Water and civil society : towards strategies of sustainable and equitable development and financing : an issue paper

This paper places emphasis on the institutional, material and financial means needed to foster what is described as Water and Civil Society approaches. These approaches integrate: a. the perspective of sustainable development (with water being seen as the entry point for sustainable communities and livelihoods); b. institutional arrangements allowing for local water management and true participation of civil society to decisions and actions improving its living conditions; c. consistency of intervention between local, national and international levels, and d. emphasis is placed on the contribution of the voluntary sector to implement such approaches. To achieve a consistent intervention at local, national and global levels, three interdependent objectives are mentioned: 1. to reform water approaches of international agencies by a two-fold action on the causes of impoverishment, and the fostering of equitable patterns of water consumption and use; 2. to shift state intervention away from centralized, bureaucratic, sectoral approach to an enabling role in such approaches; and, to strengthen local self-sustainable capabilities in Water and Civil Society operations.