MARCH 2005 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

A NEWSLETTER FOR WATER FOR ASIAN CITIES PROGRAMME IN MADHYA PRADESH (INDIA)

The Mayors Endorse UN-HABITAT Plan for Pro-poor Urban Water

and Sanitation Governance in Madhya Pradesh (India)
• UN-HABITAT plans
UN-HABITAT under the Water for Asian Cities Pro- ernance as a matter of priority for achieving the
gramme in India organized a two-days workshop on MDGs in Madhya Pradesh, the third poorest State of city wise Stake-
Pro-poor Urban Water and Sanitation Governance India.
from 18-19 March 2005 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
holders’ Consulta-
The workshop brought together both the primary and Dr. Uma Shashi Sharma, Mayor of Indore, said that
UN-HABITAT should help Indore and other cities in tions and Develop-
secondary stakeholders to discuss and decide on the
approach and strategy to be adopted by UN- addressing the issues pertaining to pro-poor water ment of City Action
HABITAT in the implementation of the Water for and sanitation governance as well as capacity build-
Asian Cities Programme in Madhya Pradesh. The ing through public awareness, advocacy, education, Plan
workshop was attended by the State Policy-makers, experience sharing and carrying out demonstration
the City Mayors, the Municipal Commissioners, the project. The workshop looked at ways of mapping • Steps being taken
Engineers, the Urban Planners and representatives the poor, bridging the sanitation gap and enhancing
of various regional and international organisations the city capacities for delivery. The issues pertaining for conducting Wa-
which included ADB Manila and New Delhi, DFID, to monitoring and evaluation as well as knowledge
sharing were also discussed at length. In his mes- ter Audits/
Cities Alliance, USAID, several of the NGOs includ-
ing Water Aid, SEWA, SAMARTHAN and many sage, the Mayor of Bhopal underscored the need for
developing and implementing strategies for the provi-
Diagnostic Studies
others.
sion of water and sanitation services that will maxi-
In a message to the Workshop delegates Dr. Anna mize the income and employment earning opportuni- • Training needs as-
Tibaijuka, the Executive Director, UN-HABITAT cited ties for the urban poor.
the need for addressing Water and Sanitation Gov- sessment and city
based training on
Water Demand
Management

• Mapping the Urban

Poor in Slum and
non-slum areas

Inside this issue:

Ugandan Minister visits 2
Ananthapur Water Supply
Project

Roundtable for Develop- 3

ing Strategies in M.P.

Forthcoming Events 3

Roundtable on VBWSE 4
WATER FOR ASIAN CITIES PROGRAMME IN INDIA

The four city Mayors asked UN-HABITAT to play an active role in the introduction of respon-
sive demand management strategies to improve efficiency and equity of water supply, water
use and to give more influence to those currently deprived of water and sanitation. The
Mayors also sought the UN-HABITAT support for capacity building for Municipal Staff, plans
for sustainable water and sanitation management and demonstration projects in water de-
mand management and other related areas.
During the workshop several priority actions were identified in the field of Pro-poor Urban
Water and Sanitation Governance. These included Government – Non-government dialogues
and partnerships for mapping the poor; creating mechanisms for dialogue, information shar-
ing between different groups and initiating community level planning in all the project cities for
understanding key governance gaps and mechanisms for addressing them. Several priority
actions in the field of environmental sanitation, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation
and knowledge sharing were also identified.
Based on these recommendations UN-HABITAT worked out follow up actions for implemen-
tation of Water for Asian Cities Programme in Madhya Pradesh (India). The meeting agreed
that consultations should be held with each city and its partners on water development plans,
training needs and assessments, surveys of requirements and strategic planning so that
implementation can begin as soon as possible. Smt. Susheela Singh, Mayor of Jabalpur addressing the delegates of the UN-HABITAT Workshop

