SuSanA member and Cities working group co-lead Dr Abishek S Narayan has received the IWA Young Leadership Award. We spoke to him about what drew him to sanitation, how SuSanA has shaped his career, and why he sees young professionals as essential to accelerating progress in the sector.

Abishek, a scientist in the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology’s (Eawag) Department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec), received the IWA Young Leadership Award at the opening ceremony of the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2026 in Glasgow. The award is granted to an exceptional water professional aged 35 or younger in recognition of notable achievements in their career.

An initiative of UNICEF, in partnership with IHE-Delft and 2iE, supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Despite growing global attention to safely managed sanitation, a new regional mapping exercise finds that French-language training on rural, climate-resilient sanitation in Francophone Africa remains insufficient and does not fully meet the needs of priority target groups, despite some progress. The findings come from “Strengthening Human Capital Development for Water & Sanitation in Francophone Africa”, an initiative launched by UNICEF in partnership with IHE Delft (Institute for Water Education) and 2iE (International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering, Burkina Faso), with support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

SuSanA lead “Water for Prosperity” (Interactive Dialogue 2) for the One-Day Stakeholder Meeting in Dakar

2026 will be a pivotal year for water. Beyond the stock take on SDG 6 and several key regional and thematic milestones, the third United Nations Water Conference since 1977 will convene in the United Arab Emirates in December, co-hosted by Senegal. It will be a key moment to unite member states and the different stakeholder groups behind a clear vision for a water secure future and to position water as a priority globally, regionally, and locally.  

Sanitation Champions is a SuSanA interview series celebrating the people driving progress in the sanitation sector. In each interview, they share their experiences, challenges, and insights, offering a personal look at their work and motivations to improve sanitation worldwide. As the SuSanA Secretariat, we aim to highlight these diverse voices to strengthen knowledge exchange, inspire collaboration, and introduce our global sanitation community. This time we introdue you to Juliet Willetts.

Sanitation Champions is a SuSanA interview series celebrating the people driving progress in the sanitation sector. In each interview, they share their experiences, challenges, and insights, offering a personal look at their work and motivations to improve sanitation worldwide. As the SuSanA Secretariat, we aim to highlight these diverse voices to strengthen knowledge exchange, inspire collaboration, and introduce our global sanitation community. This time we introdue you to Dr George Wainaina.

Sanitation Champions is a SuSanA interview series celebrating the people driving progress in the sanitation sector. In each interview, they share their experiences, challenges, and insights, offering a personal look at their work and motivations to improve sanitation worldwide. As the SuSanA Secretariat, we aim to highlight these diverse voices to strengthen knowledge exchange, inspire collaboration, and introduce our global sanitation community. This time we introdue you to Andrea Cáceres Almendrades.

The challenge is clear. Despite decades of investment totalling billions of dollars from donors and governments, the world continues to fall behind on Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. According to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) 2025 report, 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water and 3.4 billion people still lack safely managed sanitation.