A PROPOSED CODE OF CONDUCT
Raymond JOST, Secrétaire général, Secrétariat international de l'Eau - Canada

PREAMBULE

This code of conduct is a statement of principles and ethics designed as a reference document for all stakeholders in the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) sector to encourage qualitative improvements and safeguard the interest of partner communities.

The Code is aimed to agencies participating in community projects and to communities participating in agency schemes.

It is the result of meetings held by the Collaborative Council's Working Group on community management and partnership with civil society in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Consultation should now be extended to all partners of the Collaborative Council and other interveners of the sector.

The Code is part of the redefinition of interveners' role in the sector:

- The role of the state remains indispensable to provide an enabling legal and regulatory environment and foster access to safe water and sanitation to all citizens;

- The partnership between the community and the other actors is based on clear roles and responsibilities of each partner and fair rules of the game;

- Community involvement is a gradual learning process which must be envisaged with a long-term perspective.
Principles stated in the Code are in line with the Montreal Charter on Drinking Water and Sanitation. If these principles are met, communities will be in a better position to manage WATSAN scheme and pay for services.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To get all stakeholders to agree upon and honour the following principles based on equal and gender balanced partnership.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

- To contribute to ongoing efforts by practitioners of the WATSAN sector towards greater self-reliance, self-respect and commitment to the use of water resources.

- To encourage CBOs/NGOs to develop a collective capacity for advocacy, so as to articulate the felt needs of the constituencies they serve.

- To serve as a guide for improving the partnership between communities, CBOs and other stakeholders by setting out modalities aimed at minimising the present patterns of money-dominated relationships as quickly as possible.

- To foster a genuine commitment on the part of all stakeholders to recognise the importance of a locally-driven approach to the challenges faced in the WATSAN sector, and to focus their attention on the needs of partner communities.

- Encourage dialogue among stakeholders on potential WATSAN related conflicts

THE PRINCIPLES

	I.- Partner communities will be consulted before any WATSAN schemes are formulated.

II.- When undertaking WATSAN schemes, the stakeholders will put an emphasis on a process rather than on a project oriented approach.

III.- Sanitation will receive equal importance and made intégral part of WATSAN schemes.

IV.- Women must be involved in all stages of WATSAN schemes to ensure effective management.

V.- Community organisations will get a legal status within an enabling environment allowing them to operate in security, own the assets or control the sourœ.

VI.- All stakeholders particularly partner communities will have access and right to all information concerning the scheme to achieve an equal and transparent relationship in WATSAN scheme.

VI.- Todas las partes interesadas, en particular las comunidades copartícipes, tendrán acceso y derecho 

VII.- Indigenous leadership wherever available will be strongly encouraged and supported in all stages of WATSAN schemes.

VIII.- The stakeholders will incorporate traditional/local knowledge, skills and socio-cultural practices available within the community to maximize the effectiveness of WATSAN schemes.

IX.- The stakeholders will strongly take into consideration the views of partner communities in choosing the most appropriate WATSAN technology and level of services.

X.- Water pricing and tariffs based on equitable and non discriminatory water consumption patterns between users will ensure sustainability of community WATSAN schemes.

XI.- The assets created will be owned and maintained by the partner community.

XII.- 	The stakeholders will respect the WATSAN needs of the rural communities first before exploiting water resources for urban, agribusiness and industrial purposes.

XIII.- 	The stakeholders will actively promote the protection and conservation of natural resources when undertaking WATSAN schemes.

	We the stakeholders agree to abide and honour the above mentioned principles & ethics.

ANNEXE

MontrEal CHART ON DRIKING WATER AND SATITATION

As part of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), oxfam-québec  took the initiative of inviting the international NGO community involved in education and development assistance and their partners to meet in Montreal on June 18, 19 and 20, 1990, to formulate and to adopt the Montreal Charter on Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The 100 participants in the Montreal Forum came from 29 countries in Latin America, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America. All components of civil society were represented.
In September 1990, after receiving massive support from a large number of organizations involved in sustainable development around the world, the Montreal Charter was tabled and served as a discussion and reference document at the Global Consultation on Safe Water and Sanitation held in New Delhi. The consultation was organized under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on the invitation of the Indian government and it marked the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. It was attended by 600 participants from 155 countries.
To facilitate application of the principles set out in the Montreal Charter, the partners involved in the process as well as the new members, decided to create a follow-up mechanism. The result was The International Secretariat for Water, whose main objective is to promote interaction between members of civil society and governments on local, regional, national and international levels so that the fundamental right of access to drinking water is respected.

