Dear Esther,
Thank you for picking this question!
What leverage do we have to support local government to commit financially when they have limited resources? Push for governmental transfers?'

Could you please remind us what the example given by BRAC was?
From my experience, here are a few ideas on how to support municipalities to obtain more funds to support access to sanitation
- Advocate for governmental transfer (related to water, sanitation, climate change and health)
- Support municipality to increase collection of taxes (e.g. property tax) and agree on a percentage of extra revenue to be ring-fenced to sanitation.
- Ring-fence a percentage of water fees for sanitation at municipal level
- Support municipality to connect with other municipalities in the north (e.g. the “Oudin Santini law in France enables municipalities, districts and regions to mobilise up to 1% of their own water and sanitation budget to fund international cooperation initiatives in the sector)
- Engage the municipality to commit to a budget line for sanitation (even with small amount) if no budget line exists yet.
Are there any other ideas?

Cécile

I watched Mr. Toilet's video and it is a good piece. How do I get it in a local language?

Here is the recording of the webinar.

Hello,

A big thank you to our panellists from yesterday for the interesting and insightful discussion, I also want to thank our participants who put some good questions to the panel. Due to time and technical issues we couldn't get inputs from the participants so I wanted to ask some of the questions to our SuSanA members here and invite any examples, feedback or discussion.

The first question is from Ceclie: 'what leverage do we have to support local government to commit financially when they have limited resources? Push for governmental transfers?'

I think this is a great question and I would really like to hear some examples, there was one given by BRAC are there any others? Has in-kind support been given instead and how has that worked? What hasn't worked? Its useful to know where it hasn't gone to plan so we don't make the same mistakes in the future.

I will post another question tomorrow so keep following and contributing, remember all our SuSAnA members have a wealth of information to share, I look forward to seeing it!

Regards
Esther

[Note: if you would like to share information anonymously please message me and I will share it on your behalf]

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Some of the links from the discussion:
Meet Mr toilet:
The project materials Louisa mentioned are avalible here: www.wateraid.org/fromwilltoaction, and here www.righttowater.info/making-rights-real
WaterAid's healthy start programme: www.wateraid.org/policy-practice-and-advocacy/healthy-start
Driving change - Piloting a Human Rights Based WASH project in Bangladesh: rwsnforum7.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/f...3_mirza_shahrukh.pdf

Thanks for the great question. the discussion starts in one hour so I shall put it to the panel then!

Esther

Question to any panel:
One way to influence local and national government to work with them triggering achievable target which requires sustainable capacity of the local government. SDG requires multi-sectoral development as SDG goals are interlinked. Multi-sectoral works need more resources which are major concerns of many developing countries. Again, capacity need assessment of developing countries is pre-requisite which is yet to be done aligning SDG. Many countries (like Bangladesh) have sector development plan by the government, but is that enough to reach SDG (even SDG6 only) target where multi-sectoral development is required for achieving success in sanitation sector? If not, what would be better way to influence the government as multiple wings of the government are involved to achieve success in sanitation sector?

Hello,

The panel discussion is happening today!

Schedule: The discussion will last approximately 1.5 hours with three panellists introducing how they have succeeded in influencing and engaging government on sanitation followed by an open forum with participants able to ask questions to the panellists. We will also open the session 30 minutes beforehand so you can test your video or microphone and meet other participants.

Time:
New Delhi, India Wed, 17 May 2017 at 18:30 IST
New York, USA Wed, 17 May 2017 at 09:00 EST
Nairobi, Kenya Wed, 17 May 2017 at 16:00 EAT
Hanoi, Vietnam Wed, 17 May 2017 at 20:00 ICT
Stockholm, Sweeden Wed, 17 May 2017 at 15:00 CET

Here are the details for logging into the room:

1. To join the meeting please follow this link: seint.adobeconnect.com/seiwebinar/ 
2. Choose to enter as a guest 
3. For those wanting to use a webcam and microphone you will need a speed around 4-5mbit/s plus a headset or earbuds. You can enter the webinar up to 30 minutes in advance to check your audio settings. 
4. It is recommended you close skype before starting the Adobe Connect platform to avoid issues with sound or microphone use. 

