WfWP President: WatSan needs tailormade solutions 
26 February 2010 - ‘Water and sanitation is a complex problem for which there is not one single solution that fits all. In order to be adequate and sustainable, provisions must be tailor made and for that, women need to be involved as equal partners, in planning AND in decision-making.’

These words were said by Alice Bouman-Dentener, the President of WfWP at the 7th Forum of the World Alliance of Cities against Poverty: ‘Confronting the Crisis Collectively: Working together to end poverty.
This conference was organised by UNDP and the city of Rotterdam and was held from 24-26th of February in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 

Plenary session
The President participated in the plenary session on ‘How to provide all of humanity with access to basic services and basic provisions, with focus on food, water management and water supplies.’      

Sustainable
‘Women all over the world know their living environments well and they are committed and creative in catering for the needs of their communities. To make provisions sustainable, you have to talk with them and not stay behind your desk and make plans for them,’ she stated.

Equal
‘Providing water and sanitation is not so much a technical problem,’ she continued. ‘It is about people, about ownership and partnership. I mean partnerships that involve women on an equal footing, and make use of their intrinsic knowledge and practical solutions and ideas. They are not just a target group for provisions.’

Vice mayors
Besides Alice Bouman-Dentener Jerome Froissart of the Government of Monaco, Deepak Koirala, the vice mayor of Kathmandu in Nepal, Draman Compaore, the vice mayor of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
Professor Meine Pieter van Dijk of UNESCO IHE gave a presentation about a pilot in Uganda with pre-paid water. The moderator of the session was Paul Hassing.

Printable version | Last update on april 26th, 2010
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