Krishnanagar Union in Satkhira district, Bangladesh, has always been surrounded by water, but water is no longer a friendly neighbor. Satkhira district, located in the southwest of the country, is close to the Bay of Bengal and hosts part of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world.

Gender equality is a sustainable development goal, a fundamental human right, and often a pillar of international development. Why then, do we see inconsistency in what it means to design and implement programmes that have gendered elements? 

As SIWI World Water Week 2024 kicks off in Stockholm this week, we are reminded of the profound importance of water and sanitation cooperation in fostering peace and security across the globe. This year's theme, "Bridging Borders: Water for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future," reminds us of the intricate interconnections between and across communities and nations and emphasizes the need for collaborative efforts to secure a better future for all. Ensuring that sanitation systems are robust and adaptable to climate challenges is not only essential for safeguarding public health but for promoting regional stability and sustainable development. The Climate Resilient Sanitation Coalition (CRSC) of more than 30 leading organizations that work at this intersection recognizes the significance of climate-resilient sanitation (CRS) in building a peaceful, secure, and sustainable future.

We're nearly 10 years into the SDGs, and unfortunately, we have to call the sector out. Many people still don't understand what safely managed sanitation is. This lack of clarity is hampering authorities to take action to prevent millions of people being exposed to harmful pathogens. We need to resolve this fast because every day, almost 4,000 people are dying from diseases attributable to poor water, sanitation and hygiene, nearly 1,000 of them children under five. 

El Taller de Diálogos SIRWASH en políticas públicas para la asequibilidad de los servicios rurales de agua y saneamiento en el contexto de los países Latinoamericanos y del Caribe estuvo organizado gracias a la colaboración entre la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación (COSUDE) Y el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) en alianza con la Fundación Nacional de Salud Brasil (FUNASA). 

English Version below. 

In September 2021, Hurricane Ida dropped more than six inches of rain on New York City in a matter of hours. Roughly half of that rainfall, 3.15 inches, fell within the first hour—nearly twice the rate the city’s infrastructure was designed to handle. 

At 11am that day, I got a call from my daughter’s school in the outskirts of the NYC metropolitan area asking me to collect my daughter ASAP. The school basement was filling with water … fast. By the end of the day, the school was shuttered, and the surrounding community evacuated. Meanwhile, outside my front door in suburban New York, neighbours were piling the contents of their basements onto the sidewalk. ‘The neighbourhood’s shit is in my basement!’ one exclaimed. Social media was filled with discordant images of flooded streets and Teslas floating through them.

Kiritimati Island is a unique place. Situated within the Line Islands group of the Republic of Kiribati, an island country spanning almost 3.5 million km2 of ocean, it isn’t easy to find on a map. The closest international airport (other than its own) is in Honolulu – more than 2,000 km away. The capital of its own country is even farther away. Despite being  the largest coral atoll in the world, as of 2020 only 7,369 people live there.

One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, non-human animals and ecosystems. It recognizes that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent. 

In September 2023, fueled by a shared vision to create a meaningful global impact, five visionary women embarked on a journey that led to the establishment of the "South Asia Young Women in Water" (SAYWiW) platform. This initiative was born out of a casual meeting, which evolved into a powerful force for change in the realm of water management in South Asia. SAYWiW stands as a beacon of empowerment for women water professionals, acknowledging their often-overlooked contributions to driving tangible change in the region. Despite encountering obstacles, these trailblazers persistently pioneer research and innovation, surpassing global counterparts and shaping the future of water management.

Civil engineers and infrastructure professionals can make a huge difference – 72% of the SDG targets are linked to networked infrastructure development. This means the profession can play a leading role in economic growth, environmental protection, social progress, and climate resilience. Diversity in the dynamic world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)  can realise this impact better.

The pivotal role of women in climate action often remains unrecognized yet women play a vital role in tackling climate change.  

