The provision of sustainable sanitation for all is one of the world’s most important development priorities, yet 4.5 billion people lack access to a safe toilet. Past efforts to provide greater sanitation access, such as direct government provision and full, blanket subsidies for toilets, have proven to be ineffective or unsustainable in many developing countries, prompting some to focus on market-based sanitation (MBS) as an alternative. However, market-based approaches have proven difficult to scale up.
“The changes on the African continent are very much alarming—when we talk of sanitation and look at the growth of the populations in Africa, and also the urbanization phenomenon, with the growth of slums,” said Dr.
Sylvia Cabus, the Senior Gender Advisor for USAID’s Office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, recently chatted with Global Waters Radio about the connection between gender and water.
The Water and Health Conference: Where Science Meets Policy will take place October 29–November 2, 2018, at the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill. The UNC Water Institute’s annual event has grown to become one of the most important gatherings in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector held in the United States. The conference this year focuses on five themes:
New research demonstrates that improving a woman’s access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) provides a multitude of indirect and positive impacts that often are overlooked in traditional development interventions. Benefits of this water access “ripple effect” go beyond the time savings and health outcomes that are well known across the sector. Referred to as “pathways to empowerment,” these now-quantifiable impacts cover a range of outcomes, including a more than 50 percent increase in female community leadership positions and shifts in gender norms within the community.
More than 3,000 practitioners and decision-makers gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of August 2018 for World Water Week. Hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), this annual gathering encourages new thinking and positive action on water-related opportunities and challenges.
18 September 2018: USAID commits more funds to SWA partnership.
