer and changemaker with over 40 years of varied experience, Mr. Tripathi is also the Chancellor of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences – and Senior Distinguished Fellow on Innovative Finance at the World Agroforestry Centre. He has served with the UN for more than two decades in key positions and was most recently the UN Assistant Secretary-General, Head of New York Office at UN Environment and Secretary of the UN Environment Management Group. |
| Ms. Karin Gardes | Mr. Atul Bagai |
 Ms. Karin Gardes, Acting Executive Director and COO of Stockholm International Water Institute. She joined SIWI in 2020 after an established career with more than 20 years in international development cooperation, where she has held various positions within the UN, EU, International IDEA and Save the Children. She has two master’s degrees from the Stockholm School of Economics and the College of Europe in Belgium. Her areas of expertise include international relations, global policy and advocacy, strategy development and partnership building. |
 Mr. Atul Bagai joined UN Environment’s Ozone Action programme under the Montreal Protocol as the Regional Officer for South Asia in 2000 and served as Senior Regional Coordinator to build the capacity of subregional networks in Asia and enable them to meet the compliance targets under the Montreal Protocol. In that capacity, he spearheaded and led some innovative initiatives with the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund. He was instrumental in designing and developing synergies between Ozone Depleting Substance phase out and climate change in Maldives and Bhutan; green procurement policies in Mongolia taking into account phase-out of Ozone Depleting Substance as a legislation; a study of carbon credits and Ozone Depleting Substance destruction in Nepal; and, most recently, the hydro-chloro-fluoro-carbon phase-out plan for India that included energy efficiency and the cold chain. Prior to joining UN Environment, he worked with the Government of India for 17 years in a number of senior positions. |
| Dr. Rajan Sudesh Ratna | Ms. Sonja Koeppel |
 Dr. Rajan Sudesh Ratna is a Ph.D in Economics from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, India; M. Phil. in Environmental Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and done an Executive Programme on Trade Policy and Negotiations from Harvard University, Boston, USA. Presently working as Deputy Head of South and South-West Office of UN ESCAP, New Delhi and leading research, policy advisory and capacity building on helping countries accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. |
 Ms. Sonja Koeppel currently leads the water team at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and serves as secretary to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and co-secretary to the UNECE/ WHO-Europe Protocol on Water and Health. She has worked for more than 10 years in the secretariat, for example coordinating the activities on climate change adaptation. Before joining UNECE, she worked for UNEP in Nairobi and studied environmental sciences, policy and management as well as social sciences. |
| Mr. Vishwaranjan Sinha | Ms. Shweta Tyagi (Host) |
 Mr. Vishwaranjan Sinha is working as a Programme officer, Water and Wetlands, South Asia, and is based at IUCN Asia regional Office in Bangkok. He has more than 12 years of experience working on regional water governance issues in the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna and the Mekong region and has co-authored many IUCN publications. |
 Ms. Shweta Tyagi is Chief Functionary, India Water Foundation. She is results-focused development sector professional with a 22 years of demonstrated history and a proven ability to manage project teams to deliver multiple projects and programmes across diverse sectors of sustainable Development, Water and Sanitation, Social Development, Livelihood Generation, climate change etc. Excellent knowledge of project management and strategic planning of partnership creation and coordination, as well as advising decision-makers and strengthening capacities. Experience of Natural Resource management among rural communities for implementing community based projects with an objective towards strengthening sustainable livelihoods. |