3rd Ghana Water Forum, [venue to be confirmed], 6-8 September 2011

Theme: Water and Sanitation Services Delivery in a Rapidly Changing Urban Environment

The Ghana Water Forum is an annual water & sanitation sector review and learning event for all sector stakeholders.

Topics:

• Achieving the Water and Sanitation MDGs
• Rapid Urbanization and the lag in service delivery
• Development and Management of Urban Water Resources
• Dealing with Long term uncertainties and Global Change Pressures
• Sanitation and Wastewater Use
• Economic Regulation and Innovative Financing
• Governance, Policy and Management
• Knowledge and Capacity Development
• Service Delivery Approach
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Rural-Urban Interface and Challenges

Side events:

• Ministerial and Development Partners Roundtable
• Business Roundtable
• Youth and Children’s Forum
• Exhibition

Deadline for submission of papers: 04 July 2011

Deadline for submission of PowerPoint presentations: 18 August 2011

For more information and registration details go to the Ghana Water Forum web site

2nd ADB-DMC and Partners Sanitation Dialogue, Manila, Philippines, 23-25 May 2011

Organised by: Asian Development Bank with support from partner organisations (by invitation only)

Theme: Making Sanitation a Sustainable Business

The event will also be used to launch the ADB Regional Technical Assistance on Promoting an Asia-Pacific Wastewater Management Revolution.

Objectives:

The dialogue aims to raise awareness of ADB Developing Member Countries (DMCs) on:

• the need to give priority to meeting their sanitation needs, including putting in place a comprehensive sanitation policy, if required, integrating sanitation and wastewater management into national development plans, increasing investment programming over their current levels, and ensuring viable and sustainable service delivery; and
• making environmental sanitation a sustainable business through discussion of successful projects involving creation of an enabling policy environment, and choice of technology and financing options

Target group: High-level government officials representing ministries of Finance, Health, Environment, and water-related ministries, city mayors, and representatives of water, sanitation and sewerage utilities, development partners, donor agencies, nongovernment organizations and private sector companies.

Read the Programme

For more information and to contact the organisers go to the ADB web site

6th Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) Forum, Kampala, Uganda, 29 November – 01 December 2011

Theme: Rural Water Supply in the 21st Century: Myths of the Past, Visions for the Future

Organised by: Skat, UNICEF, the Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank (WSP), IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), WaterAid and the Ministry of Water and Environment in Uganda

Target group: small private enterprises, political leaders from a local level, local and central government administrators, extension staff, NGO staff and donors.

Programme:

• Day 1: Overview of Rural Water Supplies. Success and failures in the past and RWSN achievements
• Day 2: Sustainability of Rural Water Supplies and islands of success from around the world
• Day 3: Vision for Rural Water Supplies, with promising ways of dealing with emerging challenges
• Day 4: (optional): field visits and seminars on:
• Life-Cycle Costs Approach (IRC-WASHCost)*
• Water Point Mapping (WaterAid)
• Photovoltaic Services for Developing Countries (Entec AG)

*Seminar on the Life-Cycle Costs Approach, Friday 2 December 2011 09.00 – 17.00

The life-cycle cost approach consists of a methodology that has been developed for costing sustainable water and sanitation services by assessing life-cycle costs and comparing them against levels of service provided. In this seminar, we will focus on the use of the life-cycle costs approach for water and sanitation in rural and peri-urban areas building on experiences in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Andhra Pradesh (India) and Mozambique. What are the minimum data needs and how are they determined? Which data collection tools can be used? How can costs and service levels be analysed to draw conclusions?  Delegates can register for the training through by sending an email to Audrey van Soest: soest@irc.nl

About 300 – 500 participants from all over the world are expected to attend the event and share their practical experiences and good practices on a wide range of aspects of rural water supplies. These include cost-effective technologies, accelerating self supply, management and support systems, catchment protection and finance.

The Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) is a global knowledge network with over 2,000 members. It focuses on four flagship themes: cost-effective boreholes, self supply, sustainable rural water supplies and handpump technologies.

Conference web site: rwsnforum.wordpress.com

WASH Conference 2011, Brisbane, Australia, 16-20 May 2011

Coordinated by: Water and Sanitation (WASH) Reference Group in conjunction with AusAID
Managed by: International WaterCentre and International WaterForum

The WASH conference and training program will focus primarily, but not exclusively, on WASH services provision in developing countries including; water supply systems (in villages, towns and cities); household toilets and sanitation facilities in public and shared areas (such as schools, clinics and markets); and hygiene promotion from community-based to campaign approaches.

