Day 1
Tuesday 2 May
All systems and people connecting
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We open with our symposium’s purpose. Experts, changemakers and decision-makers assemble to explore how connecting across boundaries and promoting systems leadership can enable us to achieve social justice and improved national systems.
C1.1 Supporting robust, high-quality health systems through WASH
Time: 11:30
Location: Africa, World Forum
Water sanitation and hygiene are critical for ensuring health and wellbeing, and therefore must be included in strategies to strengthen the health system. This plenary session will hear from high-level WASH and health leadership on how these two sectors currently align and what more is needed for better partnership and alignment moving forward.
C1.2 Safer healthcare facilities through WASH and infection prevention and control
Time: 13:45
Location: North America, World Forum
Achieving universal health coverage, improving the quality of care and ensuring adequate infection prevention control cannot be achieved without WASH facilities in health care facilities. Join this session to hear from WASH and health systems experts, share your own experience and develop an advocacy pitch for improving WASH in healthcare facilities.
W1.2 Systemic requirements for monitoring and managing water quality
Time: 13:45
Location: Antarctica, World Forum
Come learn about the leverage points for achieving systemic change toward sustained water quality monitoring in rural areas. In this session, we will present diverse approaches used globally and their implementation challenges at the country level. The presented content will support a guided discussion on using systems thinking to assess the problem and map context-appropriate strategies for rural water safety.
C1.3 Building climate resiliency into WASH and health programming
Time: 15:30
Location: Antarctica, World Forum
The impacts due to climate change pose a risk to water and sanitation systems; the failure of these systems will in turn threaten human health. This session will unpack efforts to address climate from a WASH-for-health lens, share lessons learned, and identify areas for collaboration.
W2.4 Faecal sludge management concepts and practices
Time: 15:30
Location: Africa, World Forum
Come join the World Café where participants will learn about the linkages between regulation of faecal sludge management and a diversity of other sectors, bringing together examples of innovation from regulatory experts facing similar challenges.
W5.3 WASH systems thinking in fragile contexts and humanitarian settings
Time: 15:30
Location: King Willem Alexander, World Forum
How useful is systems thinking in fragile contexts and humanitarian settings? In this session, we will strive to understand WASH systems in fragile contexts, share lessons and approaches to ensure stakeholder participation, and present case studies on market-based solutions.
Day 2
Wednesday 3 May
Strengthening all systems – building resilience with water, sanitation and hygiene
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Our systems journey continues as we explore and promote the role of resilient national water and sanitation systems, and the change agenda required to deliver them. Explore how water and sanitation can galvanise the development of wider public services.
C1.4 The role of women and girls in designing solutions to WASH in healthcare
Time: 11:30
Location: Yangtze 1, World Forum
Poor WASH conditions in healthcare facilities disproportionately impact women and girls, both as healthcare workers and as patients. This session will discuss the strategies WASH and health partners use to more effectively engage women and girls in the process of designing gender-responsive solutions to these challenges in healthcare facilities.
W2.5 Context is key: market-based approaches in Ethiopia
Time: 11:30
Location: North America, World Forum
We will look at different innovative WASH business initiatives that can ensure sustainable access to WASH products and services. Through different case studies in Ethiopia, we will try to understand the role of private sector aligned with WASH promotion approaches to effectively deliver WASH products and services in Ethiopia.
W5.4 WASH in institutions: case studies for systems thinking for WASH in institutions
Time: 11:30
Location: Africa, World Forum
The session aims to bring together lessons, case studies and tools from projects on sustainable WASH services in healthcare facilities and educational institutions. These lessons highlight the need for a holistic understanding of WASH systems in healthcare and educational institutions and their interconnection with other systems components.
C1.5 Applying system thinking for collective outcomes in WASH and health
Time: 13:45
Location: King Willem Alexander, World Forum
A strong health system is contingent upon the availability of water, sanitation, and hygiene. However, the division between WASH and health often leads to fragmentation, poor coordination, and gaps in service. This session builds on the CONNECT-Health plenary by exploring the lessons learned from successful partnerships between WASH and health actors.
C1.6 Working alongside disease-specific health programming
Time: 15:30
Location: South America, World Forum
Within the health system, disease-specific programming still is prevalent. As such, WASH partners need to adapt their strategies to work alongside these efforts. This session will examine how WASH is integrated into disease-specific programming and through the process, what opportunities exist to encourage a systems strengthening approach.
D.4 Broadening systems boundaries and scaling the circular sanitation economy: cases from Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, and India
Time: 15:30
Location: Yangtze 1, World Forum
Have you heard or seen a sanitation business that is thriving? Welcome to a session where we shall hear how Safisana developed a circular business model for sanitation and waste treatment in non-sewered urban areas. Listen to Government, NGO and private sector partners from Africa and India on how they are collaborating to strengthen the sanitation system.
W1.6 Local systems for citywide sanitation
Time: 15:30
Location: Antarctica, World Forum
This session explores citywide sanitation service delivery models to better understand how the Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) approach brings stakeholders together in different countries towards system thinking. Participants will be shown that each part of the service chain requires tailored models for a complete system.
W1.7 Small but not forgotten: sneak preview of WHO's new guidelines for small drinking-water supplies
Time: 15:30
Location: Central America, World Forum
Be the first to see and discuss the recommendations and tools from WHO’s newest Guidelines for drinking-water quality. This Guidelines publication has been tailored to the challenges and opportunities presented by small drinking-water supplies, addressing risk-based regulation, management and surveillance of these important supplies.
Day 3
Thursday 4 May
Taking action as systems leaders
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We'll synthesise insights from the first two days, agree on actions and put you in the driving seat. With help from our Wisdom Council, you’ll take part in Action Assemblies and a final plenary to help define a post-event agenda while –hopefully – committing to your role in it.
C1.7 Looking ahead on WASH and health: where do we go from here
Time: 8:30
Location: Yangtze 1, World Forum
The first half of this session will tackle how to take forward the recommendations and commitments outline at the UN Water Conference in March 2023, including the Interactive Dialogue on Water and Health. The second half will engage health leadership, along with participants, to reflect on Days 1 and 2 of the Symposium to identify key opportunities for WASH-health partnership.
W2.8 Connecting the dots: how do we achieve universal hand hygiene?
Time: 8:30
Location: North America, World Forum
Come inform the implementation framework for the forthcoming WHO/UNICEF Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Community Settings! This session will ensure a common understanding of the hand hygiene system, the distribution of roles and responsibilities within that, and the function of partnerships in getting hygiene products and services into the homes of consumers.
W5.7 Ideas market for your WASH systems backpack
Time: 8:30
Location: Oceania Foyer, World Forum
This session is the culmination of WASH Learning Theme 5, where participants will learn from and interact with various tools focusing on aspects of systems strengthening and collective action approaches. Participants are invited to come and collect relevant ideas to enhance their own work.
C3.8 Action Assembly: health
Time: 11:00
Location: Amazon, World Forum
It’s time to raise our voices! Participants, not speakers or dignitaries, will be in the driving seat, for these informal town hall-style ‘Assemblies’ dedicated to moving the Water Action Agenda forward. A small number of foundational questions will generate insights, action agendas and systems leadership demands for each.
