Foreword The journey of Human Values Based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) started in an Expert Group Meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 30 April to 2 May 2001, which was exploring to take a new path in the development of a new ethic for water governance in cities. Since then there has been no looking back, in fact, UN-HABITAT has vigorously worked towards introduction and implementation of the Human Values approach to water education through formal, non-formal and in-formal channels of learning. This work first started in Africa, which after its successful implementation was brought into Asia in 2003 under the aegis for Water for Asian Cities Programme. Many people pay a high price with death, disease, disability and economic hardship due to the lack of access to clean water and safe sanitation. Particularly it is all the more relevant for Asia as it is home to eighty percent of the global population without access to improved sanitation, and almost two-thirds of the world’s population without access to improved water supply. To meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of reducing by half the proportion of people without access to improved services by 2015, some additional 1.5 billion people in Asia will need access to adequate sanitation facilities, while an additional 980 million will need access to safe water. As a response to this challenge UN-HABITAT and the Asian Development Bank joined forces and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in March 2003 launching the Water for Asian Cities Programme. Under this programme US$ 500 million in loans and US$ 10 million in grants was committed for improved water supply and sanitation in Asian cities. Both parties fulfilled its commitment, and subsequently another MoU has been signed in February 2007 where US$ 1 billion in loans and US$ 20 million in grants have been committed. The current water and sanitation crisis is increasingly viewed as a crisis of good governance. Good governance is critical to improve the efficiency, equity and sustainability of service provision. Experience, however from the past shows that efforts to promote good governance have not succeeded in bringing about any fundamental changes in behaviour and personal attitudes, and in the underlying values of the people that influence decisions. This is where UN-HABITAT feels that water, sanitation and hygiene education, specifically a values-based approach to environmental education could make a major difference. A value-based water and sanitation education initiative is a strategic entry point in bringing about positive attitudinal changes among both service providers and users, and in the longer term, can help develop a new water-wise and sanitation-friendly ethic in society - children and youth are the best ambassadors to bring about these changes. In Southeast Asia, South East Asian Ministers Education Office (SEAMEO) and UN-HABITAT have joined together in partnership in order to introduce and encourage development of a new and sustainable water use ethic – this was the objective of organizing a Regional Consultations on Values-Based Water and Sanitation Education in Manila in 2003. Through this initial activity, the concept of HVWSHE was introduced to educators in Southeast Asia. The consultations also set the process for the adoption of the SEAMEO Declaration on HVWSHE. Besides UN-HABITAT in Southeast Asia has joined forces with Society for Preservation of Water (SPW) to actively disseminate message of good water governance through values based education. This book is envisaged to be a resource pack for teachers and teacher-trainers on integrating HVWSHE, and I am hopeful that it will inspire all to initiate good governance through values based education. Andre Dzikus
|