Dear all,

Below you can find information of all sanitation sessions, such as topic, place and time, which take place during the 8^th World Water Forum in Brasilia.



Thematic process

Tuesday, March 20th, 2:30 – 4:00 pm, Room 23
[OS-TP-16] Session 2.b.1 - Realizing the human right to sanitation
DESCRIPTION
In 2010, there was consensus at the Human Rights Council recognizing the human right to sanitation. Now, with the 2015 agreement on the Sustainable Development, which also refers to the right to sanitation, governments are struggling with how to realize the right to sanitation. This session will examine how the human rights principles of access to information, participation, non-discrimination, accountability and sustainability can help governments to make the right decisions to make sanitation accessible to all, focusing on the needs of the most disadvantaged individuals and communities.

MEMBERS OF THE SESSION COORDINATION GROUP
Sanitation and Water for All – SWA
WASH United
Brazilian Association of Private Utilities of Water and Sewage Public Services - ABCON (Brazil)
Fluminense Federal University (Brazil)

SESSION PARTICIPANTS
● Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque
● Mr. Léo Heller, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (Brazil)
● Ms. Juliana de Senzi Zancul, Rural Sanitation Coordinator, FUNASA
● Mr. Thobile Mthiyane, Acting Director: Policy, Department of Water and Sanitation
● Mr. Wilson Bezwada, Convenor, Safai Karmachari Andolan (India)
● Mr. Olivier Crespi Reghizzi, Task Team Leader, French Agency for Development (AFD) (France)
● Mr. Neil Dhot, Executive Director, Aquafed, the International Federation of Private Sector Operators

Tuesday, March 20th, 4:30 – 6:00 pm, Room 23
[OS-TP-17] Session 2.b.2 - Whole sanitation approach, sanitation chain, innovation
DESCRIPTION
The indicator of success on reaching SDG target sanitation is the proportion of the population using safely managed sanitation services, which means “excreta are safely disposed in-situ or transported and treated off-site”. This session will provide an opportunity to discuss sanitation chain through the stages of collection, storage, transport, treatment and recycling/reuse of faecal matter. Participants will consider innovative technological, social and economic models that can accelerate progress towards achieving safely managed sanitation services. Participants will also examine ways of sustaining these services in a global context of rapid urbanization and high population growth, especially in developing countries with limited financial resources.

MEMBERS OF THE SESSION COORDINATION GROUP
Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental
Engineering - ABES (Brazil)
Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Paraíba – IFPB Princesa Isabel (Brazil), tbc
SUEZ Group (France)
Ethiopian Civil Service University, Department of Environment and Climate Change (Ethiopia)
Sanitation Company of Minas Gerais - COPASA (Brazil)

SESSION PARTICIPANTS
• Marisa de Oliveira Guimarães ABES – Brazil
• Mathilde Saada Suez Group – France
• Christophe Le Jallé pSEau – France
• Jerson Kelman Water and Sewage Company of the State of São Paulo (Sabesp) – Brazil
• Martin Gambrill World Bank
• Abdoulaye Faye ONAS, Senegal
• Mekonnen Maschal Tarekgn Ethiopian Civil Service University, Addis Ababa – Ethiopia
• Pierre Victoria VEOLIA – France

Wednesday, March 21st, 11:00 – 12:30, Room 23
[OS-TP-18] Session 2.b.3 - Putting in place the necessary building blocks to reach Sanitation for All
DESCRIPTION
Achieving sustainable access to sanitation for all, while prioritizing the needs of the most disadvantaged individuals and groups, will require realistic plans and strategies; adequate institutional and human resource capacity; robust institutional arrangements; adequate and efficiently-utilized financing, and strong accountability mechanisms. This session will focus on these essential building blocks for a well-functioning sector. Participants will discuss the gaps and challenges in the sanitation sector, the difficult decisions that face policy-makers and practitioners particularly in eliminating inequalities in access, and approaches to unblocking bottlenecks which impede progress.

