Regional programmes
The Trust Fund supports three regional programmes, namely; Water for African Cities, Water for Asian Cities and Water for Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective of the regional programmes is to support partner countries to improve management of urban water supply and sanitation. These programmes combine policy dialogue and normative work with on-the-ground pilot and demonstration water and sanitation projects focusing on pro-poor water and sanitation service delivery.
Replicable Initiatives The Trust Fund supports two model-setting initiatives to address the water and sanitation needs of poor people living in secondary urban centres in the Lake Victoria and Mekong regions. The Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative is a joint project involving UN-HABITAT, the Governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The Initiative is designed to support partner countries to achieve Millenium Development Goals in secondary urban centres around the Lake Victoria region. Implementation activities in the first 10 towns are substantially completed with the number of beneficiaries numbering over 300,000 persons.
The Mekong Region Water and Sanitation Initiative aims to improve the living conditions of the urban poor in this rapidly growing economic corridor. The Initiative, which currently covers 17 towns, target improving water supply for over 120,000 people and improving access to sanitation for over 210,000 people. Normative work
Normative activities supported by the Trust Fund provide a neutral forum for policy dialogue among water and sanitation providers, users, utilities and governments. This also includes disseminating information on water and sanitation issues and developing pro-poor and gender sensitive governance frameworks, including policy options, norms, standards and management toolkits.
As part of its normative work UN-HABITAT has produced three global reports on the themes: “Water and Sanitation in the World’s Cities: Local Action for Global Goals 2003”, “Meeting the Development Goals in Small Urban Centres: Water and Sanitation in the World’s Cities 2006” and “Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities: Water and Sanitation in the World’s Cities 2010”.
A major contribution in global efforts to manage human waste, wastewater sludge and biosolids sustainably was made in September 2008 when UN-HABITAT published the “Global Atlas of Excreta, Wastewater Sludge, and Biosolids Management: Moving Forward the Sustainable and Welcome Uses of a Global Resource.” UN-HABITAT also contributes to the World Water Development Report.
As members of the UN-Water Wastewater Management Task Force, UN-HABITAT and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a rapid assessment report entitled “Sick Water: The Central Role of Wastewater Management in Sustainable Development” during the global celebrations of the 2010 World Water Day in Nairobi, Kenya.
Water Operators’ Partnerships
The Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance, a network of water and sanitation operators and other stakeholders - civil society, NGOs, regulators, financial institutions and research facilities, aims to scale up peer-to-peer support between water operators around the world. After its first meeting in January 2009, the Alliance has established and expanded its networks with partners at both regional and global levels to develop knowledge tools, delivering training, facilitating brokering and identifying financing. The Alliance continues to provide significant support to strengthen regional and national platforms for water operators in Africa, Arab countries, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South East Europe.
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