International Symposium on Rural Water Services – Kampala 13-15 April 2010

The symposium aims to:

a) provide a platform for learning about and sharing possible ways of improving initiatives on sustainable rural water services at scale
b) debate and analyse these emerging initiatives, and
c) identify common principles to facilitate improved policy and practise in water service delivery.

In addition, the symposium intends to strengthen synergy and collaboration across different initiatives and platforms to address sustainability.

Thematic streams

The symposium is supported within the framework of the Triple-S (Sustainable Services at Scale) initiative being managed by the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

There will be no open call for papers however, the symposium will be structured around four thematic streams/topics for which the organising committee is currently sourcing input from a wide range of stakeholders. Led either by one of the stakeholders in the sector or a member of the Thematic Group on Scaling Up, the thematic streams will address:

• Service delivery models for sustainable rural water – topic managed by Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)/SKAT. We will look at practical examples and ask what change processes are needed at sector level to come to more sustainable service delivery models.
• Water service governance at decentralised levels – topic managed by Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). We will explore practical case studies of how governance over services can be strengthened, particularly at decentralised level in order to provide sustainable services at scale.
• Financing for sustainable service delivery – topic managed by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC). In this thematic stream, discerning the real costs of a sustainable service and how these may be financed will form key to the discussion and exchanges.
• Harmonisation and alignment in the rural sector – topic managed by the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) of the Government of Uganda with inputs from WaterAid. In this thematic stream, participants will dialogue on the potential of harmonising, aligning and coordinating initiatives in the water sector and will also explore cases where harmonisation may stifle innovation, particularly at the operational level.

Want to contribute to the symposium? Submissions required by 31 January 2010

If you/your organisation would like to contribute to the thematic streams, or share your work and ideas at the symposium through alternative media such as film, photo essays for example, please contact the organising committee before 31st of January 2010 by e-mail.

The Symposium will take place at the Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala, Uganda and the working language will be English. The registration fee is US$ 300 per person.