A critical, but devastating, lesson from the global pandemic has been the lack of resilience of many water-supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems. Climate change will have even more serious effects on WASH systems, setting back the critical path to sustainable development and poverty alleviation outlined in the SDGs, and further exacerbating inequalities.
Water security is fundamental to the resilience of WASH to climate change; holistic-thinking and integration across water resources and WASH sectors is critical to water security. This means thinking about, governing and managing water as a whole system rather than by its parts – applying integrated water management to connect water resources management with WASH (water supply, sanitation and hygiene).
We need to develop policies and practices to connect catchment-scale management of water resources with local-scale WASH management actions; to consider the social and economic systems of water – which reach into livelihoods, health, education, energy, primary industry sectors such as agriculture and farming, mining, forestry and fisheries; to weave together sustainable water resources and WASH development with disaster resilience and climate mitigation; and to go beyond conventional WRM and WASH enabling actors for assistance with reaching everyone, sustaining development and addressing financing challenges. Reducing inequalities and social exclusion, and preparing for future scenarios, must be at the forefront of this thinking, governing and managing.
Session Recordings & Resources
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View our synthesis document here
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This is Water, WASH & Climate: Stories from Practice
We are doing something different during our Water, WASH & Climate Symposium – it’s a virtual exhibition of stories from practice.
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Committee
A committee of highly experienced and passionate WASH and WRM actors have convened to guide the design and delivery of the symposium, and we appreciate their commitment.
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Partners
We are grateful to have a number of key partners and sponsors for our upcoming events.
View Partners and SponsorsThe Water and WASH Futures team are pleased to have partnered with the following organisations to deliver this forum.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides foreign, trade and development policy advice to the Government. We work with other government agencies to ensure that Australia’s pursuit of its global, regional and bilateral interests is coordinated effectively.
The International WaterCentre seeks to develop the skills and knowledge in individuals, communities and organisations to drive systemic and lasting change.
IWC does this by employing a diverse range of strategies that have integrated approaches to water management at their core to strengthen the capabilities of individuals, communities and organisations.
Water for Women is the Australian Government’s flagship water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) program supporting improved health, gender equality and wellbeing in Asian and Pacific communities through socially inclusive and sustainable WASH projects and research.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) envisions a water-secure and resilient Asia and the Pacific, supporting ADB developing member countries through investments for better water services and careful management of water resources. http://www.adb.org/water
The Water and WASH Futures team are grateful to have received sponsorship from the following organisations for this event:
