UNDP IN SOUTH AFRICA

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Human Development Report 2006

Human development is about the realization of human potential. It is about what people can do, what they can become and the freedom they have to make real choices in their lives. The Human Development Report 2006 is about the global water crisis and is entitled: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.

Millions of the world's people lack access to safe water. The scarcity at the heart of the global water crisis is rooted in power, poverty and inequality, not in physical availability. Safe water and sanitation are fundamental to human development. When people are deprived in these areas, they face diminished opportunities to realize their potential as human beings. Unsafe water and inadequate sanitation are two of the great drivers of world poverty and inequality. They claim millions of lives, destroy livelihoods, compromise dignity and diminish prospects for economic growth. Poor people, especially poor women and children, bear the brunt of the human costs.

At the start of the 21st Century we live in a world of unparalleled prosperity. Yet almost 2 million children die each year for want of clean water and a toilet. More than 1 billion people do not have access to safe water and some 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation. Meanwhile, inadequate access to water as a productive resource consigns millions to lives of poverty and vulnerability.

The Human Development Report 2006 documents the systematic violation of the right to water, identifies the underlying causes of the crisis and sets out an agenda for change.

Since South Africa has introduced legislation on water as a human right, the Report introduces this as an important example to follow. The report also highlights South Africa's efforts for the joint management of cross-border water resources and the importance of regional integration.

The Human Development Report continues to frame debates on some of the most pressing development challenges. Created in 1990 and released annually, the Human Development Report's single goal is to put people back at the centre of development. Each report focuses on a topical development issue. It offers fresh analysis and new policy recommendations.

The Human Development Report is an independent report commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is the product of a selected team of leading scholars, development practitioners and members of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) of UNDP. Kevin Watkins is the Lead Author of the 2006 report, which includes special contributions from Gordon Brown, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, President Lula, President Carter and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

This is the first time that the global launch of the Human Development Report took place in South Africa and indeed in Africa. Simultaneous launches were also held around the globe.

The decision to host the global launch of the Human Development Report (HDR) in South Africa was a historic one. To gain maximum media coverage and to ensure that the salient issues raised by the report were accurately reported on, two media briefings were held, in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively, in addition to the actual launch.

JOHANNESBURG PRESS BRIEFING 7 November 2006, Park Hyatt Hotel, Rosebank, Johannesburg

A total of 15 journalists were present at the briefing held at the Hyatt Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg. The hour-long briefing consisted of an overview of the report delivered by Kevin Watkins followed by a question-and-answer session. The journalists present represented a wide spectrum of the print and broadcasting media, national and international.

Mr Watkin's overview focused on his recent trip to experiences of water-deprived communities and the implications of this on a country's economic and social well-being. He further stressed the importance of sanitation along with water infrastructure and illustrated their co-dependency.

The Launch

With nearly 30 journalists present at the launch, the media was a visible presence. With Mr Kermal Dervis and President Mbeki, along with South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel participating, the event was a major media draw-card.

A separate media registration table was set up and press kits and the report were given to the journalists who registered. SABC Africa, beamed across the continent, covered the opening address by President Thabo Mbeki live. Interviews were conducted with Mr Watkins and Ms Narain following the event.

Media Coverage

The intensive engagement with the media in the weeks prior to the launch paid off as the Human Development Report received extensive coverage in the print and broadcasting media both before and, more intensively, after the launch. The decision by SABC Africa to carry part of the launch was a further coup and ensured massive continent-wide exposure for the Report.

The South African media largely focused on South Africa's ranking of 121 on the Human Development Index. In the week following the report though, coverage has moved to the issue of water and sanitation. This has tied in well with the UN Climate Change conference currently underway in Nairobi and the link between water and climate change is regularly alluded to in recent coverage.

President Mbeki and Mr Dervis's comments received extensive television and radio coverage on the day of the launch. Further coverage of the comments of the main speakers was carried internationally and nationally in the days following the launch, including an OpEd in the Mail and Guardian by Mr Dervis and Minister Manuel. In addition, Mr Watkin's account of the water crisis facing sub-Saharan Africa has been extensively covered in the national print media.