I was born in Kenya’s Uasin Gishu County and home of Mau Forest complex which is one of the water towers of Kenya and raised in Kakamega County - home of the only tropical rain forest in Kenya and UNESCO heritage that has seen destruction affecting water supply in counties around it. Over the years I learnt to appreciate that while climate change affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally. Vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by inequity and marginalization linked to gender, ethnicity, low income, and other social and economic factors. When solutions to climate change address these realities, they are more effective. 

Suryabarti (Surya) Majhi is a Project Engineer in Odisha Water Supply & Sewerage Board.  She joined the department as a young assistant executive engineer in 2016 before which she worked in various government agencies. She calls herself an “engineer by mistake” because she wanted to study English- literature before she decided to study engineering. As a project engineer, Surya held the key to ensuring effective implementation of the state's Faecal sludge management. This has earned her a spot on the sanitation hall of change on the NFSSM alliance portal.

Schools around the globe struggle to provide good and well-maintained school sanitation facilities. The Toilets Making the Grade® school competition helps improve just that in a creative and fun way that will benefit schools, as well as local authorities, donors and NGOs. Improving sanitation can often start with simple and creative steps, which is why the competition is so motivating. After all, who wouldn't be motivated to improve school toilets if there was something to win?

Water is the condition for (a healthy) life, which is why access to clean tap water and sanitation has been included as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Agenda 2030, the international agreement for global development. In a global comparison, Germany is very well positioned, but we increasingly have to deal with issues such as water pollution and - due to the increasing impacts of climate change - water scarcity too. In reference to sanitation in Germany, the main question we have to ask ourselves is how we can use our tap water as economically as possible. Because of its outstanding quality in Germany it should end up in the Germans' stomachs rather than in their toilets.

Despite the proven impact and interrelationship between sanitation and climate change, sanitation is still not part of the climate conversation. It must be, not only to ensure the resilience of the infrastructure, communities and the ecosystems which we depend on in the face of a global climate emergency, but also to harness effective and under-utilised greenhouse gas mitigation possibilities. 

In 2023, members of the SuSanA Secretariat, Global Steering Committee, Forum Moderators and the Africa Chapter met during the Policy and Practice Forum organized by the Center for Sciences and Environment (CSE). The Secretariat conducted an interview with some SuSanA members on the theme of "Decolonizing the WASH Narrative". This interview touched on the shift in knowledge ownership, representation and collaboration between the global North and South in the WASH sector.

Recently, I gave a presentation focusing on the complex connection between menstrual health and environmental issues. Within the presentation, I explored various crucial facets of this relationship, including the challenges surrounding access and use of reusable menstrual products, the environmental consequences of climate change on menstrual health practices, and the pressing issues related to resource scarcity and access to essential water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, which are essential for ensuring dignified menstruation. Additionally, I touched upon the significance of menstrual waste and its effects on our water and soil.

Elisabeth von Muench, former moderator of the SuSanA discussion forum, is a dedicated Wikipedia editor. With over nine years of editing experience and nearly 50,000 edits to her name, she ranks among the top 2,000 editors globally for the English Wikipedia. Through volunteer work and paid assignments, she has improved and written numerous Wikipedia articles on WASH, climate change, and SDGs. In this interview with Paresh Chhajed-Picha, Elisabeth explains her motivation, the need for wider participation in editing Wikipedia articles, and the challenges in doing so. 

Eva Muhia is a Kenyan WASH entrepreneur and advocate who started her career manufacturing and supplying detergent to schools and institutions then progressively transitioned to WASH. She is the founder and owner of Varet products and Global sanitation environmental programme a NGO focused on advocating for sanitation and menstrual hygiene management. She is also the vice president of PASA and a appointed member of the Nairobi rivers commission. 

I am in favour of market-based solutions. Viva con Agua’s aims to expand its work related to social water and sanitation enterprise development.  Sustainably designed business models can help ensure that human rights can be fully realised. However, a recent evening in Berlin led to some thoughts and inspired this blog.

Belinda Abraham, Viva con Agua Institutional Fundraising.

Berlin, Germany