CWAS @ IWA Water and Development Congress 2023, Kigali
December 2023
The Water and Development Congress organized by International Water Association provides a unique platform to the water professionals across the globe to discuss and highlight on good practices and innovative technologies in order to improve WASH outcomes. This year, the Congress was conducted at Kigali, Rwanda between 10th and 14th December. CWAS team showcased their work through various workshops, panel discussions, platform presentations and posters exhibition.
At the congress, Dr. Meera Mehta partook in a high-level sanitation summit session on financing SDG 6.2 for accelerating inclusive sanitation in LAMIC as one of the panel members. In addition, she was one of the panelists at another session on Keys to a water-wide future.
Moreover, Aditi Dwivedi moderated a session on “Innovation Acceleration Forum” on the very first day of the conference.
In this conference, CWAS team moderated a workshop on “Data Systems Strengthening for Inclusive Sanitation Services” in partnership with IWA. The workshop brought together specialist groups across the globe to engage, understand challenges and discuss the importance of data systems, their credibility, reliability, and utilization for scaling up CWIS principles and services.
There were 10 platform presentations by team CWAS under various themes.
Three posters had been presented throughout the 5 days showcasing our work based on these following topics:
1. SHG engagement for provision of WASH services in small and medium towns.
2. Community engagement for MHM: Women SHGs in Maharashtra, India.
3. Systemic impact of performance assessment system for consistent monitoring of water and sanitation service levels.
However, the prime highlight of the IWA congress was the “International Water Association (IWA) Inclusive Urban Sanitation (IUS) Championship Award”, which was conferred upon our pilot city Sinnar for showcasing exemplary work at city level service delivery level in sanitation. The International Water Association (IWA) Inclusive Urban Sanitation (IUS) Champions Programme recognises excellence, leadership, and innovation in the sanitation sector. It responds to the need for encouraging and recognising contributions of sector players towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 in low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC). Sinnar Municipal Council, Maharashtra received the IWA- IUS Championship award for supporting Sinnar Municipal Council in improving its sanitation services since 2013 from achieving and sustaining ODF, ODF+ and ODF++ status. Sinnar has been awarded for its innovative practice in reuse and disposal in the sanitation service value chain.
Moreover, Karad Municipal Council received recognition at the IWA Congress for Climate Smart Utilities applications in water, sanitation, and urban drainage service in the city of Karad. The city has significantly improved its climate resilience aspect while contributing to a consequential reduction of carbon emissions.
