IRC at Stockholm World Water Week

Published on: 27/07/2015

IRC is preparing several sessions for the upcoming World Water Week in Stockholm from 23 - 28 August 2015. An IRC delegation will attend: IRC's CEO Patrick Moriarty; IRC Burkina Faso Country Director Juste Nansi; Head International and Innovation Programme Catarina Fonseca, Coordinator of Research and Innovation Stef Smits, Head of Fundraising and New Business Development Ton Schouten, Associated Senior Advisor to IRC Erma Uytewaal and communication staff Vera van der Grift and Jenda Terpstra. We hope to meet you at one of our sessions, or at our booth.

This year we'll be showcasing "An Agenda For Change," a set of joint WASH principles launched by IRC, Agua Consult, Water For People and WaterAid, to help align our efforts in delivering universal water and sanitation services to everyone by 2030.

IRC's highlights

One of IRC's major events is the session on the Public Finance Initiative that has run throughout the year together with Trémolet Consulting and WSUP. Achieving the SDGs will require funding for WASH on an unprecedented scale. The money will need to come from all sources, including government. But how to meet this massive change? The session will be based on role-plays and we surely expect it to be very lively: "Public Finance for WASH: making it happen", Tuesday 25 August 16:00 – 17:30, room FH 300.

Among the other sessions that IRC is co-organising, include: 

1. WASH in Schools: Monitoring WASH in health clinics in Tanzania. A workshop on "Implementing the SDGs in the Post-2015 Development Agenda". An IRC-Simavi session with GWP, SIWI and UN-Water. Sunday 23 August 11:00 -12:30, room FH300.
2. Dutch Embassy Reception (Invitation Only): Tuesday 25 August 19:00 - 21:30, Dutch Embassy. AkzoNobel Room, Götgatan 16A
3. Changing behaviors to build systems that last: SWA's evolving strategy. A session with Sanitation and Water for All (SWA); The World Bank Group; United States Agency for International Development and WaterAid. Wednesday 26 August 16:00 – 17:30, room FH Cabaret.
4. A sustainable approach to scale-up safe water. A session with Antenna Technologies; Aqua for All; IRC; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Swiss Water Partnership. Thursday 27 August 09:00 – 10:30, room NL Music Hall.
5. Pieces of the Puzzle: Achieving Sustainable Rural Sanitation at Scale (whole system approach) A session with Plan International; Sustainable Sanitation Alliance; Water For People. Thursday 27 August 14:00 – 15:30, room NL 357.
6. Financing universal WASH coverage under the Sustainable Development Goals. A session with the Department for International Development, UK; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands; The World Bank Group; United Nations Children's Fund and World Health Organization. Thursday 27 August 14:00 – 15:30, room FH 202. 

See the conference website 

Meet for a coffee or drink?

While in Stockholm for the World Water Week 2015 we would like to take the opportunity to invite you all to an informal gathering on the 24 August from 17:30 -18:30 at which IRC, Simavi, Akvo, and the Wetlands will introduce the WASH-IT! Programme at the WASH Alliance stand (#18, Hall B).
The WASH-IT! Programme is a lobby and capacity building programme for civil society organisations to make governments and other partners accountable for universal access to WASH IT! is a strategic partnership between the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Simavi, IRC, Akvo and Wetlands International.

To learn more about IRC's approach, to speak to an IRC representative or to have a coffee during the week in Stockholm, please visit our booth (MV4, "IRC - Water For People"). Or let us know you will be there via communications@ircwash.org. We look forward to seeing you in Stockholm!

About the World Water Week

The World Water Week is one of the largest international water events. In 2014, over 3,000 individuals and 270 convening organizations from 143 countries participated. This year the theme is "Water For Development". In September 2015 the UN General Assembly will meet to agree on the Sustainable Development Goals. It will include an expected target for universal access to drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. How to make this a reality will be the common theme running through most sessions.