Ugandan Minister for Water visits Ananthapur Water Supply Project in India
Hon’ble Maria Mutagamba, Minister of State for Water, Uganda traveled from Kampala to Ananthapur District in Andhra Pradesh to know first hand
and learn from the Ananthapur Water Supply Project. Hon’ble Mutagamba, who is also the Chairperson of the African Ministers Council on Water
(AMCOW), was on a study visit to India from 12-15 February 2005, sponsored by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).
Ananthapur is semi-arid district in State of Andhra Pradesh (India). The whole district with a population of nearly 1.5 million has been facing extreme
shortage of drinking water in all its 1000 villages and several towns. Sri Sathya Sai Drinking Water Supply Project in Ananthapur District, implemented
in 1998, is an innovative project presenting a new approach to financing pro-poor investment for drinking water supply both in rural and urban areas.
The Minister from Uganda was very keen to find out how such a major project was implemented through civil society financing. The Ugandan Minister
was informed that this massive project was implemented at a cost of US$ 69 million in 18 months without any time and cost over-run. During her inter-
action with the project management team, she learnt about the innovative mechanisms of public-private-community partnerships for the implementa-
tion maintenance and regular management of the project. She was excited to know that the project greatly contributed to providing access to more
than 1 million poor in 731 villages unserved earlier by safe drinking water supply.
The project had been evaluated earlier jointly by UN-HABITAT and ADB in the year 2002 and commended as a unique project of its kind both in terms
of its financing mechanisms and implementation plans for serving the poor. This independent evaluation revealed a very vibrant partnership which was
still active even six years after the completion of the project. The project had a very positive impact on the school going girl children who were earlier
forced to drop out of the school to help their mothers with household activities including fetching of water from a distance of several kilometres. The
project brought drinking water close to the house of each family which helped the earning members of the family to spend more time on income gener-
ating activities. The Minister took keen interest in the strong management information
system which had been developed for continuous monitoring and summative evaluation
of this massive project. She was happy to note that the completion of this project in such
a short time had set a new standard for project implementation in terms of timeliness,
professional execution and commitment to quality.

During her visit to Ananthapur the Ugandan Minister also expressed the gratitude of the
people of Uganda for the contribution of 80 borewells by Sri Sathya Sai Organisation.
These borewells will provide safe drinking water supply to thousands of poor Ugandans
mainly in the water scarce eastern region of the country. Work on this project has already
begun. The project is estimated to cost more than US$ 500,000 through generous contri-
butions from Sri Sathya Sai Organisation. The Minister was deeply impressed by the
achievements of the Ananthapur project and has invited the people including profession-
als, who have made it possible, to visit Uganda. She said, "I am now convinced that we
can achieve the same in Uganda".
Commenting on her experience, Hon’ble Mutagamba hailed the excellent work done by
the Sai Foundation and expressed sincere appreciation for the support to construct
borewells in Uganda and other achievements of the trust in areas of health care, educa-
tion, Tsunami Disaster Management etc.

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 MARCH 2005 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

