WaterAid’s Post

Water is a human right, intrinsic to every aspect of life. The theme of World Water Day 2024 is ‘Water for Peace’, emphasising that uniting around water can lay the foundations for a stable and prosperous society.    When companies invest in water and sanitation in South Africa, it helps to improve public health, builds social resilience and protects our environment. This philosophy is at the heart of the Rand Water Foundation’s strategy. Its goal is to maximise communities’ access to clean water and adequate sanitation, further promoting healthy and hygienic conditions within communities.     Read this case study, which highlights Rand Water’s rollout of the Rural Sustainable Water Supply Project at Wit Mfolozi Combined Primary School in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, and Emalahleni Local Municipality in Mpumalanga.  https://lnkd.in/dT5J5DWZ     #Water #WorldWaterDay 

Honored to speak at the first 2-part Signpost to Bali webinar series, which serves as a precursor to the 10th World Water Forum, 2024, along with excellent speakers and experts on water and sanitation who have been part of amazing innovations in WASH across the region. It was a privilege to share Nepal’s Sanitation journey, and challenges faced at the community level due to inadequate sanitation facilities, and the impact of the same. Delay in finalizing WASH Regulation seems to be the biggest challenge for the sanitation sector now. This affects each element of the sanitation service chain, creating a ripple effect in the construction of toilets, the plight of informal sanitation workers, treatment, and safe disposal of fecal sludge as they are all interlinked. What do you think is the biggest challenge that the sanitation sector is facing in Nepal?

Practical Action and Practical Action in Bangladesh has been taking part this week in the The Water Institute At UNC Water and Health Conference in the USA. The conference attracts a wide range of researchers and practitioners from around the world to review the evidence, interrogate the science and improve approaches to expanding WASH access and services. Today I participated in a panel discussion on ‘Cracking the code: Bridging Sanitation Gaps in Informal Urban Settlements’, hosted by Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), SNV and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. The panel was moderated by Dr Tanvir Ahmed of ITN-BUET, who asked us to consider policy and regulatory gaps, how to engage the key actors, and which types of systems and technologies will help to bridge the gap. I highlighted the importance of starting from what is already happening, and in particular from the contribution of informal sanitation workers. Often the service they offer is preferred by households because of its responsiveness, ability to reach all parts of a community, and affordability. As we professionalise their work, ensuring safety and dignity and the safe treatment of faecal sludge, we need to ensure the aspects of the service valued by customers remain. All the speakers noted that solutions may be complex and context specific, requiring a number of actions taken together. There will be no one-size-fits-all. We may need a combination of technical solutions, together with a supportive enabling environment. We ended on a positive note. The case studies from WSUP, SNV and IIHS all highlighted what can be achieved to transform and professionalise services both for pit emptying and management of public and community toilets.        

It is universally known and said that WATER is LIFE and that accessing clean Water is a human right for everyone, including rural communities. However, diseases caused by unsafe drinking water, also known as waterborne diseases, are still endangering a number of people worldwide. It was a privilege to be selected among others to attend and engage in this substantial course on water quality and treatment, "Introduction to Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage". The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) together with Aqua Clara Kenya successfully facilitated this online course. My takeaways were the multi-Barrier approach to safely protect the water sources, transport water, treat water using sedimentation, filtration and disinfection techniques, and store and handle after treatment to avoid recontamination. Even though it is not loudly said, a lot of people are suffering from unsafe water, and this affects their overall wellbeing, from economies to health. I deeply acknowledged the urgent need for raising awareness and investing in capacity building for equipping each and every household with techniques and materials for treating and safely storing drinking water. Schools, workplaces, hospitals and other public places should be equipped with safe drinking water systems. These safe drinking water sources at the end point must operate and be maintained correctly, consistently and continuously. #WaterForAll, #SafeDrinkingWater #WaterIsLife

