In the Beginning...

UNAC's Ripple Effect program has its roots in some very powerful documents and guiding principles.

In 2005 the United Nations (UN) created Water For Life 2005-2015, An International Decade for Action as a call for the fulfillment of water and sanitation commitments. As "Water for Life 2005-2015" explains,

Water is essential for life. No living being on planet Earth can survive without it. It is a prerequisite for human health and well-being as well as for the preservation of the environment. However, four of every ten people in the world do not have access to even a simple pit latrine; and nearly two in ten have no source of safe drinking water. Every year millions of people, most of them children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. [...] Water scarcity, poor water quality, and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food security, livelihood choices, and educational opportunities for poor families across the world. Water-related natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and tsunamis exact a heavy toll in human life and suffering. And all too regularly, drought afflicts some of the world's poorest countries, exacerbating hunger and malnutrition.

The Human Development Report (2006) titled, "Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis" debunks the myth that the current water crisis is the result of scarcity, arguing instead that poverty and inequality are the foundation of the problem. The inability to access fresh, clean, and safe water are at the root of gender inequality (millions of women and young girls are forced to spend hours every day collecting and carrying water for household and family needs), stagnant economic growth (water-borne infectious disease can debilitate an entire working-age demographic), and resource-based conflicts (both inter- and intra-nation disputes).

Following the Human Development Report (HDR) of 2006, the young people of the world produced their own version titled, "Water Rights and Wrongs: A young people's summary of the UN HDR 2006," which includes drawings, poems, and human stories about water and development.







The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were designed as a collective blueprint for all countries and leading development organizations to meet the needs of the worlds poorest populations. Millennium Development Goal #7 is Ensuring Environmental Sustainability. Within Goal #7, there are targets that allow for progress to be measured more concretely.

• Target 7a - Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources;
• Target 7b - Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss;
• Target 7c - Reduce by half the portion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation;
• Target 7d -  Achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

On July 28, 2010 the UN passed Resolution 64/292, which recognizes the human right to water and sanitation, noting that access to clean drinking water and sanitation are essential for the realization of all other human rights. Prior to the adoption of Resolution 64/292, the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights adopted General Comment 15 which states, "The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights". The right to water is defined as the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. The terms "sufficient," "safe," "acceptable," "physically accessible," and "affordable" are further defined here.