Declaration

Given that access to water is a condition of survival, we affirm that all persons have the right to sufficient supplies of water to meet their essential needs. Consequently, priority must be given to the billion and a half people who do not have access to drinking water.
The right to drinking water and sanitation cannot be dissociated from other human rights. It cannot be subject to discrimination and implies a respect from everyone. We must ensure that water supply and sanitation are managed equitably and efficiently, using durable systems, and in such a way as to strengthen the autonomy of the populations concerned.
Ensuring water supply for everyone demands special efforts for the preservation of this vital resource on our planet, in terms of quantity and quality. This responsibility concerns all countries without exception, all milieux, all sectors from agriculture to industry, and all levels from individual and community to national and international.

Principles guiding our actions

I.- Access to drinking water and sanitation is, above all, a political issue

Today, the lack of respect for all of this right reflects, beyond geographical disparities, the inequalities in the distribution of social and economic power, which therefore necessitates sustained international solidarity to ensure that this essential right is respected. In this context, we want to underline the need :

* to recognize that access to water for all is jeopardized by actual development models which waste and spoil the limited resources of the planet, thus calling for a reform of the dominant economic development models ;

* to support the population's demands towards their government by promoting the emergence and providing support to democratic organizations, both in rural and urban centers, particularly in slum areas where basic needs are cruelly ignored ;

* to denounce and oppose the resort to control over water supply and sanitation as a pressure tool over populations who are victims of war or military occupation ;

* to set up, both in the South and in the North, permanent networks joining non-governmental development organizations as well as environmental and human rights groups, who would promote global awareness of the water problem, ensure the increase and equitable distribution of funds allocated to this sector, and resort to the necessary pressure to preserve the quality and equity of access to water and sanitation.

II.- Conceive all actions in this field in support to the populations concerned

Starting from the premise that the failure of development models is, for the most part, due to the fact that the populations, especially women, have been excluded from the orientation and important decisions concerning the development process, it follows that in the area of drinking water, more than in any other area, we have to:

* ensure that no important decision regarding water supply and management is taken without the participation, through consultative bodies, of the populations concerned, especially the women, who are the first ones responsible for providing water, hygiene and health to the family;

* reinforce the power of the basic communities, and particularly the women, in their capacity to master the design and implementation of drinking water and sanitation projects, and to themselves manage the installations in the medium and long terms;

* rethink the partnership between the South and North NG0s, so that southern NGOs would be the true initiators of development in their communities, while maintaining close ties with northern NG0s.

III.- Water must be integrated into a global approach to development

Starting from the belief that the right to water cannot be dissociated from other human rights linked to global development, it is essential that we:

* consider access to water and sanitation an essential right around which can be designed an integrated development program with actions focusing on health, waste management, preservation of the environment, education and the creation of economic activities;

* plan specific actions to preserve safe water, while at the same time ensuring the distribution of sufficient quantities for the most people possible;

* emphasize, in all projects, the use of existing local resources in terms of expertise, employment, equipment and technology, etc., in order to simultaneously contribute to the economic development of the region which is essential for any sustainable development.

IV.- Focus on education and training of the populations

Starting from the premise that purely technical solutions cannot, in and of themselves, ensure people a better quality of life, all water-supply projects and programs must include equal training for both men and women. In this area, certain principles stand out:

* local water managers and technicians must be trained, and special efforts must be made to include women, so that the installations can be maintained over the medium and long terms;

* training includes not only the technical aspects, but also more comprehensive programs that include hygiene, health and a better understanding of the cycle of water in nature and the means to use it adequately;

* the populations of both the North and the South must be made aware of the public good and the importance of preserving the quality of the water and the environment in relation to maintaining good health;

* a participatory approach to training, must be used and all training and education programs must increasingly rely on local skills and resources.

Recommendations

The right to drinking water and sanitation must be guaranteed by the Governments and International Institutions who have to take up their responsibilities. Hence, we recommend that the following actions be taken urgently:

1.- To translate in budgetary terms the priority given to drinking water supply and sanitation in all national development plans.

2.- To adopt, in a concerted and explicit manner, a global policy of water-resource management that deals equitably with the fields of environment, agricultural production and economic development. Such policies cannot be adopted without consultation with the populations concerned.

3.- To ensure a more equitable sharing of funds allocated to drinking water supply and sanitation and to show proof of vigilance, particularly in a context of military occupation or armed conflict, in ensuring that the right of access to such a vital resource is not denied to a section of the population for partisan reasons.

