UN Groundwater Summit 2022
7-8 December 2022 | Pre-Summit events: 6 December 2022 UNESCO HQ in Paris, France
Events
07.12.2022 - 08.12.2022
UN Groundwater Summit GROUNDWATER MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE • Paris, France
Groundwater is invisible, and yet its impact is visible everywhere. It is a hidden treasure that enriches our lives. Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind. The UN-Water Summit on Groundwater aims to bring attention to groundwater at the highest international level. The Summit will use the UN World Water Development Report 2022 as a baseline and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework as a guideline to define actions towards more responsible and sustainable use and protection of this vital natural resource. The Summit will unify the statements from all major water-related events in 2021-2022 into one comprehensive groundwater message for the UN 2023 Water Conference. | »
02.05.2023 - 04.05.2023
All Systems Connect 2023 IRC Global Symposium • The Hague, Netherlands
Connecting people and ideas, systems and solutions to achieve justice for all Connecter les personnes et les idées, les systèmes et les solutions afin de parvenir à la justice pour tous | »
News • Announcements
22.09.2022
The Call for contributions for #AllSystemsConnect2023 is now open Partagez votre expérience, votre apprentissage et votre sagesse
Co-design the programme with us by developing sessions and/or inputting into the content as a speaker or facilitator. Help spark the thinking and action that will mobilise the power of water and sanitation to act as a gateway to achieving the SDGs. Submit your contribution by 15 October 2022. Si nous voulons progresser plus rapidement et avec plus d'impact vers tous nos objectifs, nous devons regarder au-delà de nos propres secteurs et disciplines. C'est pourquoi nous vous invitons à organiser une session à l'ASC23 ou à y participer en tant que contributeur pour susciter la réflexion et l'action qui mobiliseront le pouvoir de l'eau et de l'assainissement pour agir comme une passerelle vers la réalisation des ODD. Que recherchons-nous ? Propositions explorant les corrélations entre l'eau et l'assainissement avec la santé, le climat, le développement économique, l'éducation et la justice sociale, ainsi que des contributions individuelles qui seront combinées en sessions pour compiler le programme de l'ASC23. | »
21.09.2022
From Tractors to the Tara pump 30 Years of HTN/RWSN
This year we are celebrating 30 years since the Rural Water Supply Network was formally founded. From very technical beginnings as a group of (mostly male) experts – the Handpump Technology Network- we have evolved to be a diverse and vibrant network of over 13,000 people and 100 organisations working on a wide range of topics. Along the way, we have earned a reputation for impartiality, and become a global convener in the rural water sector. RWSN would not be what it is today without the contributions and tireless efforts of many our members, organisations and people. As part of RWSN’s 30th anniversary celebration, we are running a blog series on rwsn.blog, inviting our friends and experts in the sector to share their thoughts and experiences in the rural water sector. This is a guest blog by RWSN co-founder Erich Baumann, based in Ireland. | »
17.03.2022
Groundwater and self-supply: more to it than meets the eye Les eaux souterraines et l'auto-approvisionnement : plus qu'il n'y paraît
“Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind.” This year’s tag line of the World Water Day points to the fact that despite its size and importance, groundwater is often overlooked and “out of our minds”. Right below our feet there are vast amounts of water, but most of the time we do not think about them. As society we tend to overlook it as a potential source of water for different purposes, and we also forget how fragile it is to be contaminated. In low-income settings, the use groundwater is often limited by lack of resources (technology for drilling, energy for pumping, and supply chains to keep these systems operational). Nevertheless, several hundred million people across the globe have been providing water for themselves (“self-supply”), mostly from groundwater: - In South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, more than 760 million — or 31% of the population —rely on self-supply for their drinking water. - In Sub-Saharan Africa, some 46 million rural people and 125 million urban people rely on private groundwater sources, equivalent to 7% and 33% of the rural and urban population, respectively. These people tapped into groundwater sources by their own means, usually without support by governments, donors, NGOs or development banks. For more than a billion people worldwide self-supply is the best (and often the only) option to access water – and with coordinated efforts and stronger support structures, many more people may benefit. On the occasion of World Water Day 2022, Skat Foundation and a group of like-minded organizations (WaterAid, SIWI, IRC, Ask-for-Water, University of Sydney) jointly developed a fact sheet on groundwater and self-supply, and how the two topics are related. We invite you to read the document, share it widely, and – most importantly – act on it. Here is the list of actions we are proposing: • WASH professionals: Recognize the role of individual households in upgrading WASH service levels, support the collection of evidence on the multiple impact of self-supply, support initiatives of market intelligence, capacity building, exchange, and learning. • Government entities: Recognize the role and importance of self-supply (e.g., include self-supply in monitoring efforts, recognize it in policies and standards), build expertise in institutions, establish an enabling environment for local private sector actors to thrive, and build capacities. • Academia: Include technologies and approaches adequate for individual household supply (or small groups) in research projects, include self-supply as an approach, investigate enabling and hindering factors for WASH entrepreneurs to establish a business and thrive, look into the multiple benefits generated by self-supply. • Funding agencies: Include self-supply components in projects, focusing on kickstarting market-based mechanisms, promotion, capacity building, market intelligence, research and evaluations. • Implementing agencies (NGOs, UN agencies, etc.): Integrate self-supply components in projects of WASH, rural development, market development and livelihood improvement; pilot and showcase technologies that can be taken up by individual households and small groups. For more information, please check out the fact sheet on groundwater and self-supply or the RWSN website on self-supply. | »
