AGUASAN Workshop Series
|
Forging and facilitating the implementation of the Swiss response in water supply and sanitation issues in developing and transition countries.
The AGUASAN group is an interdisciplinary Swiss community of practice bringing together a wide range of specialists to promote wider and deeper understanding of key issues in water supply, sanitation and hygiene in developing and transition countries. Since 1984, AGUASAN group members from SDC, Skat, Helvetas and Sandec organise every year in June a workshop in Switzerland. There project field staff, desk officers, researchers and consultants from all over the world come together for five days to reflect collectively on a cutting edge theme of the sector. AGUASAN workshops undergo an annual cycle of preparation, organisation, realisation and assessment conducted by the steering committee. Every year the team works with a facilitator to choose a “hot” topic and to carefully prepare and structure the event. Skat heads the steering committee and bears the overall responsibility of organising and conducting the workshop series. For doing this, Skat:
Recent themes of AGUASAN workshops include caring and integrated management practices, private sector involvement, the household-centred approach, the opportunities and challenges for the water and sanitation sector in a decentralised context, the WatSan contiguum as well as the impact of personal paradigms. The AGUASAN workshop 2010 dealt with the topic "From Haute Cuisine to Good Fast Food” and developed six key elements to initiate and foster successful large scaling-up between governments, development agencies and financing institutions in the WatSan sector. The forthcoming 27th workshop (June 2011) will address the issues around the implications and actions needed to put the human rights to water and sanitation into practice. The reports of the most recent AGUASAN workshops are available for download in the publications section of the Skat website. |
AGUASAN Workshop 27 (2011)WATER AND SANITATION ARE HUMAN RIGHTS – SO WHAT?
Implications and actions needed to put the rights into practice
This workshop for field staff, desk officers, re-searchers, consultants, other sector specialists and wider development practitioners aims at finding pragmatic answers to the key question of "How should and can the rights to water and sanitation in practice contribute towards accelerating access to drinking water and sanitation services for all?" The announcement package available at http://www.aguasan.ch outlines the aims of the workshop more in-depth. If you are interested in attending the event, please complete the pre-registration form and return it to us as indicated and not later than 15th March 2011.
Date: |
AGUASAN Workshop 26 (2010)From “Haute Cuisine” to “Good Fast Food” - taking advantage of the momentum for large scaling up in the water supply and sanitation sector
More...
|
AGUASAN Workshop 25 (2009)The WatSan Contiguum - towards a more dynamic interaction between emergency relief, rehabilitation and development
More...
|
AGUASAN Workshop 24 (2008)Effective management of operation, maintenance, replacement and upgrading of water supply systems is essential to guarantee the sustainability of the services.
More...
|
AGUASAN Workshop 23 (2007) 13.02.2008Sustainable and effective decentralised W&S services need not only institutional, organisational and human resources capacity building at local level, but also a functional financial mechanism, and a clear and appropriate allocation of roles and responsibilities.
On 18 - 22 June 2007, the 23rd AGUASAN workshop took place in Gwatt (Switzerland). The presentations, discussions, learnings, and results are summarised in a workshop report. During five days, 46 development professionals from all over the world delved into the issue topic of “Opportunities and Challenges for the Water and Sanitation Sector in a Decentralised Context” and explored how shifting of power, competencies, responsibilities and resources from the central government to local levels particularly affects the way water supply and sanitation (W&S) issues are dealt with. Looking at four topic cases dealing with decentralised models for service delivery and an analysis by a concept working group, the workshop brought up several findings: the W&S sector needs to be flexible to respond to the dynamic decentralisation processes, which includes a lobbying and negotiation process amongst the players, and to find its niche. Decision-making power, institutional capacity, fiscal and technical resources for services delivery and their management have to be devolved concommitantly and in an adequate way. In addition, roles and responsibilities in the sector should be devolved to the lowest appropriate and competent level. And finally, an effective decentralisation process should be part of a broader governance and democratisation reform, and neither an isolated nor a universal remedy to W&S sector needs. The report can be downloaded or ordered in the publications section of the Skat website. |