Roundtable for Developing Strategies in Madhya Pradesh

Following the workshop on Pro-poor Urban Water and Sanitation Gov- Andhra Pradesh Urban Services for the Poor (APUSP) Project which
ernance in Bhopal, UN-HABITAT organized a Roundtable meeting on basically had three components viz. (i) capacity building of municipalities
Monday, 21st March 2005 in New Delhi which was participated by sev- for revenue improvements (ii) challenge fund for hardware and software
eral partners including ADB, DFID, Cities Alliance and USAID. The core projects based on municipal action planning at the local level and (iii)
group discussed strategies for developing a Common Activities Pro- poverty assessments and fund for slum level improvements.
gramme to ensure greater synergy and compatibility in the implementa-
tion of Urban Water Supply and Environmental Improvement Project ADB expressed keenness on UN-HABITAT starting work immediately
(UWSEIP) of ADB and Water for Asian Cities Programme in Madhya and identifying small, tangible projects where results can be seen on the
Pradesh, India. ground so as to create momentum and interest for the larger investment
to come.
Based on the Workshop outcome fully endorsed by the Mayors and
State Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, UN-HABITAT outlined a time-table and USAID suggested that pilot projects relating to sanitation or solid waste
action plan for the next six months in four main areas which include (i) should be linked to an overall sanitation strategy for the city and USAID
Pro-poor urban water and sanitation governance (ii) Environmental was ready to consider lending support for such initiatives relating to (a)
situation and hygiene assessment (iii) Water demand management and capacity building activities (b) solid waste and drainage and (c) water
(iv) Capacity building and Monitoring & Evaluation. UN-HABITAT shall and sanitation.
be undertaking a rapid overview of urban revenue base, livelihood op- Cities Alliance informed that both Jabalpur and Bhopal have shown
portunities, state of water sector reform, access to services and utiliza- interest for city development strategies. Both Cities Alliance and UN-
tion especially by the poor, assessing the status of the infrastructure with HABITAT agreed to keep each other informed to ensure synergy in
reference to environmental sanitation and hygiene assessment, map- implementation of their projects in Madhya Pradesh.
ping the water losses and drawing up strategies to correct them.
The Roundtable also considered setting up of a joint project steering
DFID in Madhya Pradesh proposes to follow their earlier approach in committee for joint reporting and monitoring responsibilities.

Unheard Voices of Women: April 18, 2005 Forthcoming Events

UN-HABITAT is organizing a special event on the theme of “Unheard
Voices of Women: Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements” during the
13th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in New
York on 18 April 2005. Commission on Sustainable Development
At CSD-12, UN-HABITAT had organised an event on “Achieving the
(CSD-13): April 11-22, 2005
Millennium Development Goals for Water and Sanitation: Unheard The 13th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development is
Voices of Women”. The event at CSD12 brought forward the Unheard taking place in New York from 11-22 April 2005. The Commission’s main
Voices of Women on sanitation from South Asia, East Africa and the role is to contribute to advancing the implementation of Agenda 21, the
Caribbean to national policy-makers and the international community Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Plan
attending CSD. As a follow-up to this, the forthcoming event at CSD13 of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
will build on the dialogue started between a group of women from under- (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation) at all levels.
privileged communities and a panel of eminent women on how pro-
grammes on water, sanitation and human settlements are impacting on The Economic and Social Council in its resolution 2003/61 had decided
the lives of people. that the work of the CSD should be organized in a series of two-year
action oriented implementation cycles including a review and a policy
The objective of the dialogue is to raise the awareness of delegations session. The thematic implementation cycle 2004-2005 has a focus on
participating in CSD13 on the perceptions, aspirations and priorities of Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements. CSD-13 will, therefore,
poor communities, particularly women and girls, with regard to pro- tackle the thematic issues relating to Water and Sanitation in conjunction
grammes and initiatives of governments and donors which are aimed at with the cross cutting issues which inter alia include poverty eradication;
achieving the MDGs in water, sanitation and slum improvement. institutional framework for Sustainable Development; gender equity and
Eminent Panelists will share the platform with women from underprivi- education. CSD-13 is expected to take policy decisions on practical
leged communities. Among others, Hon. Maria Mutagamba, Chair of the measures and options to expedite implementation.
African Ministerial Council on Water, Hon. Hilde Johnson, Minister for The representation of national and state governments, local authorities,
Development Cooperation from Sweden and Kumari Selja, Hon’ble non-governmental organisations and other experts on Water, Sanitation
Minister for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation, Govt. of India and Human Settlements from around the world are expected to partici-
are expected to join the Panel. pate in CSD-13.

