Kevin Rudd: All Sectors Should Join Hands to Ensure SDG 6 Water Sanitation

The UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals No. 6 water and sanitation has been the main focus of the World Water Week in Stockholm during August 27 to September 1. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has been invited to lead the Global Partnership Sanitation and Water for All to mobilize all sectors to join hands to ensure SDG goals be realized by 2030. 

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

CRIs Chen Xuefei has an exclusive interview with Kevin Rudd in Stockholm.

Q: As we know that you were former Prime Minister of Australia, why are you interested in water and working for Sanitation and Water for All, what makes you interested in these issues?

A: Well let me give you three answers. First, I grew up in a farm in rural Australia, where we have a lot of water scarcity, as a result of that, as a child, you develop a sense of how important water for agriculture and how important water is for simply domestic life. Secondly as Prime Minister of Australia, we had to deal with the big problem of water scarcity and so we had to bring about a single river basin authority, to improve the efficient use of water, for agricultural uses, for urban uses and for the river itself. I became directly engaged in water supply across the whole country. As you know in China you have a lot of water abundance in southern China and a lot of water scarcity in northern and northwestern China. And so you have a similar problem as what we have in Australia, we have a very dry part of the country and very wet part of the country. And internationally, because of my work in sustainable development goals, and my work on highly level panel on global sustainability, which recommended the establishment of the SDGs and then we saw the evolution of SDG 6 which related specifically to water and sanitation. And since I have left politics, UNICEF invited me to chair the global partnership on Sanitation and Water for All.

Q: Very good. But it is not easy to get money, so in this sense how do you finance it and why should investors invest in it?

A: The SDG 6 I fear is the poor cousin of the SDGs. So what's the source of funding? Domestic finance from government, you have access to various development banks, from your country and internationally, for big projects, you also look at community financing and private sectors, for the capital which is necessary. You see the amount of money involved in water and sanitation infrastructure is huge, in the trillions of dollars to make SDGs work. Therefore, our response is that finance must come from all these sectors.

Q: How should they cooperate to efficiently achieving the UN SDGs?

A: So our job is Sanitation Water for All, SWA, is to help national governments, in total about 50 of them having problem. Bring those national plans together and help them source the financing they need.

Q: So are you confident that they will achieve these goals by 2030?

A: The sustainable development goals were hard to write and they are particularly hard to implement.  You in China are pretty good at these stuff, because what you have done with rural development in China, even in some of the poorest provinces, you get Ningxia, Qinghai, Xizang where you really got problem of water to these geographically isolated areas. Even with places in Guangxi with sanitation. But you know, your leaders really are persistent in rolling out these programs over time. Across the world, especially in developing world, it is harder than that. I think we got to learn something from China’s experiences. It is good. But we need finance and I think China is also assisting and financing some of these projects particularly in Africa.

Q: Thank you. Thank you very much!