SuSanA at the #UN2023WaterConference in New-York: recap and key takeaways 
 
Just a few weeks ago, the SuSanA Secretariat together with SuSanA members and key partners from around the world attended the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York and were able to speak on behalf of the Sanitation Community. Thanks to the efforts of many individuals, SuSanA was able to advocate for the inclusion of sanitation and hygiene as a prerequisite for access to safe and clean water and contributed to various discussions related to: 

• WASH and health 
• WASH workforce 
• women’s empowerment in WASH 
• menstrual health and hygiene (MHH)
• sanitation workers 
• climate resilient sanitation  
• inclusive sanitation 

As a sanitation network, our key takeaway from the conference is that sanitation and hygiene are no longer anecdotal, to quote the GWI report "Gone are the days when sanitation was water's poor cousin in the WASH family”. Everyone at the conference was talking about sanitation and hygiene, as evidenced by the packed rooms at the inclusive sanitation or the MHH side-events, to name but a few.  
 
In the wake of our climate crisis, it was also interesting to note that non-sewered sanitation managed to generate a lot of interest for its climate change mitigation potential. The huge impact that on-site sanitation systems have on global warming was placed in the spotlight. The presentation of Kampala's "shit flow diagram" was received with great enthusiasm at the #Sanitation4ClimateAction high-level side-event. It clearly showed that 50% of Kampala's greenhouse gas emissions come from methane generated by on-site sanitation systems, and will serve as a monitoring tool for the city to achieve its net-zero target by 2050 .
 
After such an emotional week, we're already feeling inspired and energised, and we hope that this conference will inspire world leaders, companies and organisations to deliver on their commitments and lead by example by taking swift and effective action to ensure that the WASH sector reaches its goal. 

If you missed the conference, we have made all the resources from the SuSanA North America meeting available in the SuSanA library , including presentations and our program overview. Additionally, we offer an overview of all featured events during the UN 2023 Water Conference on our website:

SuSanA North America Meeting - Presentations and further resources - Resources • SuSanA

SuSanA at the UN 2023 Water Conference, New York - Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA)

Thanks to everyone for joining and meeting us in New York!

🙌🏽 Like many,  Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA)  is actively preparing for the  #UN23WaterConference  in New York 🗽 The  SuSanA Secretariat  will be represented by  Arne Panesar ,  Daphne Manolakos  and  Maren Heuvels  and the Global Steering Committee by  Carla Liera ,  Dorothee Spuhler  and  Kartik Chandran . Reach out to them, they are looking forward to meeting as many SuSanA friends as possible and to discussing sanitation with you all!!

🏃🏾 Together, with the support of partner organisations and active members of the network, we have organised a number of activities and will contribute to several side-events during the conference:

✔️ SuSanA North America Meeting
✔️ Covid Monitoring field trip
✔️ SDG 6.2 – A Pipe Dream Without a Professional Sanitation Workforce (online)
✔️ Resilient and inclusive sanitation in combatting climate change events and extremities (online)
✔️ "Know your water" side-event
✔️ Swiss Apéro “Connecting the Drops”
✔️ Cross-sectoral partnerships to accelerate progress towards inclusive sanitation
✔️ Achieving SDG 6 through (1) a gender lens on climate change & youth and (2) global goals for menstrual health & hygiene
✔️ The Future of Water starts now - From Regional Committment to a Global Workforce Initiative
✔️ Stronger Together! 100 Women for SDG 6 - Network, Pledge & Mingle
✔️  #Waterisahumanright  celebration and exhibition
✔️ Pollution, Sanitation, Water Quality and Climate Resilience, a Call to Action
✔️ Water Action and Human Rights – Implementing the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation at the Local Level

📬  For more information and registration links, click here:  susana.org/tMU35i

Enjoy the conference and feel free to use this Forum thread to promote your events and report back with key messages and personal feedback and impressions from the UN Water Conference.

Alexandra, on behalf of the SuSanA Secretariat

As part of the SuSanA North America meeting in New York, SuSanA and Columbia University are organising an interesting field trip on the topic of Wastewater Surveillance for Tracking COVID-19. Come and learn about the COVID-19 monitoring processes from Columbia University, who will demonstrate the sampling procedure, followed by a discussion on COVID prevention through wastewater.

When and where:Monday 20 March, from 10 to 11.30am (EST). The meeting point is: 4th floor entrance of the Mudd Building, 500 W 120th St, New York.

How: Register now, the field trip is free but space is limited: susana.org/uKZeVM

🗽 To warm up for the UN Water Conference in New-York, join us at the SuSanA North-America Meeting at  Columbia University  and let's discuss the latest sector trends, the position of Sanitation at the UN Water Conference and the SuSanA activities in the North-American region. 🗣 An outstanding line-up of speakers awaits you:  Kala Vairavamoorthy ,  Kartik Chandran ,  Marni Sommer ,  Francis de los Reyes III, Ph.D., BCEEM ,  Arne Panesar ,  Carla Liera ,  Katrin Bruebach ,  Dorothee Spuhler , and more...

📅 19 March, 10am-5pm EST

📬 Register quickly, the number of places is limited:  susana.org/jSjlCa