Vergnet Hydro, a specialized company looking for sustainable solutions for drinking water supply in developing countries, had to be represented at the WASH Sustainability Forum 2014 in Amsterdam. The theme was tools for evaluation and monitoring of development activities in water, sanitation and hygiene sector.
Published on: 29/07/2014
This Forum was certainly well-timed as we are approaching the date of the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals are also appearing on the horizon. Now is the time to look at what has been achieved with the help of tools which can measure how far we have advanced towards the Goals, not only for the benefit of the evaluators, but also to help users of hydraulic equipment better manage their infrastructure.
Sustainable development needs to go through a process in order for the economic world and the humanitarian world to work together harmoniously.
As an expert in the field of water, I normally attend conferences that deal with hydraulics, the management of infrastructure and water distribution networks. I was very surprised to discover that most of the tools were developed with the help of private funding obtained by NGOs. I was also surprised to see that some of the tools were very similar and that regrettably the sector actors did not work together in order to try to achieve the human right to water for everyone. There was no link between the economic world and the world of NGOs. Being part of a private company which has a lot of experience in related areas and which also has to be innovative in order to survive, this has astonished me.
It was not for lack of repeated calls by Patrick Moriarty or Dick van Ginhoven who, in the context of development and sustainability, were talking about markets, businesses, about actors working together: users, public authorities, NGOs and private sector.
I have met plenty of participants who were working for foundations, NGOs or so-called social enterprises. I felt that the concepts that we are developing, the vision that we have, the activities that we work on for a sustainable water service interest everyone. However, I also felt that I was alone when I was trying to find partners to set up pilot programmes. Probably my status of private operator bothered people.
We should not give up. Sustainable development needs to go through a process in order for the economic world and the humanitarian world to work together harmoniously. It is not easy but conferences like this one in Amsterdam contribute to this process.
By Christophe Leger
