The Sanitation Learning Hub and UNICEF are hosting a webinar series looking at ways programmes have overcome unforeseen challenges to continue to improve access to sanitation during and after the pandemic.
The webinar series aims to provide practical ideas for the sector to progress towards SDG 6.2 in a changing world. Speakers will present practical examples of initiatives which have continued pursuing long-term sanitation and hygiene objectives during the pandemic, and will discuss successes, setbacks and adaptations.
We will also reflect on the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on how we plan, implement and monitor sanitation programming.
In this webinar on 17th August, the focus is on continuing collaboration with and support to local governments in sanitation and hygiene during the pandemic, and on the evolution of this in different contexts. The webinar aims to generate debate and reflections about how to ensure continuity of sanitation and hygiene in times of crises, while adapting approaches to cope with emerging challenges, so that local governments and utilities provide improved services and are better equipped for future crises.
- Sanivation, from Kenya, discuss partnering with local utilities for sanitation services in semi-rural settings, in a context where the pandemic has impacted sanitation demand/supply dynamics. Examples are emergency response plans integrated in utilities’ business planning, mapping of sanitation-related Covid-19 hotspots, and monitoring continuity of handwashing behaviours.
- UNICEF India talk about assistance to rural local governments in three States, and how this has evolved during the pandemic. This includes adjusting capacity development approaches and contents for sanitation leadership, and adapting ODF monitoring systems, while the influx of migrant workers returning from urban centres increased the pressure on sanitation systems.
- Gather in Madagascar partner with urban authorities and utilities, supporting them in data gathering and utilisation in planning and provision of sanitation services. They discuss how, prompted by the pandemic, they have redirected resources towards local staffing, supported local decision making more thoroughly, introduced agile programming, and coped with budgetary uncertainty.
Practical details
The webinars will take place on 17 and 31 August 2021, at 11am UK time. The webinars will be in English.
You can find out more about the second webinar on 31 August here.
Click here to register for the webinars on Zoom
Webinar recordings will be made available on our YouTube channel shortly afterwards.
Each webinar (90 minutes) starts with a short introduction of the series and the hosts, followed by three or four 10-minute presentations with facilitated questions and answers. The second part of the webinar, building on the key aspects emerging from the presentations and the Q&A, encourages the speakers to reflect and elaborate more broadly on how their experiences link up to the webinar main theme, and on transferable learnings and implications in the short and long terms.
Key contacts
