BPD E-bulletin May 09

Training Opportunity – DPP Ghana, 15-19 June, 2009
Research – Small Town Water and Sanitation
Event – Sanitation Entrepreneurs Roundtable Discussion
Event – 34^th WEDC International Conference
Event – Stockholm World Water Week, 16-22 August 2009
Research – BPD Lab: community level water conflict

Training Opportunity – DPP Ghana, 15-19 June 09

The hype is over – the pressure is on. Get the most out of partnerships to deliver water and sanitation services. BPD’s highly interactive Developing Partnerships in Practice training course will be held for an 8^th time. With support from WaterAid, the course will next be held in Accra, Ghana for Anglophone water & sanitation policymakers and practitioners. The deadline for applications is Friday 15^th May. Apply here: http://www.bpdws.org/web/w/www_52_en.aspx

Research – Small Town Water and Sanitation

The number of small towns in the developing world is increasing rapidly – these are forecast to be the major centres of growth in the coming twenty years. BPD is working with WaterAid to look at how to handle this expansion and whether integrated multi-disciplinary perspectives can generate more promising solutions. Small towns in 6 countries across Africa and Asia will be part of this work, with opinions from sector stakeholders to be sought at Stockholm Water Week in August. To share existing experience on this, please contact us.

Event – Sanitation Entrepreneurs
Roundtable Discussion

At the end of April, BPD convened a roundtable to discuss how best to engage entrepreneurs in urban sanitation delivery. 35 individuals actively engaged in this area met directly with entrepreneurs in Malawi, Ghana, Senegal and Uganda to discuss different approaches to their business. Lessons from other small and medium enterprise experiences challenged our thinking. Background papers and early findings can be found at: http://www.bpdws.org/web/w/www_45_en.aspx

Event – 34th WEDC International Conference

BPD will present recent findings on sanitation entrepreneurs at the upcoming WEDC conference, May 18-22, in Addis Ababa. A one-day workshop on sanitation partnerships, held in conjunction with the Ethiopian WASH coalition, is also being developed. contact us for more details.

Event – Stockholm World Water Week,
16-22 August 2009

How can the power of the market be used to not only persuade people of the merits of improved sanitation, but deliver it cheaply and at scale? BPD is convening a session on Sunday 16^th from 14:00 to 17:30 in Stockholm with Water for People on Harnessing the private sector to provide sanitation to the poor. Key areas for discussion are around the role of private sanitation service providers and how the public sector can best support them. BPD and WaterAid will also co-host a side event on the Small Town Water & Sanitation Research.

See http://www.bpdws.org/web/w/www_187_en.aspx

Research – BPD Lab: community level water conflict

BPD will be hosting a workshop on 11-12 June 2009 in London. The purpose of the initiative is to explore how conflicts among individuals and organisations at the community level encourage or discourage delivery of water services. The workshop will focus on analysing 2-3 themes that emerged from discussions with water and conflict specialists and an ongoing literature review. Ideas from this initiative will inform future training and research directions.