14.03.2022
Short-term consultancy: RWSN Governance
The Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) is a global network with over 13,000 members in 168 countries. It is an informal organisation that does not exist legally. The Secretariat is hosted by Skat Foundation, in Switzerland, which collaborates with volunteer Theme Leaders, who lead networking and knowledge exchange activities around six thematic areas. The network is governed by an Executive Steering Committee (ExecSC), which comprises representatives from the African Development Bank, IRC, SDC, Skat Foundation, UNICEF, WaterAid and the World Bank. RWSN is currently reviewing and revising its governance. The objective is that by the end of 2022, RWSN has a clear governance document that sets out the rules and protocols of how the network operates. We are looking for a consultant or consultants to undertake a short assignment to find answers to the following questions: 1. How can Regional RWSN “chapters” or “hubs” be incorporated into RWSN’s overall global governance? 2. How can the structure and processes of the RWSN Executive Steering Committee be more reflective of the key principles? Please follow the link below to download the full call | »
16.02.2022
RWSN updates February 2022 and upcoming events Mises à jour du RWSN et événements à venir // Actualizaciones de la RWSN y próximos eventos
Dear RWSN members [en français ci-dessous, en español abajo], We hope you all had a great start to 2022. The year is already going in full swing, and we would like to share some RWSN updates and upcoming events with you. My name is Tommy Ka Kit Ngai and I am the Head of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at WaterAid UK. At the RWSN Executive Steering Committee on 27 January, I was honoured to accept the role of RWSN Chair for the remainder of WaterAid’s tenure. I have been a RWSN member for about 10 years and have always been encouraged by the unwavering commitment of fellow RWSN members to collaborate and support each other in bringing sustainable and reliable water supplies to all rural people. Collectively, we have a world-leading, immense pool of knowledge and experience in rural WASH. I am thrilled to be here. I look forward to learning from and working alongside with all of you. Thank you, Louisa Gosling and SDC • It is with much sadness that Louisa Gosling stepped down as Chair of RWSN due to health issues as of December 2021. We thank her so much for her great leadership and passion for the network, and in particular, she worked tirelessly with the Leave no One Behind theme and has been a great advocate of RWSN over the last ten years. We wish her strength and good health in her next chapter. • The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has supported this network since the beginning when we were founded as the Handpump Technology Network in 1992. Thanks to their steadfast partnership, RWSN has grown from a mailing list of a few dozen engineers to a diverse, global network of nearly 14,000 individuals and more than a hundred organisations in 167 countries. The RWSN Strategy, Roadmap and ongoing governance review are setting the network on an exciting new path and we will share more details in future updates. SDC’s strategic orientation is shifting and with it our modality of collaboration. We thank the SDC Global Programme Water for providing exceptional support over the last 30 years, and to Dr Daniel Maselli in particular who has been a great ally and guide over the last few years. Switzerland remains committed to improving global water security and we look forward to continuing our partnership in new ways. Welcome to Ndeye Awa Diagne, Dr. Amita Bhakta, WHO and USAID - and “Data for Action” • Ms Ndeye Awa Diagne (“Awa”) has joined the RWSN executive committee. Awa is a Water and Sanitation Specialist at the World Bank in Washington DC, with 10 years experience, including 6 with the World Bank and 2 at the Société Nationale des Eaux du Sénégal. Her current responsibilities include managing the Bank’s internal community of practice on rural WASH. Linkedin • New Leave No One Behind (LNOB) theme co-lead Dr. Amita Bhakta. Amita is a Freelance Consultant in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Website: Amita Bhakta – Hidden WASH; LinkedIn • Welcome to our new RWSN project partners, USAID, who are funding REAL-Water, a five year research programme on rural water headed by Aquaya Institute with KNUST Ghana, ATREE, Safe Water Network, Aguaconsult and Water Mission. • We are delighted to be collaborating with WHO as they prepare to finalise and publish “Guidelines For Small Drinking-Water Supplies: Policy Guidance And Supporting Tools”. Look out for more updates later in the year! • Finally, the RWSN Theme “Monitoring and Mapping” will be changing its name to “Data for Action”; the change will be effective over the course of this year. Upcoming events • On 22nd March we celebrate World Water Day. This year the theme is “Groundwater: making the invisible, visible”. You can take part in the celebration and raise awareness on groundwater by checking the website: https://www.worldwaterday.org/. There are many materials available