Water, jobs and sustainable development

Today we are celebrating World Water Day with a focus on water and jobs.

The importance of this theme is obvious, considering that almost half of the world’s workers — or around 1.5 billion people — are working in water-intensive sectors, such as agriculture.

People in water-related jobs are working tirelessly to make sure that water is made available for domestic use, for removing waste, as well as for the production of food, energy, goods and services.

Still, too many workers do not enjoy full labour rights.

Both water and jobs are integral parts of our joint Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. And, as we are moving to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, crosscutting approaches will be crucial to produce results.

Sweden aims to be a leader in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, both nationally but also in supporting other countries in the collective global effort to reach the goals.

For the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the Swedish government has recently adopted two new development cooperation strategies — one for the MENA region and one for the Syrian crisis.

The strategies will be implemented during 2016-2020 with a combined financial commitment of $420 million.

Among the top priorities in the MENA strategy is sustainable water management in the region, as well as increased collaboration between countries and other partners to achieve decent working conditions.

As an example, Sweden is actively supporting United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia’s programme for improving water and food security at regional level.

Within the Syria crisis strategy, Sweden will give priority to the delivery of basic services and livelihood opportunities in Syria as well as in the neighbouring countries Jordan and Lebanon.

Thus, in Jordan and the region, Sweden has an opportunity to build on synergies between the two strategies and increase job opportunities for people, especially women, to provide for their families and use shared resources, such as water, in a sustainable way. 

The linkages between water and jobs are perhaps most pronounced in agriculture. In fact, here in the Middle East, 70-80 per cent of all freshwater is used in agriculture.

The water used to produce the food we eat is massive. For example, a kilo of wheat requires around 1,000 litres of water.

As we are all aware, Jordan suffers from being one of the most water scarce countries in the world.

Jordan’s increasing population and the effects of climate change are likely to put an even stronger pressure on the Kingdom’s limited water resources.

Similarly, unemployment, in particular for youth, is a huge challenge.

Jordan’s labour market has some unique features, such as a large share of informal jobs, as well as high numbers of migrant workers.

Many foreign workers, including Syrian refugees, are working in the water-intense fruit and vegetable sector.

Against this background, Sweden welcomes the outcome of the London conference as a transformative shift in the international community’s response to the consequences of the Syria crisis for host countries such as Jordan.

In fact, the Jordan Compact is a joint undertaking to promote economic development and work opportunities to the benefit of both Jordanians and Syrian refugees.

In this context, Sweden supports the easing of EU rules of origin to stimulate more export from Jordan to the European market.

It is equally important that the Decent Work Agenda, as developed by the UN International Labour Organisation, guide our joint efforts. 

Finally, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy will guide our work also when it comes to water and jobs. 

Water is about equality. And so is work.

Equality between men and women; between urban and rural; between nations; between employed and unemployed; and between formal and informal jobs.

From a water perspective, the responsibility often falls heavily on women and girls.

More often than men, women and girls have to carry water to the household, as well as manage water in the household.

Time spent on fetching water means less time spent on education and formal work.

Thus, unpaid jobs tend to stay with women and girls, rather than with men and boys. Still, most water-related decisions — on household, community, national and international level — are taken by men.

Women’s rights, representation and resources need to be acknowledged and addressed for social inclusion and sustainable development. 

Working to improve sustainable water management and strengthening the decent work agenda simultaneously and in a coordinated way will help us take crucial steps forward towards full implementation of the 2030 agenda.

The writer is ambassador of Sweden to Jordan. She contributed this article to The Jordan Times.