🌍 Who holds the key to better sanitation outcomes in India? Who do homeowners trust the most with their toilet systems? 🚽 Water Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASH Institute) recently organized a Focus Group Discussion with masons in #Bundu to address these very questions. These discussions aimed to uncover the challenges masons face and highlight their essential role in maintaining #sanitation infrastructure. Masons are vital for achieving #sanitationgoals, yet many receive only #informal training, resulting in significant #knowledge gaps. Given their crucial influence on household decisions about toilet systems, it's imperative to ask: Are we providing them with adequate support? 🤔 Empowering and #training these masons can significantly transform India's sanitation landscape. By equipping them with the right knowledge and resources, we can enhance sanitation practices and outcomes in communities. #SanitationHeroes #EmpowerMasons #SanitationInfrastructure Swachh Bharat Urban | Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs | Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, Govt. of India | USAID| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | NFSSM Alliance

The state of WASH in Lagos We have very strong reasons for worry about the limited access to safely managed water supply services in Nigeria, particularly in urban Lagos, which is densely populated and has already stressed water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Now, let's see why the worry about public health in terms of WASH. While findings from the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outlook Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) 2021 showed that 16 out of 28 state urban water utilities were fully functional, including Lagos state, the picture of the itinerant water vendor shows that there are gaps in the water distribution channel in urban Lagos. These itinerant water vendors are found almost everywhere in Lagos including Obalende, Yaba, Surulere, Ebute Meta, FESTAC Town, Ketu, Ijesha, Aguda, Ejigbo, and many more. Going by the explanation of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that sort of water distribution system exposes water to contamination making it unsafe. But the people need water for daily activities and this system seems to have been adopted to meet the immediate needs while a greater danger of health risk exposure resulting from using unsafe water is pushed aside first. So, as many as 70,000 under-five children die in Nigeria annually as a result of unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene practices. The National Action Plan for Revitalization of the WASH sector and the SDG targets 6.1 and 6.2 is a good effort, but the present realities show that we are already in a race against time if Nigeria aims to achieve the SDG 6 goal.

　 📌🚰How Accessible is Drinking Water in Schools in Tanzania? 👇 👉 Around 80% of Tanzanian schools had drinking water available during the survey, but only 66.6% had consistent access throughout the year. 👉 Urban schools were more likely to have water available (84.1%) than rural schools (79.3%). 👉 Secondary schools had better access to drinking water (86.3%) compared to primary schools (77.4%). 👉 Non-government schools outperformed government schools, with 90.9% of non-government schools having water, compared to 79% of government schools. 👉 This pattern continued, with non-government schools having more consistent water access (84.9%) than government schools (63.3%). 📊 2018 School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Assessment | Main Report

Development in the potable water and hygiene sector has seen outstanding progress in recent decades.

World Vision's new Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Business Plan, currently under review in Lesotho, aims to enhance universal access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, focusing on the most vulnerable children. Insights from Noel Zimpita, #WASH Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning Specialist at World Vision Malawi : "Integrating water, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Power BI into the digitalization of WASH systems in the upcoming WASH Business Plan 2026-2030 will enhance our ability to effectively demonstrate the coverage and impact of interventions."— Noel Zimpita Together, we are committed to transforming communities and ensuring every child has access to clean water and sanitation. #WASHBusinessPlan #CleanWaterForAll #LocalPartnerships #WASHImpact World Vision Southern Africa World Vision Lesotho World Vision Zimbabwe World Vision Angola World Vision Eswatini World Vision Moçambique World Vision Zambia World Vision USA World Vision New Zealand World Vision

At the UNC Water and Health conference last week, the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) presented three posters. The second was aimed at evaluating the status of three woredas’ WASH systems in the Amhara region of Ethiopia to prioritize program activities that ensure sustainable WASH system delivery. The research found that the Amhara region's WASH systems benefited from strengthened institutional capacity and improved partnerships, though challenges in data quality, security, and resource allocation continue to impact long-term sustainability. Check out the digital copy of the poster below along with the full write-up! #WASHSystemStrengthening #Sustainability https://lnkd.in/gmgKZbM7