World Water Week
Speech of the ILO Director-General at the Water and Jobs Seminar
28 August 2016
Mr Guy Ryder
Director-General, ILO, Chair of UN-Water
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Dear colleagues and friends,
Let’s begin this World Water Week by recognising a simple truth: the challenges we face in terms of water and jobs are both real and immediate.
These global problems stand in the way of our collective goal to achieve sustainable, productive and inclusive societies that benefit all. What can we tell the Uru-Murato fishers of Lake Popoo in Bolivia, who are forced to migrate or find other work because the lake that their livelihood depend on has dried up? Or how about the 32 million Chinese who were affected by floods last June? What do we tell them? Are we up to the task? I believe we are, but it is urgent that we develop common strategies to achieve several goals simultaneously.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development cuts across the pillars of the United Nations. This means that we can no longer function in silos, separating peace and security, human rights and development, the environment and economic growth. These inter-linkages are particularly evident when we consider water and jobs, knowing as we do, that three out of four jobs worldwide are water-dependent. We need to build bridges between all UN entities and its partners and that is precisely what we are here to do.
UN-Water is proud to be the coordinating mechanism for water and sanitation and to work hard to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. On this occasion, the first SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute) seminar of this year’s edition of World Water Week, we meet to explore the links between water and jobs as a critical nexus for growth. This is of particular importance to me as Chair of UN-Water and Director-General of the International Labour Office.
Today, we will have the opportunity to see a snapshot of the good work that many dedicated organizations are doing: creating job opportunities, making water and sanitation work attractive to workers, improving working conditions and increasing participation in water policy. We have ten presenters who will discuss different work-related aspects of water and sanitation, namely: training and human resource development, entrepreneurship, the participation of youth and worker organizations, the creation of jobs in agriculture, and technical standards. I commend the SIWI for providing a space to showcase this vibrant activity as it is happening.
We will see that in many ways, the actions required to implement one goal are also necessary to accomplish other goals. Broad-based water resource interventions may lead to local employment and provide national, regional and local benefits for all, including for the most vulnerable people on earth. Water management itself is highly labour intensive and the employment impact can be reinforced by the construction of new water infrastructure and its maintenance. In addition, climate adaptation measures, which include the construction of newer and greener water systems can encourage the demand for both high-and low-skilled employment generating opportunities.
To create more and better water-related work we need national employment policies to improve the functioning of water supply and consumption chains. Improved skills of the workforce in one sector can lead to more efficiency in others, making the water supply and sanitation sectors more attractive to workers and professionals. Achieving the right sectoral balance between decent and productive jobs and essential services is key.
In my recent report to the International Labour Conference, I underscored the importance of infrastructure investment to create sustained production growth and to provide employment, as stressed in several of the Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 6 on water and sanitation. For example, investments in infrastructure means improving access to safe water in communities and thereby reducing the burden on women and girls who are forced to walk long distances to fetch water. I also stressed that it will require “a complex combination of far-reaching choices on the labour intensity of construction, training, small enterprise promotion, and compliance with labour law and labour standards”.
Labour-based, labour-intensive approaches can contribute to restoring and protecting productive capacity of lands, building resilient infrastructure and disaster risk reduction, while at the same time providing decent work, sustainable livelihoods and predictable income security for the most vulnerable. “Contractual arrangements” with local community organizations are relevant for environmental protection and further deterioration of eroded catchments, as demonstrated by a project implemented by the Haitian government in Gonaïves (from March 2006 to June 2007), financed by UNDP and WFP, with ILO technical assistance and funding.
Further, policies and actions designed to improve working conditions should include improved access to water and sanitation in the workplace. This would cover a substantial part of the population for most of their waking hours, and instil habits which could be replicated in communities. The recent WASH4Work initiative launched by several UN agencies, NGOs and enterprises is a good example of how we can take advantage of the diversity in the international water community for the integration of these goals.
Dear colleagues, I would like to invite you to keep this in mind when we listen to today’s presentations. There will be many useful examples to build on when we return to our homes and our work after this week. I wish you a fruitful day and a productive World Water Week.