I look forward to seeing you later
Regards
Esther

Hi everybody,

There's a great introduction to Jack Sim, one of the three experts on the May 17th Webinar panel. Meet Mr. Toilet is an award winning short film by Jessica Yu. You can watch it here. vimeo.com/34792993

The film is only 3 minutes long but Jack gives great examples of effective messages to influence people and how to get the messages across.

in addition to being a well-loved celebrity speaker, Jack has also been a SuSanA volunteer for many years. He serves as co-lead of Working Group 9 - Public Awareness, Advocacy and Civil Society Engagement.

I'm looking forward to seeing you and meeting all three experts at the Webinar on May 17th. See you in the video chat room at at 1400 GMT.

Carol

Hello,

Its only 2 days until our live panel discussion about influencing and engaging government for sanitation.

Our final panellist is Jack Sim widely known as Mr. Toilet, Jack broke the global taboo of toilet and sanitation by bringing the agenda to global media centre-stage with his unique mix of humour and serious facts since 2001. After attaining financial independence by founding 16 businesses at the age of 40, he decided to devote the rest of his life to social work.

He has created the World Toilet Organisation (WTO) as a global network and service platform for toilet associations to promote sound sanitation and public health policies and launched the World Toilet Summit series which has been hosted in a number of countries since it started in 2001. The WTO was one of the key actors in establishing World Toilet Day as an official UN recognised event.

You can register for the panel discussion www.susana.org/en/resources/webinar-series/581-webinar-11] .

Please post your questions for Jack below.

Regards
Esther

Hello!

The next panellist to introduce is Mr. Akramul Islam who is the director of BRAC’s Communicable Diseases and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes. He is an adjunct professor of James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University. Dr Islam completed his Masters on Primary Health Care Management at the Mahidol University of Thailand and his PhD on International Community Health at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Dr Islam joined BRAC in 1993 and served in different capacities.

Dr Islam has contributed over 40 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and is a co-author of Making Tuberculosis History: community based solution for millions and Fighting Malaria: a community based approach in Bangladesh. He also wrote a chapter in From one to Many: Scaling up Health Programs in Low Income Countries. In 2009-2010, he served as a technical consultant of the International Union against TB and Lung Disease for South East Asia Region.

BRAC have been working on improving WASH services with governments for over 40 years, what to find out how? Ask Mr Akramul, in our live panel discussion at 1400 GMT 17th May, post your questions here.

Hope to see you there

Esther

Hello,

I would like to introduce our first panel member for the live discussion with a Q and A session, Louise Gosling works for WaterAid and has been part of the team that has carried out work that identifies and supports local heroes within government to drive progress on sanitation on the ground.

Louisa Gosling works in WaterAid’s International Programmes Department, in a team of sector specialists providing support to country programmes. In particular she has been collaborating with others to promote awareness of the critical importance of access to WASH in realizing the human rights of people who are marginalized, and with practitioners to develop inclusive and rights based approaches that are designed to overcome discrimination and exclusion.. She has worked in international development for over 20 years, and joined WaterAid in 2008.

Recent work has focused on how the human rights to water and sanitation can be used at local government level to help clarify roles, responsibilities and accountabilities. She has worked on a collaborative project involving WaterAid, the Rural Water Supply Network, WASH United, UNICEF, UTS:ISF, and End Water Poverty to produce guidance on human rights specifically for local government officials. This was based on audience analysis to understand the constraints within which people are working to ensure the guidance is relevant and constructive. The discussions generated around the materials are producing useful insights about how development partners can support the supply and demand for water and sanitation services at local government level.

You can read her blog post on the project here .

You can register for the panel discussion here .

Please post your questions for Louisa below.

Regards
Esther

Dear all,

I may not be able to attend the panel discussion but I am very interested in this topic and especially at the words "influencing" and "engaging".
Governments are sovereign and the traditional way for NGOs is to consult them, inform them and to advocate for specific approaches in sanitation in order to obtain their engagement (which I understand to be their implication).
Experience shows that this is positive but often not enough as progress in sanitation and sustainability needs governement's commitment, at national and local level. Commitment means policy, regulatory and financial commitment.

Is it ethical to adopt a "power struggle" approach and to clearly state from the begining of the project, that local government's financial commitment is a prerequisite for the NGO to roll out their program in a municipality of the other? Financial commitment can of course be comensurate to the capacity of the municipality / the national government but it seems the impact is likely to be very important as it is a sign for the users, the private sector and has a multiplier effect.

Hence, for me the most important question is: how to obtain government's commitment in sanitation?

Best regards,

Cécile