Summary
As the global population grows and climate change affects rainfall and temperatures, it is more important than ever to focus on access to safe water and sanitation. In this International Year of Sanitation, safe drinking water and a toilet is something that most Australians take for granted. But globally, these are still life and death issues.
Some 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion who have no facilities at all. More than one billion people do not have access to safe, clean water. Water and sanitation are fundamental to health, to gender equity, to economic development and to security. So where should our priorities be? What investments will make most impact on child health? On reducing women’s workload? How should we share and manage water resources to ensure equitable access and prevent conflict? What can we learn from approaches in our region? What are the links between land ownership, water management and food security? This forum will explore these issues and more.
Venue |
BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne VIC
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Date & time |
Wednesday, 29 October 2008 7:00 PM |
MODERATOR
Peter Mares – Journalist with the ABC for more than 20 years who currently presents
The National Interest on ABC Radio National (Fridays at 6pm and Sundays at noon). Peter is also an author and an adjunct research fellow with the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology.
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HOST
Brian Dawson – Director, Adapt and Clean Development Section, AusAID as forum host.
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SPEAKERS
Clarissa Brocklehurst – UNICEF’s Chief of Water, Environment and Sanitation, Ms Brocklehurst brings extensive experience in project design and management, and policy-level research and analysis. She has previously worked as a consultant, with the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, and as WaterAid’s Country Representative for Bangladesh. With expertise in both urban and rural contexts, Ms Brocklehurst has a strong focus on issues of access for poor communities, particularly for women and children.
Andre Dzikus – Chief of Water and Sanitation at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) and based in Kenya, Mr. Dzikus was instrumental in the development of UN-Habitat’s Community based Environmental Management Information System which is designed to build partnerships between communities and local governments in providing and managing local environmental infrastructure. He has a strong focus on inclusive and child-centred cities, and on affordable and appropriate technologies and approaches to providing sustainable sanitation solutions for the urban poor.
Pauline Komolong – a water engineer working for the Oxfam Highlands Program in Papua New Guinea, funded by WaterAid Australia, which is supporting community water security as part of a wider focus on eace-building. Currently based in Goroka, a main town in the Highlands, Pauline is originally from Madang on the Northern Coast of PNG and was trained at the University of Technology in Lae.
Jaehyang So – Manager of the Water and Sanitation Program, (WSP), World Bank. WSP is an international partnership dedicated to helping poor people gain sustained access to improved water and sanitation services, funded by donors and administered by the World Bank. Ms So has a background in urban service delivery, utilities and corporate restructuring, and public private partnerships, with a focus on improving the performance of providers, utilities and local governments in the World Bank’s programs in Eastern and Central Europe, East Asia, and South Asia.