Access to Water and Sanitation Drinking water Sanitation

in Schools in Madhya Pradesh (Percentage) (Percentage)
Source Rural Urban Rural Urban
Census 1991 8 67 - 53
Census 2001 62 89 9 68

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WATER FOR ASIAN CITIES PROGRAMME IN INDIA

Roundtable on Values-based Water and Sanitation Education (VBWSE)

UN-HABITAT is implementing the Water for African HABITAT in New Delhi on 22nd March 2005 which
and Asian Cities Programmes. The first is being was attended by several international and national
implemented in eight countries of Africa since 1999. organisations. These included representatives of
In the second phase of this programme which was UNICEF India, Royal Netherlands Embassy,
launched at the Pan African Water Conference in UNESCO-IHE the Netherlands, ENPHO Nepal,
Addis Ababa in December 2003, it now includes 12 VBEDI South Africa, University of Wollongong
countries. Australia, CSE New Delhi, CEE Ahmedabad, CSEC
University of Delhi, NCERT and Sulabh Interna-
Water for Asian Cities Programme is a collaborative tional.
initiative of ADB and UN-HABITAT which was
launched at the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan The main purpose was to share experiences on
March 2003. The programme aims to promote Pro- water, sanitation and hygiene education and also
poor Governance and investments in African and explore opportunities for collaboration. The group
Asian Cities and towns. also discussed the role of Water and sanitation
classrooms which are child friendly and at the same
Within the framework of these programmes UN- time educative for children and bring values in their
HABITAT has since 2000 been implementing a very minds leading to the sustainable behavouiral
innovative initiative on Values-based Water and change. The meeting discussed several social
Sanitation Education (VBWSE) both in Africa and issues such as growing inequity, health issues,
Asia which aims at creating a new water use and social conflict due to water scarcity, quality of water,
sanitation friendly ethic amongst service provider problems in slums and issues of women’s dignity in
and consumers alike. The programme builds on water, hygiene and sanitation sector. The group
innovative concepts of education and awareness further discussed the key issues, opportunities,
raising by focusing not only on imparting knowledge constraints that could crop up during the implemen-
on water and sanitation, but also skills development tation of Values-Based Water Education in the
in this area and elicitation of human values based communities. Participants raised the importance of
on indigenous cultures and ethics. Elements of the social change and awareness in water and sanita-
VBWSE Initiative consist of incorporating values- tion which will help in increased enrollment of girls,
based water and sanitation education in curricula decrease in prevalence of diseases, enhancement
and teacher training colleges, establishing values- of environmental cleanliness etc.
based water and sanitation classrooms, community
based education in water, sanitation and hygiene In order to meet Millennium Development Goals on
awareness and programmes for improving water access to water and sanitation to be met, equitable
and sanitation in schools. and Pro-poor approach needs to be incorporated so
that the poorest population in world’s cities will get
As part of this initiative UN-HABITAT has devel- the priority attention which will help them to come
oped detailed teachers guides on values-based out of the absolute poverty situation. The integra-
water education in the curriculum. Based on joint tion of human values in a sustained and continuous
work with Swedish Water Development and Stock- manner will lead to a heightened consciousness
holm Water Company in the area of Values-based and understanding towards the need to proper
Water Classrooms, ENPHO in Nepal and VBEDI in management; improve efficiency and sustainable
South Africa are in the process of carrying forward use of water resources and improved hygienic and
the work and developing a Teachers Guide on sanitation practices taking into account economic,
Values-based Water and Sanitation Classroom. social and environmental considerations.
A Roundtable on this topic was organized by UN-

Editorial Team
UN-HABITAT
Editorial Board Gopal Reddy, Secretary, UADD, Government Board Water for Asian Cities Programme Office
Savitur Prasad, Director, Govt. of India EP-16/17, Chandragupta Marg, Chanakyapuri
S.N. Mishra, Project Director, UWSEIP, Bhopal New Delhi - 110021 (India)
Debashish Bhattacharjee, ADB, India Resident Mission Tel: +91-11-24104970 - 73
Anniruddhe Mukherjee, TA, WAC Programme Fax: +91-11-24104961
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.unhabitat.org & www.unwac.org
Editor Kulwant Singh, CTA, WAC Programme, UN-HABITAT

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