Target group: WASH professionals from the public and private sectors; donors and regional actors; government staff from developing countries; international and local NGOs working in WASH; academics; and students.

Themes:

1. Functional and environmental sustainability
2. Behaviour change and social sustainability
3. Institutional sustainability
4. Financial sustainability

Call for abstracts
Abstract deadline: 09 February 2011

For more information go to the WASH Conference 2011 web site.

2nd IWA Development Congress & Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 21–24 November 2011

Organised by: International Water Association (IWA) and Malaysian Water Association (MWA)

The Congress will “focus on workable approaches for the global water sector in low and middle income countries, from challenges to service delivery, through technological innovation, to implementation and delivery. The aim is to develop and help set the research and practice agenda for water and sanitation services internationally”.

Main themes:

• Urban water supply service provision
• Urban sanitation and wastewater service provision
• Managing, planning and financing urban water and sanitation services
• Social dimensions

Web site: www.iwa2011kl.org/

Water and Poverty Alleviation: a Dialogue for Action, Durban, South Africa, 11-13 October 2010

This dialogue will present the experiences of the Danida supported DWA-COGTA-SALGA Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) programme. The South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), with the assistance of the Royal Danish Government (Danida), initiated the programme in 2000 to pilot IWRM approaches in three water management areas of South Africa. Almost eighty projects have been implemented. In the majority of cases projects have been identified, designed and implemented by the communities themselves as contracting parties.

Objectives:

• To showcase how communities can be empowered to engage in service delivery to improve livelihoods and
• community wellbeing
• To develop a policy dialogue around these issues in line with current government policies and thinking on
• poverty alleviation and rural development with water as the catalyst
• Lateral thinking, especially in relation to cooperative governance
• Procurement issues, contracting of communities, technical call down facility

Download the full announcement and registration form from www.iwrm.co.za

Singapore International Water Week, Singapore, 28 June – 02 July 2010

Organised by: Singapore International Water Week Pte Ltd

Theme: Sustainable Cities: Clean and Affordable Water

More than 10,000 delegates from over 82 countries/regions attended the second Singapore International Water Week which was held in June 2009.

The event’s programmes comprise:

• Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize
• Water Leaders Summit
• Water Convention
• Water Expo
• Business Forums

Water Convention themes:

• Solutions for water system efficiency & effectiveness
• Planning for Sustainable Water Solutions
• Water Quality & Health
• Governance and Finance

For more information go to the SIWW web site

Symposium Pumps, Pipes and Promises – Costs, Finances and Accountability for Sustainable WASH services, The Hague, The Netherlands, 15-18 November 2010

Organised by: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre

The IRC Symposium 2010 will focus on three themes in the provision and use of decentralised WASH services, and the linkages between them:

• How much does it cost to provide WASH services?
• How to finance WASH Services?
• How to ensure accountability in provision of WASH services?

Each theme will address the challenge of these issues against a background of decentralisation in the sector and the need to provide to sustainable WASH services to all, especially the poorest. It will address in depth some of the key governance challenges in the sector: those related to cost effectiveness, finances and financing.

Read the first announcement

Go to Symposium web site

IWA Development Congress, Mexico City, Mexico, 15-19 November 2009

Organised by: International Water Association (IWA) and the Universidad Nacional Antonoma de Mexico (UNAM)

This first IWA Development Congress will focus on what works in water and sanitation service provision in developing countries. There will be technical presentations, coupled with peer-based workshops, an awards programme, book launches, exhibition space, poster presentations, social and networking receptions and technical tours.

The focus of congress is on smart solutions for financing and infrastructure, utility management, institutional development, regulations and policy.

It will bring together 1,000 international water and sanitation professionals including researchers, practitioners, policy makers, consultants, manufacturers, technology suppliers and members of the international development community.

Workshops of special interest include:

• Disaster Response & Recovery (IWA / Unicef / USAID)
• Household water treatment and safe storage (USAID)
• Assurance of supply and sustainability (IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre)
• Water Safety Plans (LAC-WSP-Net/IWA / USEPA / AIDIS / CDC / PAHO / US State Dept)
• Mechanisms of knowledge sharing: from networks to IT Tools (WRC)
• O&M for Sustainable Management of Water Supply and Sanitation Services (O&M Network, IWA, WHO and NIPH)
• Wastewater treatment in developing countries (IWA)
• Water Integrity, Accountability and Transparency (Water Integrity Network – WIN)
• SWASH+ (School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Plus Community Impact) – (Water for People)
• Water testing in resource poor settings – Aquatest Research Programme
• Water Operators Partnerships (IWA / UN-HABITAT)

For more information and to register go to the web site.