Access to basic WASH services and facilities in public institutional settings such as healthcare facilities (HCFs) and schools are critical to ensuring people’s health and well-being. Despite the global efforts by a multitude of actors to meet this need, the lack of access to WASH in schools and healthcare facilities remains widespread. Large-scale implementation of WASH in institutions is often under-funded and disconnected from other key national programmes. It is with the goal of fostering a collective vision for scale that we have chosen to focus our action on identifying and amplifying the knowledge on upscaling pathways for WASH in institutions.
1) Framing presentation (s) : what cross-cutting lessons (opportunities and barriers), have been acquired in WASH in health care facilities and WASH in schools from a system strengthening lens perspective ?
a. WASH in schools: learnings from East Asia and Pacific and South Asia Regions
b. WASH in health care facilities: learnings from the global implementation of the practical steps to achieve universal access to quality care
c. Country experience-sharing from the Philippines and Burkina Faso on the journey to an at-scale national WinS programme
2) Discussion/Q&A (15 min)
3) Roundtable discussion with guided facilitation (25 min): Discussion points will include the challenges & barriers in building stronger systems common to both WASH in schools and WASH in healthcare facilities, successful modalities of cross-sectoral collaboration with health and education sectors, the impact of COVID-19 :
a. Will include perspectives from governmental actors and non-governmental actors including GIZ, Global WASH in Schools Network, Terre des Hommes, WHO, UNICEF
4) Closing remarks & key takeaways (10 minutes)
Water Youth Network, UNICEF WCARO, GIZ, Swiss Water and Sanitation Consortium, WHO
WASH in Schools Network
• Governments and their partners have increased awareness of programmatic approaches and strategies favoring scalability and can clearly articulate pathways for at-scale action in improving WASH in Institutions within their countries.
• Participants are able to clearly identify the key advocacy points for systems-level shifts for WASH in public institutions following World Water Forum
• The knowledge and learning exchange will catalyze increased investments and policies in WASH in institutions by government and their partners.