Thank you.
Director-General, ILO, Chair of UN-Water
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Dear colleagues and friends,
Let’s begin this World Water Week by recognising a simple truth: the challenges we face in terms of water and jobs are both real and immediate.
These global problems stand in the way of our collective goal to achieve sustainable, productive and inclusive societies that benefit all. What can we tell the Uru-Murato fishers of Lake Popoo in Bolivia, who are forced to migrate or find other work because the lake that their livelihood depend on has dried up? Or how about the 32 million Chinese who were affected by floods last June? What do we tell them? Are we up to the task? I believe we are, but it is urgent that we develop common strategies to achieve several goals simultaneously.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development cuts across the pillars of the United Nations. This means that we can no longer function in silos, separating peace and security, human rights and development, the environment and economic growth. These inter-linkages are particularly evident when we consider water and jobs, knowing as we do, that three out of four jobs worldwide are water-dependent. We need to build bridges between all UN entities and its partners and that is precisely what we are here to do.
UN-Water is proud to be the coordinating mechanism for water and sanitation and to work hard to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. On this occasion, the first SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute) seminar of this year’s edition of World Water Week, we meet to explore the links between water and jobs as a critical nexus for growth. This is of particular importance to me as Chair of UN-Water and Director-General of the International Labour Office.
Today, we will have the opportunity to see a snapshot of the good work that many dedicated organizations are doing: creating job opportunities, making water and sanitation work attractive to workers, improving working conditions and increasing participation in water policy. We have ten presenters who will discuss different work-related aspects of water and sanitation, namely: training and human resource development, entrepreneurship, the participation of youth and worker organizations, the creation of jobs in agriculture, and technical standards. I commend the SIWI for providing a space to showcase this vibrant activity as it is happening.
We will see that in many ways, the actions required to implement one goal are also necessary to accomplish other goals. Broad-based water resource interventions may lead to local employment and provide national, regional and local benefits for all, including for the most vulnerable people on earth. Water management itself is highly labour intensive and the employment impact can be reinforced by the construction of new water infrastructure and its maintenance. In addition, climate adaptation measures, which include the construction of newer and greener water systems can encourage the demand for both high-and low-skilled employment generating opportunities.
To create more and better water-related work we need national employment policies to improve the functioning of water supply and consumption chains. Improved skills of the workforce in one sector can lead to more efficiency in others, making the water supply and sanitation sectors more attractive to workers and professionals. Achieving the right sectoral balance between decent and productive jobs and essential services is key.
In my recent report to the International Labour Conference, I underscored the importance of infrastructure investment to create sustained production growth and to provide employment, as stressed in several of the Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 6 on water and sanitation. For example, investments in infrastructure means improving access to safe water in communities and thereby reducing the burden on women and girls who are forced to walk long distances to fetch water. I also stressed that it will require “a complex combination of far-reaching choices on the labour intensity of construction, training, small enterprise promotion, and compliance with labour law and labour standards”.
Labour-based, labour-intensive approaches can contribute to restoring and protecting productive capacity of lands, building resilient infrastructure and disaster risk reduction, while at the same time providing decent work, sustainable livelihoods and predictable income security for the most vulnerable. “Contractual arrangements” with local community organizations are relevant for environmental protection and further deterioration of eroded catchments, as demonstrated by a project implemented by the Haitian government in Gonaïves (from March 2006 to June 2007), financed by UNDP and WFP, with ILO technical assistance and funding.
Further, policies and actions designed to improve working conditions should include improved access to water and sanitation in the workplace. This would cover a substantial part of the population for most of their waking hours, and instil habits which could be replicated in communities. The recent WASH4Work initiative launched by several UN agencies, NGOs and enterprises is a good example of how we can take advantage of the diversity in the international water community for the integration of these goals.
Dear colleagues, I would like to invite you to keep this in mind when we listen to today’s presentations. There will be many useful examples to build on when we return to our homes and our work after this week. I wish you a fruitful day and a productive World Water Week.
Thank you.