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SWA at Stockholm World Water Week - 2015

Anonymous
02 Sep 2015

22-07-15-World-Water-Week

Vision Speech - Catarina de Albuquerque

At the Plenary of World Water Week (August 2015), SWA Executive Chair Catarina de Albuquerque spoke about her vision for a better world, what the rights to water and sanitation would demand from us – what we now must do, how we have to alter the way we work.
Download Catarina's Vision Speech

 

SIWI Sofa - Catarina de Albuquerque

Catarina was a guest speaker at the SIWI Sofa, a cross between a speakers’ corner and an outdoor interview studio. Journalists conducted interviews and facilitated discussions between experts on a variety of water-related issues. Catarina talked about the human right to water and sanitation, fighting inequalities, accountability and the transition from MDGs to SDGs.

SWA side-event: Changing behaviours to build systems that last: SWA’s evolving strategy

Conveners: IRC, Sanitation and Water for All, The World Bank Group, United States Agency for International Development and WaterAid

26 August 2015

During the SWA side-event at Stockholm World Water Week 2015, Catarina de Albuquerque, Executive Chair of SWA, provided an overview of SWA’s evolving strategy, which puts strengthening country processes at its heart in order to achieve the partnership’s vision of sanitation and water for all, forever and everywhere.

This new strategy is particularly pertinent, as the Millennium Development Goals reach end date and new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) become clear, with universal access to water and sanitation as both a standalone goal and an important issue that cuts across the SDG framework. SWA will continue to prioritise poorest and most off track countires, but is also making changes to its membership and governance to respond to our vision. This includes reaching out to UN member states and other new partners to encourage them to align behind our strategy, and join SWA.

Heather Skilling, USAID, introduced the SWA Collaborative Behaviours, and provided an overview of how those involved in efforts to improve WASH need to start thinking and behaving differently to move towards our vision of universal, sustainable access to WASH. Business as usual will not be enough - 85% of wash aid is still being done on a project by project basis; it’s not programmatic, it’s not embedded in country processes. This approach will not build lasting systems we need to reach universal access.

To explore how the Behaviours resonate with what really happens in country and how partners (including everyone from governments, to donors and CSOs,) work together, the Session then brought together a range of SWA partners to share their experiences.

Mr. Francis Lompo, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources, Sanitation and Food Security outlined how the government of Burkina Faso is exercising leadership in the development of the country’s WASH sector.

Mr. Isaac Liabwel, Undersecretary, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Government of the Republic of South Sudan spoke about some of the challenges in implementing these behaviours in South Sudan. Ms. Anke PEINE, programme manager of the GIZ urban water and sanitation programme, a member of the South Sudan development partner group, then shared some reflections on the constraints faced by a development partner in adopting these types of collaborative behaviours. MS. Lillian Okwirry, Chief UNICEF WASH in South Sudan also shared the experiences of working as a multilateral partner in South Sudan’s WASH sector.

Following this panel discussion, further interventions were made from the floor, including Hon. Johanita Randrianarison Ndahimananjara, Madagascar’s Minister of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Jochen Rudolph from the African Development Bank.

The Session was concluded with a presentation form Evariste Kouassi Komlan, UNICEF, who reiterated that Business as usual is not enough. Implementing these behaviours is definitely something we need to do, and will require accountability across partners for behaviour change.

 

More photos are available on SWA Flickr account