IWRM AND SOCIAL EQUITY

Humberto Peña Technical Committee Member, GWP

WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE , FOOD AND WATER SECURITY: IDENTIFYING CRITICAL ISSUES AND EXPLORING COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES

IN AN AGE OF INCREASED RISK AND UNCERTAINTY FOR SOUTH ASIA.

GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIP (GWP) – INTERNATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (IWMI)

February 24 – 25, 2011. Colombo – Sri Lanka

EQUITY IS:

one of the three pillars of IWRM

a critical issue in debates about water reforms (used to promote and to block)

high on the agenda in fight against poverty (MDG’s) and in international and national water forums

BUT

the content and scope of social equity in the context of water remains very fuzzy

WHAT IS SOCIAL EQUITY IN THE WATER CONTEXT?

Flesh out the concept of social equity in the context of water

Provide a framework for analyzing equity in the context of water management

Support better policy making

Encourage reflection and discussion

PURPOSE OF TEC BACKGROUND PAPER

CONSIDERATIONS FOR ASSESSING EQUITY IN WATER MANAGEMENT

1. People

2. The totality of benefits derived from water (direct and indirect)

3. Equity in processes, e.g., equal opportunities, maintaining fair play and, procedural justice

4. The needs and ethical principles that are recognized as basic by Society

5. Tradeoffs with economic efficiency

1. SOCIAL EQUITY IS ABOUT PEOPLE NOT WATER

Focus on people implies:

Recognizing that people have different needs, preferences and capacities

Water management must be understood as a means to advance social equity goals (not an end)

Social equity is judged by the final situation of people, so we must assess the cumulative effect of different policies (water sector + other sector policies + general policies)

2. TOTALITY OF BENEFITS

The result of interactions in natural + human systems & complex processes, externalities, feedbacks, etc.

Thus, determining benefits and beneficiaries is difficult

Common-

Pool

resources

Private

goods

(markets)

(Pure)

Public

goods

USE VALUES

• direct

•indirect

• social goals

•option values

NON USE

VALUES

• existence

•legacy

B1

B3

B2

B4

• STATE

• ECONOMIC

SYSTEM

(Employment,

payments,

productive

chains)

Benefits/ damages Access/ rivalry Beneficiaries

(examples)

Environment

3. EQUITY IN PROCESSES

The process can be as important as the results

What influences the perception of equity?

Ability to participate in the process, express opinions, and raise issues

Impartiality and credibility of decision-making authorities

Access to proper information

Being treated with respect

OBSTACLES TO EQUITABLE PROCESSES

Nominal or practical absence of normative framework

Asymmetry problems due to lack of:

Communication

Training stakeholders in the proper use for the valid legal and institutional system and its guarantees

Specialized technical knowledge

Corruption and lack of transparency in procedures

Discrimination (due gender, social, racial, and political differences)

Problems of collective action and agency

4. BASIC NEEDS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

Basic needs and minimum requirements:

Basic human needs – drinking, domestic use, water for food security and other production at a family level

Customary uses – immemorial uses

Minimum environmental requirements – flows, water levels, water quality, habitat integrity and biotic integrity

Other ethical principles:

The requirement of rational & beneficial use: ‘a use that is generally recognized as an economic and socially valuable use’

5. TRADEOFFS BETWEEN SOCIAL EQUITY & ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY

In water resources management, the space where tradeoffs are considered should be small

It does not include:

Uses associated with basic human demands and minimum requirements

Uses that are not beneficial (these should be eliminated)

When losses in equity do not contribute to greater economic benefits (lose-lose)

When gains for different groups also benefit the poorest (win-win)

5. TRADEOFFS BETWEEN SOCIAL EQUITY & ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY

And our goal for public policies should be to promote integrated policies with win-win solutions

a)Developing programs oriented toward leveling the economic efficiency in the weakest sectors

b)Using the public instruments that are oriented toward the redistribution of income (taxes and subsidies) with the purpose of transferring benefits toward the weaker sectors without diminishing the economic productivity of water resources

FINAL REMARKS: IWRM AND SOCIAL EQUITY

Why we need an integrated view:

Social equity in relation to water must be viewed in the larger context of society’s goals

Social equity must be considered within processes, as well as in the distribution of the final benefits associated with water.

It is necessary to consider all benefits and all users associated with the water resource (regardless of whether they are direct or indirect beneficiaries) and all forms of accessing benefits

FINAL REMARKS: IWRM AND SOCIAL EQUITY

Water policies should be assessed based on their final outcomes, and thus must be considered along with other sector policies, that impact water and benefits from water, and general State policies

Although tradeoffs are sometimes needed between the goals of social equity and economic efficiency, these goals often reinforce each other

THANK YOU