Day 3 - Looking back on an inspiring WASH Futures Conference 2016
From 16 to 20 May, SNV attended the international WASH Futures Conference 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. The conference focused on pathways to universal and sustained water, sanitation & hygiene. Read our advisors blogs below to get an idea of all that was discussed and concluded during the Futures conference.
Blog day 3
The trainings started today with 5 different parallel sessions:
Monitoring the Realization of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in the context of the SDGs
Being Conscious About Nutrition: How WASH programs can address child stunting
WASH in informal peri-urban settlements workshop- synthesis of barriers and emerging approaches
CLTS sharing and learning workshop
Introducing sanitation safety planning
The first session on Monitoring the Realization of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in the context of the SDGs, was facilitated by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, WaterAid and World Health Organisation. The session started with a presentation about the fundamentals of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation (HRTWS) and of M&E of the HRTWS followed by group activities whereby participants identified the strengths and weaknesses of a legal framework and existing monitoring mechanisms of the HRTWS within a fictitious country. Participants learned about the various human rights principles that were summarized from the Handbook for realizing the human rights to water and sanitation - from policy to practice: non-discrimination and equality, access to information and transparency, participation, and accountability.
The second session had a presentation on monitoring realization of the human rights to water and sanitation in the context of the SDGs, key aspects of a country’s institutional framework to monitor, including both sector-related and human rights-related institutions touched upon the Monitoring what equality checklist:
When examined as a whole, do the goals, targets, and indicators:
Prioritize basic access and focus on progressive realization towards safe and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene for all, while reducing inequalities?
Address spatial inequalities, such as those experienced by communiities in remote and inaccessible rural areas and slum-dwellers in (peri-) urban areas?
Focus on inequities, shining the light on the poorest of the poor?
Address group related inequalities that vary across countries, such as those based on ethnicity, race, nationality, language, religion, and caste?
Attend to the impacts of individual-related inequalities that are relevant in every country of the globe, such as those based on sex/gender, age, disability and health conditions, imposing access constraints – as they are experienced both inside and beyond the household? Do they address menstrual hygiene management?
A group activity was carried out exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the SDG framework in relation to monitoring the realization of the HRTWS, and the importance of monitoring both the institutions and the institutional frameworks needed to support the realization of the rights. The third session’s presentation on existing data sources and monitoring frameworks and mechanisms that can be built upon and strengthened, as well as remaining across the different dimensions of inequality that may need to be monitored stressed on the building blocks for monitoring: Reporting and disseminating information; Fit for purpose; Resources; What to measure and how; Incentives; and Roles and responsibilities. A group activity followed on exploring the importance of monitoring inequalities of different types, and existing monitoring mechanisms in different countries and how these may be strengthened.
This training workshop definitely got a lot of interesting discussions on how development partners, CSOs and government organisations can build on the achievements of the MDGs and work towards achieving sustainable sanitation and hygiene for all (SDG 6).
Recordings of all the presentations and the key notes from the conference will be made available online at http://watercentre.org/services/events/wash2016.