Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene in Mumbai, India

From 9-14 October 2011, the Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene in Mumbai, India, will be a leading platform to discuss and advance issues of importance to billions of people. Arranged by Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council for its members and for professionals from around the world, the event has several aims.

First, it will facilitate learning and sharing between WSSCC members, sector practitioners and policymakers. Second, it will energize professional communities through an exclusive platform dedicated to sanitation and hygiene. Third, it will showcase knowledge, investment, communications, advocacy, partnership and networking approaches. Finally, it will strengthen national, regional, South-South and global dialogue and collaboration.

The city affectionately known as the “Gateway to India” will host the WSSCC Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene from 9 to14 October 2011 at the Renaissance Convention Centre. The meeting will bring together sanitation and hygiene professionals and WSSCC members for a week of sharing, learning, strategizing and momentum-building around these vital issues.

We’re all familiar with the planet’s sanitation and hygiene challenges. It is unacceptable that 2.6 billion people without toilets are unable to fulfill their daily needs with safety, convenience and dignity. Recent analyses of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reveal that the world will miss the sanitation MDG target by more than half a billion people, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and Eastern Asia.

As a global professional community, our efforts to increase access to sanitation and use of good hygiene practices in developing countries have been many and varied, and much remains to be done. The good news is that sanitation and hygiene professionals have made great strides in both policy and practice in recent years, and the Mumbai meeting is an opportunity to build upon this momentum. WSSCC has a proud history of arranging purposeful and productive meetings, and this tradition continues in Mumbai through a focus on core sanitation and hygiene topics and links to other sectors such as health, education and business. It provides a global platform for sharing knowledge and findings from the regional sanitation conferences in East Asia, South Asia, Africa and Latin America that precede the forum.

As well, it will draw in lessons from the impressive sanitation accomplishments in China and will offer instructive and inspirational field visits to key programmes in India’s Maharashtra State, which is a leader in the region in innovative service delivery at scale. In addition, it will feature a unique blend of sector professionals (both WSSCC members and non-members), global advocates and development experts. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the meeting will support the entire WSSCC family, helping members connect with each other and forging new links, more partnerships and greater momentum within and outside of WSSCC.

Aims and objectives
The forum has four main objectives. First, it will facilitate learning and sharing between members, sector practitioners and policymakers. Second, it will energize professional communities by focusing exclusively on sanitation and hygiene. Third, it will showcase knowledge, investment, communications, advocacy, partnership and networking approaches. Finally, it will strengthen national, regional, South-South, and global dialogue and collaboration.

Programme
The overarching themes for the week are “Accelerating Change,” “Building Knowledge and Capacity” and “Sharing across Regions.”  These themes, and other crosscutting topics, will be reflected in the forum’s programme via plenary, breakout and regional sessions; special events and field visits; and a “Bottom of the Pyramid WASH Fair” of organizations, products and services, and ideas. Thus, the programme for the week will cover:

• Networking and partnership building
• Communications for change
• Technical workshops on sanitation and hygiene
• Sharing and learning from regional sanitation meetings
• Leadership and drivers for change
• Knowledge sharing and capacity building
• “Bottom of the Pyramid WASH Fair” of products, services and ideas
• Field trips and studyvisits

Participants
Up to 500 WSSCC members, sector professionals, country agency representatives and individuals from civil society, business and WSSCC partner organizations will attend. A participant selection process will ensure balanced representation between WSSCC members and non-members, and from developing and developed countries.

Venue
The WSSCC Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene takes place at the Renaissance Mumbai Convention 
Centre, which is located close to Mumbai’s domestic and international airports.

Language
The official language is English, although a number of sessions will have simultaneous interpretation into French and possibly Spanish.

Registration & Fees
Registration processes and fees will be announced in April 2011. The fee structure, and a limited subsidy policy, will encourage and facilitate balanced representation. A subsidy fund will be available to partially cover costs for some people from developing countries. For all participants, the all-inclusive registration fee will cover registration for the forum, hotel accommodation, food and beverages, and local transfers. Field visits to rural and urban programmes will be offered as additional options to forum participants for a nominal extra fee.

Side meetings
The regular forum programme will be complemented by a number of side meetings. For example, WSSCC will host several organizational meetings (National Coordinators, WSSCC Steering Committee, and Global Sanitation Fund Advisory Committee). In addition, other meetings will be arranged by thematic communities of practice, working groups and other organizations involved in national or international events, processes or initiatives. 

Contact Emily Deschaine at emily.deschaine@wsscc.org for more information on arranging a side event.