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Water and sanitation for all – bridging SDG 6
with other SDGs for sustainable development
Dr. Aida Karazhanova and Ms. Shubhee Saxena, Sustainable Urban Development Section, Environment and
Development Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP);
Dr. Sulaiman O Olanrewaju, School of Ocean Enjineering, University Malaysia Terenganu
W
ater is a fundamental life-support system. Water
cycles ensure clean air, food and the availability
of drinking water, as well as sustaining sectors of
the economy and the well-being of civilizations. If we could
emulate natural water cycles in the management of the rela-
tionships between economies and water, there would be an
energy-generating impact on those economies – society and
nature would revitalize themselves. Also, learning from the
cultural and historic practices of water management, espe-
cially prior to the era of industrialization, may provide insights
and spawn new ideas to create technological solutions.
According to the ESCAP-ADB-UNDP
1
SDG data portal
(2017), while access to improved water sources in the urban
setting of the Asia-Pacific region is nearly universal, one in
ten rural residents still live without access to clean drink-
ing water (SDG 6.1). At the same time, a “silent disaster” is
still evidenced by almost half of the regional population in
having no access to safe sanitation (SDG 6.2) and by cities
producing the greater volume of wastewater, with much of
it left untreated (SDG 6.3). Lack of appropriate water and
sanitation facilities puts millions of lives at risk. A lack of
basic sanitation causes child deaths every year in developing
countries as well as affecting the quality of education.
Along with positive trends and efforts towards creating
integrated water resource management (SDG 6.5) to achieve
SDGs at local, national and global levels, the prevailing
approach of awareness generation and capacity building
for improving water, sanitation and hygiene services is
monotonous and lacks continuity. The strategic needs of
communities through linear and silo based planning are
not addressed in most cases, while the management and
monitoring processes are focused on limited aspects such as
triggering, hand washing and toilet construction. A complete
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) solution covers all
key components such as location, supply, and governance in
a coordinated manner but is not always replicated.
Challenges in achieving both water-efficiency indicators
(SDG 6.3) and universal access to water and sanitation for all
in a sustainable way could be addressed by a well-organised
SDG 6 strategy with a package of policy and technology,
and by incentivising collaborative frameworks. Household
residents, industries, academia, the private sector and
other stakeholders, policy makers and government decision
makers should all be incentivised in managing their own
future today, and maximising the social, environmental and
economic benefits of efficient water resources management.
Integration in good and bad practices: the end-product of
the economy ends up in the ocean
Water-related ecosystems, including forests, wetlands, rivers,
aquifers and lakes are renewable and self-sustainable unless
damaged by human activities. The planet’s water composi-
tion makes it habitable but, like the air and climate, water
is sometimes thought to be immune from human influence.
According to ESCAP and ADB 2017, more that 70% of house-
hold and industrial wastewater is fed back into the ecosystem
untreated, then carried to the oceans which accumulate the
end-product of human activity. The oceans became the most
threatened part of the environment as soon as humans began
using them as a dump. Coastal regions face the challenge
of under-utilised water resources due to a lack of techno-
logical know-how. Many coastal inhabitants are therefore
disadvantaged, but it is also clear that many sustainable
biotechnological products can be produced from farmed
water and sea resources.
The productivity of oceans and inland water resources
have been utilised for centuries to support basic human
needs. Oceans provide sources of food, marine life and inor-
ganic systems as well as providing connectivity and global
transport routes. Oceans could hold the key to mitigating
greenhouse gases, an idea which is pushing for greater explo-
ration, especially with the focus drawn by SDG 14. Oceans
are one of the last frontiers to present new challenges, requir-
ing innovative technologies to deal with the dynamically
changing physical and chemical conditions and the stresses
imposed on ecology and biodiversity.
The exploitation of the oceans’ biological resources is being
realised through the Blue Economy
2
and biotechnology. The
quest for alternatives to fossil fuels is pushing for the applica-
tion of waves, wind and tide for the production of renewable
energy, but one of the largest and almost unexploited resources
is the cultivation of aquatic plants such as macroalgae.
The Terengganu School of Ocean Engineering, University
of Malaysia, promotes seaweed farming throughout a large
part of the ocean for various uses. Various macroalgae survive