MEMBERS OF THE SESSION COORDINATION GROUP
"Freshwater Action Network – FANSA (South Asia)
Sanitation and Water for All - SWA
Alliance for Water (Brazil)
Environmental Sanitation Company of the Federal District - CAESB (Brazil)
Kenyan Ministry of Health (Kenya)

SESSION PARTICIPANTS
● Murali Ramisetty : FANSA
● Majeda Aiawneh (Middle East Asia)
● Alexandre Araújo Godeiro Carlos (South America )
● Dr. Saima Shafique (South Asia region)
● Alexandra Reis : Sanitation and Water for All (SWA)
● Benjamin Murkomen Kaino: Ministry of Health, Kenya
● Nathalie Seguin: Freshwater Action Network Mexico
● Frank van der Valk: Water Integrity Network
● Catarina De Albuquerque


Side event

Sanitation services in small towns
Wednesday - 13:00 - 14:00
THEME People
Room 3
DESCRIPTION
[SE-06] PS-Eau (Programme Solidarité Eau), Paris, France
The side event will be focused on sanitation services in small towns. The aim of the session will be to share experiences across the world regarding the management of the whole sanitation chain, from the toilet to the treatment of excreta and its safe disposal or reuse.

 
High Level Panel

Increasing Financial Flows for Sanitation and wastewater management
Tuesday - 11:00 - 12:30
THEME Finance , Thematic Process
Room 34
DESCRIPTION
[HLP 10]
Since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established, concerted efforts have been made to improve access to basic sanitation, yet one third of the world's people still lack it. Now that the MDGs have been superseded by the Sustainable Development Goals, the definition of adequate sanitation is being tightened and the figures will look even worse. Although the economic and health benefits of access to basic sanitation have been extensively acknowledged, the issue is often low on politicians’ priorities, mostly because of financial issues. Indeed, the costs for implementing sanitation projects and the maintenance of deteriorating infrastructure are too high and the investments needed are unsustainable. While the traditional financial instruments in place to improve sanitation have proven to be inadequate in many cases, the sanitation sector has proven to have a potential for mobilizing financing through innovative and adapted technology. The World Water Council started a work programme aiming at identifying and publicising innovative financial mechanisms to accelerate sanitation services around the world. The objective of this High-Level Panel is to present to Ministers and Local Authorities, the outcomes of the program on the applicability of innovative financial mechanisms to the sanitation sector, complete with policy implication and guidelines. The purpose of the session is to facilitate a political dialogue about sanitation-related investments by: Raising the profile of the issue on the international political agenda and within the investment community; Identifying and overcoming the barriers preventing the financial flows to sanitation; Promoting impactful and practical ways of financing sanitation-related investment.


Regional process

Towards Improving Sanitation and Wastewater Management: Challenges and Good Practices in the Asia-Pacific Region
Monday - 16:30 - 18:00
THEME People
Room 6
DESCRIPTION
[OS-RP-48]
The session will review the current situation of sanitation and wastewater management in the Asia-Pacific region and highlight the challenges faced in both urban and rural contexts by introducing concrete examples of how administration, utilities and operators, civil society organizations are responding to the challenges in the following areas: 1. Overviews of wastewater management in the Asia-Pacific and its related problems; 2. Off-site sanitation; 3. On-site sanitation and septage management; 4. Securing human resources for sanitation and wastewater management; 5. Institutional and regulatory frameworks; 6. Sanitation issues in rural areas; 7. Circular economy (wastewater reuse and sludge recycling)

 
Sanitation-wise cities: new approaches for optimal sanitation services
Wednesday - 16:30 - 18:00
THEME: Urban
Room 6
DESCRIPTION
[OS-RP-38]
Cities and communities are key actors for a sustainable development. The adoption of the new urban agenda on the Habitat III Conference in Quito in 2016 adopted new targets and orientations for a sustainable urban development. The 2030 agenda highlights the importance of safely managed sanitation as a key element to ensure public health. This session will explore how sanitation contributes to city-wide sustainable planning. Cities are using a variety of solutions and programs to provide sanitation service for all. This session will explore some of these proven solutions in the Americas, discussing the development of sector frameworks in Colombia, condominal sewerage and decentralized wastewater solutions in Brazil and Bolivia, and the use of microfinance to connect low income families to existing grids in peri-urban areas of Lima.


