KARACHI: Nelson Gomonda, the coordinator of the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Secretariat, a UN-based global partnership with over 200 partners such as governments, including Pakistan, donors and civil society, has said that South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN), as a regional platform is helping countries in the region place more focus on sanitation. “SACOSAN also serves as a peer-review mechanism where countries in the South Asia have an opportunity to take stock of actions taken by others. It also helps countries to exchange knowledge and experience on specific issues,” he said. Gomonda is supporting political prioritisation of WASH through the promotion of high-level political dialogue at national and global levels. One of his key responsibilities is to ensure effective linkages between the work of SWA and relevant partnerships in other sectors, such as health, education, and nutrition. He was attending the seventh South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-VII) held in Islamabad last week. Daily Times conducted an exclusive interview with Gomonda to get updates on achievements on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the priorities identified under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Why did the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fail Now, when we are moving towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), how will SGDs help achieve goals on health, gender, and hunger? Nelson Gomonda: I would not put it so strongly. There were milestone successes. For instance, the MDG goal for water was met five years ahead of schedule. This meant that between 1990 and 2010, we halved the percentage of people without access to safe drinking water, and over two billion people gained access. This is huge, and the effort that went into making this happen should not be underestimated. Other goals have also been reached, such as those related to decreasing extreme poverty, and achieving gender parity in primary schools. On the other hand, the target related to sanitation could not be met as 2.4 billion people are still using unimproved sanitation facilities, including 946 million people practicing open defecation. The SDGs mean a different way of looking at all our challenges. We’re no longer talking about halving percentages – we’re talking about universality, for all goals. This vision might almost be considered utopic, but one thing is certain: it puts us on the right track. It tells us clearly that there can be no progress unless we have it for all, always and everywhere. There are no low-hanging fruits and no simple solutions in the SDG and for me that makes them not utopic, but more realistic. It also means we have to find new ways of working, ways that are not so much about new technology, but about how we work together within and outside our sectors. How will SACOSAN help improve sanitation issues in South Asia? Are you satisfied with the WASH sector in South Asia as this is 7th SACOSAN? Nelson Gomonda: There are indications that SACOSAN, as a regional platform, is helping countries within South Asia to place more focus on sanitation. SACOSAN also serves as a peer-review mechanism where countries in South Asia have an opportunity to take stock of action taken at individual country levels. It also helps countries to exchange knowledge and experience on specific issues. What is encouraging is that South Asian countries have reaffirmed all SACOSAN commitments made between 2003 and 2016. They have also reiterated their desire for joint actions and learning through SACOSAN as a regional forum. It is also gratifying to note that South Asian countries are working to integrate sustainable development goals into national development agendas which is the first step towards the achievement of the Agenda 2030. It was also clear from the presentation by countries that significant progress has been made towards reducing open defecation in the region, and growing attention is being given towards building sustainable and safely managed sanitation systems and hygienic behaviours. Taking into account the fact that South Asia is home to many of the world’s most rapidly urbanising areas, and the population continues to grow, SACOSAN provides a perfect opportunity to consider the emerging challenges and prescribe most appropriate solutions. What must be done by South Asian ntions to implement SGDs? Nelson Gomonda: Well, during the SACOSAN 7, several priority areas have been identified, aimed at creating an enabling environment. These include development of national and sub-national advocacy plans, strategies and campaigns that promote use and sustainability of sanitation services with active engagement of all, develop effective financial planning and reporting on sanitation and hygiene related investments and establish baselines and WASH targets for SDGs 6.1 and 6.2. All countries in the region have committed to review and align their national and sub national policies/strategies with safely managed sanitation services and hygiene as outlined in the SDGs. Also, they have agreed to generate evidence to understand inequalities in access to WASH especially around geographical areas, vulnerable groups and income levels, which involves improving targeting of those least served and also strengthening participation and accountability in collaboration with sector partners and conduct structured human resource capacity assessment followed by a roadmap for human resource development. They have also vowed to introduce essential sectoral reforms based on comprehensive legislative reviews with a specific focus on regulatory frameworks and institutional arrangements Why women and girls must be at the forefront of any WASH action? Nelson Gomonda: In general, women have a better understanding of all the uses of water and sanitation. Especially in the Global South, women are the ones managing water usage at home, they are the ones investing time in collecting it, they manage family cooking, cleaning and hygiene practices. Women are in a much better position to truly know the value of water and sanitation and to lead on ideas to protect it – no WASH initiative can be successful without the involvement of women and girls. Yet, they are often no part of the planning of these initiatives. This sort of discrimination has serious impact in the lives of whole communities, especially, of course, in the lives of girls and women. For instance, when women are prevented from managing water and sanitation resources, the needs of the household, are much more likely to be disregarded (or not subsidised) versus, for instance, agricultural uses. Another serious consequence is that women and girls would tend to prioritise water and sanitation solutions close to home, because they are at greater risk of violence when having to go to collect water or use toilets or latrines far from home. The SDGs ask for ‘breaking of silos’ and I see this as having a particular meaning for gender. Although gender equality has its own goal (SDG 5), it cannot be achieved without achieving all the other goals and targets, and vice-versa. How can we guarantee education for all girls (SDG 4) without first creating the enabling environment that allows them to attend school, such as having toilets in all educational facilities (SDG 6), raising them from poverty (SDG 1), ensuring they don’t go hungry or are malnourished (SDG 2), or ensuring that they don’t live in a country at war (SDG 16)? At the Sanitation and Water for All partnership, we identified gender and non-discrimination as a cross-cutting principle that permeates everything we do, from whom we invite to speak at our events to ensuring that all information we share on the partnership includes material on gender and inclusion. Published in Daily Times, April 19th 2018.