Sustainability

This session will present ongoing actions on the themes: depollution of water bodies, social technologies, service supply regularization, and adaptability in order to share innovative practices that contribute to the advancement of the sector, above all, to ensure the access to water and sanitation to low-income communities.

Despite the progress made in recent years, more than 2 billion people in the world still lack access to water safely managed, and almost half of the world population do not have access to safe sanitation. The Covid-19 pandemic has evidenced even more the imperative need for such basic services and the insufficiency of funds committed to that matter. Finance is a decisive mean to increase Water Security and to provide water services to all.

Effective transboundary water cooperation can only be achieved through a solid and coherent institutional framework. Adequate financing, public participation and transparency are some of the key building blocks that sustain transboundary water institutions. This session aims to explore the ways in which governance frameworks can help to provide sustainably financed institutions, foster cooperation and deliver shared benefits to water users across basins.

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.