Integrated Sanitation for all - Whole sanitation approach, sanitation chain, innovation in MEDITERRANEAN and AFRICA
Wednesday - 14:30 - 16:00
THEME People
Room 8
DESCRIPTION
[OS-RP-19] Integrated Sanitation for all - Whole sanitation approach, sanitation chain, innovation in MEDITERRANEAN and AFRICALocated between the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, the Mediterranean Sea offers the countries that surround it similarities but also diversity, in particular in terms of their population, natural resources, cultures and economic conditions. The session “Integrated Sanitation for all: Whole sanitation approach, sanitation chain, innovation” organised by the Mediterranean region aims to create a space to exchange and discuss between stakeholders in the sanitation sector from the region and those from other regions of the world around the modalities and innovative approaches adopted for the development and implementation of sanitation services. Based on a representative sample of Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Spain, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal and Tunisia), case studies will be presented with a view to proposing innovative technical solutions for the whole sanitation chain: wastewater collection, transportation and treatment as well as reuse of the treatment by-products. The session will also be an opportunity to exchange views on financial mechanisms and the means of generating sustainable sanitation services in a context of rapid urbanisation linked to population growth but also emigration. Partnership models between the countries in the Mediterranean region that facilitate the transfer of knowledge and best practices will be discussed. The session will also allow to tackle institutional mechanisms linked to sanitation such as governance, legal and regulatory instruments but also specific indicators and their follow up to accelerate the upscaling of access to safe sanitation services and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6.2).

 
Reaching the Urban Unserved: sanitation and water supply in slums and the water-related SDGs
Wednesday - 16:30 - 18:00
THEME People
Room 8
DESCRIPTION
[OS-RP-20] Brazil and most of the underdeveloped countries have lived with the existence of huge slums in their cities for decades. Water supply and sanitation have represented challenges in these areas and have mobilized innovative ideas from decision makers, researchers, civil society and service providers. This session will discuss water supply and sanitation in slums facing the perspective of a full implementation of the water-related SDGs in order to highlight problems and solutions that the overall society must build. Experience from different regions will be presented, aiming to identify similarities and applicable solutions.


Political process

Addressing the sanitation gap
Tuesday - 14:30 - 16:00
THEME Local and Regional Authorities
Room 20
DESCRIPTION
[PP-LRA-08]
Sanitation must be placed at the top of the water agenda. As over 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, while poor sanitation endangers life, health, growth and dignity, local and regional authorities face complex challenges to find solutions.



Best regards,
Ainul on behalf of the SuSanA secretariat

Estaremos presentes en el 8vo WWForum en Brazil el proximoaño

Raul Silveti
Fundacion Sumaj Huasi de Bolivia

Dear SuSanA community,

The 8th World Water Forum will be taking place in Brazil in March 18 - 23, 2018 and it is the first time that the conference is taking place in the Southern Hemisphere.

The World Water Forum is organized in nine themes (CLIMATE, URBAN, SHARING, PEOPLE, ECOSYSTEMS, CAPACITY, DEVELOPMENT, FINANCE, GOVERNANCE) and a call is open until Wednesday, August 23 (registration of interest) for the thematic sessions: sites.google.com/view/tcsessions/english. The ways of contributing are as Coordinator, Moderator, Key Speaker, Panelist or Other. For the ones interested, here is the link to the form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeX00OO...L5eu9IslF2Q/viewform)

At this stage we are interested in knowing who of you have been engaged in the process and is planning to attend the conference, as this could be a good opportunity for a SuSanA meet up in Latin America.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Kind regards,
Cecilia.