18 March 2013: Beyond 2015 published its position paper on the Global Thematic Consultation on Water, titled “Water in the Post-2015 Development Agenda,” in advance of the High-level Consultation on Water, which is being held in The Hague, the Netherlands, from 21-22 March 2013.

The paper argues that holistically addressing water resources management, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater and water quality, the three focus areas of the water consultation, is critical to achieving poverty reduction and realizing the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development in the post-2015 agenda.

The paper recommends universal access to WASH in households, schools, health facilities and work places. It states that “sanitation is one of the most off-track targets of the current MDGs agenda” and remains neglected and under-financed. It highlights how WASH interventions could prevent and reduce illness and death from disease, and result in improved outcomes on education, health, socioeconomics and quality of life.

On water resources management, the paper recommends integrated water resource management (IWRM) to achieve inclusive, balanced water use across agriculture, human domestic use and industry and energy production, with the aim of ensuring long-term water security, reducing poverty and protecting ecosystems. It further recommends: taking into account the environmental and social costs of future hydropower projects; conducting environmental assessments to evaluate water, energy and food security tradeoffs; and improving climate change adaptation and resilience through flood-resistant water and sanitation services, water harvesting techniques and watershed management.

The paper calls for governments to control damaging impacts on water resources, including pollution and overuse, and to rapidly expand wastewater treatment systems to address urbanization. It also recommends reviewing, strengthening and enforcing water quality parameters to ensure long-term water quality.

More broadly, the paper calls for an inclusive, participatory framework based on environmental sustainability, good governance and human rights. It proposes several principles for inclusion in the post-2015 agenda, including participation and access to information, equality and human rights, and discusses their application within the water sector.

Beyond 2015 is a civil society campaign advocating for a strong and legitimate successor framework to the MDGs, which brings together over 620 organizations. [Publication: Water in the Post-2015 Development Agenda]