4.- To pass legislation regarding the rights and duties related to water and sanitation and establish bodies for consultation and arbitration, at both the national and international level, with the responsibility of managing, conflicts around water management.

5.- To recognize the right and need of populations, and particularly women, to participate in water management projects through democratic structures and as key actors, by involving them in the definition of politics and at every phase of water supply and sanitation projects.

6.- To recognize and support, in action and policy, local community efforts to ensure access to drinking water and sanitation, particularly in long ignored slum areas.

7.- To stress the importance of managing and rehabilitating existing projects before undertaking new investments.

8.- To rely systematically on local human and material resources before seeking external resources, and ensure that any water-supply project is closely tied in to the local economy (companies, artisans, small business, etc.), in order to promote a global and sustainable development.

9.- To take the social and human dimension into account in any water-supply project, and in this aspect to recognize the importance of the respective roles of the NGOs of the South and the North and seek to involve them at every stage: from the initial conception of policies related to water management, to the implementation of any program linked to drinking water and sanitation.

Tim Brodhead

Co-Chairman
Montreal International Forum

Nicole Saint-Martin

President, Board of Directors
OXFAM-QUEBEC

Alexandre H. Rotival

Co-Chairman
Montreal International Forum

Lilia 0. Ramos

Founding President
International Secretariat for Water

Houria Tazi Sadeq

Chairman of the Board
International Secretariat for Water

Raymond Jost

Secretary General
International Secretariat for Water

Participants to the Montreal International Forum having formulated and adopted the Montreal Charter

Abeydeera, WPP
Abou Khalil,
Micheline
Alam, Syed Nurul
Ali, Ashraf
Ali Alaoui, Moulay
Allard, Daniel
Awe, Eugénie
Azzam, Claude

Backler, David
Bélisle, Michel
Beyer, Martin
Bissel, Kirsten
Brodhead,Tim
Bunworth, Ciunas

Caillère, Claude
Cavanaugh, Dorinda
Cédeno-Caroit, Amélia
Chabert D'Hières, Laurent
Chabot, Irénée
Champagne, Jacques
Chauvin, Jim
Comeau, Jean

Davilmar, Paule
Dembélé, Zazé Norbert
De Rooy, Carel
Désilets, André
Diawara, Adama 

Dolgin, Marc
Doré, Jeanne
Dorval, Robert
Dupin, Jean-Charles

Elmendorf, Mary.
Falkenmark, Malin
Faucon, Michel
Finucane, Aengus

Gagné, Michel
Gauvry, Michel
Geadah, Yolande
Gonneville, Robert
Grouès, Jean-Paul
Grover, Brian

Hadjadj, Bachir
Haineault, Yolande
Hamel, Suzanne
Harmston, Richard
Hébert, Raymond
Houdus, Christian
Howard, Jim

Joseph, Foblas
Jost, Raymond
Kayitaba, Gahayiro
Kok, Han

Laidlaw, John
Lafleur, Guy
Lafleur, Louise
Lalonde, Richard
Lapointe, Denis
Lauzier, Danielle
Lavoie, Marc
Lebel, Constance
Lehoux, Mireille
Loan, Peter
Loiselle, Danielle
London, Mark
Lopez, Norma

Mahadevan, Kumar
Maione, Roméo
Manusadzianas, Levonas
Martin, Nigel
Massé, Jean-Pierre
Matte, Sylvain
McNeil, Mary
Melchior, Siri
Mercier, Pierre
Mihaila, Michael
Mihaila, Valentina
Minier, Vincent
Moreau, Sophie
Mostovac, Mark
Mwangola, Margaret
Ndiaye, Mazide

O'Brian, Robert

Pawelek, Nancy
Petillon, Yves
Piché, Réjean
Pierre-Charles, Gérard
Rego, Guy Gomes Do
Riofrio B., Gustavo
Robichon, Yves
Rosales Escalante, Elias
Rotival, Alexandre H.

Sanchez, Andrès
Sansur, Ramzi
Sautier, Denis
Savadogo, Oumarou
Sidhom, Magdi
Simard-Dupuy, Martine
Singh, J.B.
Surreau, Charles

Touré, Saran
Truchon, Gaston

Vaillancourt, Pierre
Valera, Médiatrix
Veenstra, Richard
Véronneau, Pierre
Vézina, Marc

Williams, Kathi
Wilson, Robert

This charter has been officially accepted by the Mayor of Montreal
during the closing ceremonies of the Montreal International Forum on June 20, 1990

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