UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 10 September 2008 --According to United Nations (UN) estimates, 2.5 billion people are currently without access to basic sanitation. 

Lack of organised sanitation means that an estimated 1.8 million children will die of diarrhea annually, whilst half of the population in developing countries suffers from health problems caused by the lack of access to water and sanitation.

To address this crisis, the UN, as p art of its Millennium Development Goals (MDG), has set a mandate to halve this figure by 2015. 

“Given the magnitude of the problem, sanitation is an urgent global issue,” says Mr Jack Sim , Founder of WTO. 

Mr Sim states that the objective of World Toilet Summit & Expo 2008 is to facilitate active discussions on evolving sanitation practices to help ensure UN objectives are achieved.

More than 70 industry leaders, sanitation experts and government officials from 40 countries will be congregating at The Venetian-Macao-Resort Hotel on the 4 – 6 November to p art icipate in the annual World Toilet Summit & Expo 2008 (WTSE2008).

Jointly organised by the World Toilet Organization (WTO) and MP Asia (MPA), in p art nership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the three-day event consists of a technical conference with multiple parallel sessions and a technology exhibition that showcases the current solutions and applications in both the urban and rural environment. 

A total of 600 delegates and 5000 trade visitors are expected to attend the summit.

Sustainable Sanitation Solutions

The theme for the 2008 show will be on ‘Driving Sustainable Sanitation through Market-based Initiatives’. 

It echoes the need to employ new perspectives and incentives to traditional business methodologies, so as to create new synergies across the private, public and people sectors.

The parallel sessions will also include themes on design and technology, disaster, tourism and school sanitation. 

Business opportunities at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’

Drawing from the theme of the conference, one of the topics that will be explored is the paradigm shift required to tap the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, a term coined by CK Prahalad, author of the insightful book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.

There is an emerging market with great opportunities that businesses can explore. The business in alleviating poverty will not only improve the bottom-line for commercial organisations but serves an excellent social cause.

Unilever, the world's largest producer of consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products, and famed for their successful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes and campaigns, will be presenting a case study of Unilever’s efforts in Vietnam which have helped to create a self-sustaining business model that creates livelihood for the less fortunate in the rural community. 

P art nership with International Private Water Association (IPWA) – Leadership roundtable on Water/Wastewater/Sanitation Management and Treatment.

Also leveraging on the profile of the delegates attending this year’s Summit, IPWA, together with WTO, will hold a leadership round-table to discuss and share experiences on the challenges and benefits of integrating water/wastewater project finance with sanitation improvements. 

The roundtable will focus on both philanthropic and for-profit models and explore the link of aid programs with private sector investment as well as the role of multilateral development banks and public sector bi-lateral lenders.

  World Sanitation Funding Facility

On the third day of the conference, Ashoka Innovators for the Public, a global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs which develop models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance various fields of community development, will lead a discussion track on funding solutions in the session aptly titled as the World Sanitation Funding Facility.

This session will be moderated by Mr Arthur Wood, Head, Social Financial Services, Ashoka Innovators of the Public. Mr Wood has more than 20 years of experience in the finance sector and social investing. His current portfolio includes engaging global financial institutions to invest in the social sector, creating new strategies and delivering new insights into increasing the flow and efficiency of financing to the social sector.

Other speakers who will present case studies of successful funding solutions, include Mr Jon Lane, Executive Director, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council; Mr Guillermo MacLean, Vice President, Deutsche Bank; and Mr Nicholas Alexander, National Director, Habitat for Humanity Vietnam.

Dr Robert Lang, CEO, Mary Elizabeth & Gordon B. Mannweiler Foundation, will present his concept on L³C, the Low Profit Limited Liability Company. The L³C’s investment structure is designed to bring vast new pools of funds such as private investors, banking and other financial sources to bear on problems normally only addressed by the non-profit community and its limited resources.

World Toilet Expo 2008

In tandem with the conference, displays of new, sustainable technologies will be showcased at a dedicated exhibition, which will feature over 100 exhibitors, with latest innovations from self-cleaning toilets and solar-powered commodes that run without water, to recyclable systems which by converting waste into biogas can be used to provide hot water for bathing and washing purposes.

Leading industry players have confirmed their support and p art icipation at this year’s exposition. The list includes ADCO Asia Holdings Limited, African Sanitation, Believe In Hope, Geberit International AG, Global Sanitation Solution, Habitat for Humanity International, Kimberly-Clark (HK) Ltd, Lien Aid, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, PolyPortables Inc., Shorelink International, Sporttler Limited, Stockholm Environment Institute, and Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, SCA

Organisations who have pledged their support for WTSE 2008 include the following:

• Ashoka Innovators of the Public

• Habitat for Humanity International

• International Code Council

• International Private Water Association

• Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais

• Macau Government Tourist Office

• Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute

• Singapore Institute of Planners

• Sustainable Sanitation Alliance

• Schwab Foundation

• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

• World Health Organisation

For the programme and other info rmation on WTSE 2008, visit www.worldtoiletevents.com.

Labels: United Nations, U.N., MaximsNews, MaximsNews WATER, MaximsNewsWATER, water, IPWA, World Toilet Summit, Jack Sim, International Year of Sanitation, sanitation, toilet, Kathy Shandling, international development, environment, water news, water sustainability, water resource, water management, global water crisis, sustainable development 

 

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