Progress towards the achievement of the SDG targets relevant to urban sanitation will require greater focus on installing and sustainably operating systems that complete the sanitation chain. This necessitates support to market development of sanitation services at different points within the chain and a strengthening of public-private partnerships. Given the increasing prominence of humanitarian disasters affecting populations in urban areas, there is also a need to ensure that these markets are resilient to shocks from different types of crisis.

The event focussed on the role of the market within the context of urban sanitation and how to support market actors to achieve sustainable service delivery at scale. We considered both public and private actors, formal and informal, and what types of partnership, institutional models and financing mechanisms are most effective to support pro-poor delivery of urban sanitation services. We discussed the experience of tools for market mapping and analysis and how these can be utilised as the basis for market strengthening, and identified effective ways to support governmental authorities to work with private sector actors in market development. We also considered how to prepare for emergencies and how to support critical market actors to make contingency plans for humanitarian responses to disasters.

Speakers included:

• Nathaniel Mason - Research Fellow, ODI
• Tim Brewer - Policy Analyst, WaterAid
• Jenny Lamb - Water and Sanitation Engineering Adviser, Oxfam
• Alexis Morcette - Senior Manager, Adam Smith International
• Marielle Snel - Senior Expert, IRC
• Mansoor Ali - Senior WASH Adviser, International Medical Corps
• Katie Spooner - Water and Environment Adviser, CAFOD
• Ada Oko-Williams - Technical Support Manager, WaterAid
• Georges Mikhael - Head of Sanitation, WSUP
• Tracey Keatman - Senior Consultant, Partnerships in Practice
• Jane Crowder - WASH Programme and Policy Adviser, DFID
• Remi Kaupp - Programme Officer, WaterAid
• Noemie de la Brosse - Inclusive Markets Consultant, Practical Action
• Julian Doczi - Senior Research Officer, ODI
• Lucy Stevens - Policy and Practice Adviser, Practical Action
• Jonathan Parkinson - Senior Urban WASH Programme Strategist, Oxfam
• Rick Bauer - Senior WASH Adviser, Norwegian Refugee Council
• Erick Baetings - Senior Sanitation Specialist, IRC
• Sophie Tremolet - Director, Tremolet Consulting
• Beatrice Mosello - Senior Research Officer, ODI

For an overview of speakers and sessions, please download the agenda below.

Live coverage was available on #UKWN.