for download to share with your community and networks, raising awareness on groundwater. RWSN also has a wealth of resources related to Groundwater, see below. • 9th World Water Forum, Dakar - RWSN is delighted to be hosting French/English Session 2A4 on Rural Water Supply Management Models in Room 3 at 9am on 22 March. For those coming to the Dakar, we look forward to welcoming you to this great session, with interesting case studies from Morocco, Madagascar, Senegal, Ghana and Uptime and panellists including the Director General of Water from the Government of Spain. https://www.worldwaterforum.org/ RWSN resources related to Groundwater • Does your organisation drill boreholes, or perhaps fund others to drill? If so, check out the wealth of materials on borehole drilling on the RWSN website: https://tinyurl.com/waterdrilling • Do you want a quick, and easy introduction to borehole siting, supervision, procurement and drilling itself? If so, then watch these very short animated films (available in English and French): https://vimeo.com/channels/drilling • Want to know about how to unlock the potential of groundwater in Africa, then check out this short film: https://vimeo.com/582160363 • Are you looking for ways to support access to groundwater at a low cost? Then you should find out if manual drilling is an option? This is a good place to start: https://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/sustainable-groundwater-management/manual-drilling • Want to learn about professional drilling from other RWSN members and partners? There is an archive of presentations and webinars available here: https://vimeo.com/channels/1432819 • Do you have questions or concerns about using solar-powered water systems to pump groundwater? This is a good place to start: https://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/sustainable-groundwater-management/solar New Groundwater Publications from RWSN and in collaboration with others Dr Kerstin Danert, co-lead of Sustainable Groundwater Development Theme has been extremely busy over the last year and involved in lead and co-author roles on several key publications that will be published over the next month: • “RWSN Groundwater Pumping Survey 2021: Summary of RWSN Member Responses.” Available in English on the RWSN website now in English and French version is forthcoming. https://rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/1043 • “Achievements and Lessons Learned in the Implementation of Groundwater Regulation in Zambia” / “Réalisations et enseignements tirés de la mise en oeuvre de la réglementation des eaux souterraines en Zambie” A collaborative publication with the Water Resources Management Authority of Zambia and UNICEF. Available here: https://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/1040 • “Stop the Rot: Action research on handpump corrosion and component quality in Sub-Saharan Africa”. A three-part RWSN research report will be available from the RWSN website by the end of March. • “Groundwater: making the invisible, visible”. Available on 22 March from https://www.unwater.org/publication_categories/world-water-development-report/ • Poverty reduction & Groundwater, International Association of Hydrogeologists, Strategic Overview series, 2022. Available soon at: https://iah.org/education/professionals/strategic-overview-series Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP) The GRIPP partnership, led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), will strengthen, expand and connect current groundwater initiatives. It will support the Global Framework for Action developed by the Groundwater Governance Project funded by the Global Environment Facilityand implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), the International Association of Hydrologists and the World Bank. Building on IWMI’s three decades of research, it will embed sustainable groundwater practices at the heart of natural resource management and the SDGs. Other groundwater resources: • Global Groundwater Sustainability: A Call to Action • GRIPP (2019) Groundwater: critical for sustainable development, IWMI • UN-Water (2018) Groundwater Overview: Making the invisible visible, IGRAC • IAH (2019) Climate Change and Groundwater, Strategic Overview Series IAH (2017) The UN-SDGs for 2030 Essential Indicators for Groundwater, Strategic Overview Series Other events of interest for Water and Sanitation: • 17 February - [Webinar] Water Finance Coalition meeting: Asia - 09:00-10:30 CET | Africa and Latin America - 15:00-16:30 CET [registration] • 22-23 February - [Event] World Water-Tech Innovation Summit, London, UK • 28-February - 03 March - [Event] Middle East and North Africa Climate Week 2022, Dubai, United Arab Emirates • March - FAME 2022: Alternative World Water Forum (AWWF), Dakar, Senegal • 03-05 March - [Event] UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA): Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2022, Kigali, Rwanda • 08-10 March - [Event] UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2022, Santiago, Chile • 10-11 March - [Virtual Event] Colorado WASH Symposium • 15 March - [Event] Water Summit for Global Development 2022 : Catching up with urbanisation, Delft, the Netherlands [abstract deadline: 09 Jan 2022] • 15-17 March - [Event] UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA): Arab Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2022, Beirut, Lebanon • 21-26 March - [Event] 9th World Water Forum: Water Security for Peace and Development, Diamniadio (Dakar), Senegal • 22 March - [Event] World Water Day: Groundwater: making the invisible visible • 28-31 March - [Event] UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP): Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development 2022, Bangkok, Thailand • 30 March - 01 April - [Virtual Event] 2022 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum Best regards, RWSN Chair and secretariat | »
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