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Happy Water Action Month!

by | Feb 3, 2018 | News

Our annual campaign, Water Action Month (WAM) has now begun! With international and regional events taking place (such as SACOSAN VII, the World Water Forum, the High Level Political Forum and Africa Water Week), 2018 is an important year for the WASH sector and with the help of WAM, we can make it even more impactful.

Each year, members of End Water Poverty come together, organise activities and deliver important messages to the world. In 2018, the coalition is more eager than ever to raise awareness about the importance of safe water and sanitation and its necessity in reaching Goal 6 (available and sustainable water and sanitation for all).

End Water Poverty has produced and will continue to develop a detailed communication pack to aid its member’s campaign activities. This year, End Water Poverty will produce campaign and communication materials including:

  • Social media posters
  • Infographs
  • GIFs
  • Countdown videos
  • Facebook and Twitter banners
  • Tweet sheets

WAM 2018 webinars

As part of our 2018 campaign strategy, each week in the month of March, WAM will focus on four thematic areas (Marginalised Groups, Youth Participation in WASH, WASH in a Digital Age and Multi-Sector Collaboration). In February, End Water Poverty hosted four webinar based on these themes. You can find the links to all webinar recordings below:

  • Youth Participation in WASH (6th February at 10:30am UK time) – this webinar included panellists from WaterAid UK, Scouts UK and the Christian Fellowship and Care Foundation in Nigeria. The session focused on:
    • The definition of youth.
    • The importance of their engagement in WASH campaigning and advocacy.
    • Global youth networks and how we can get them engaged.

Watch the recording of this webinar.

  • Marginalised Groups (12th February at 9am UK time) – this webinar included panellists from Caritas Swiss and Help Refugees. The session focused on:
    • Reasons why refugees and people on the move must be provided with safe water and sanitation services.
    • The importance of not leaving anyone behind when reaching Goal 6.
    • The importance of integrity management when reaching marginalised and vulnerable groups.

Watch the recording of this webinar.

  • WASH in a Digital Age (15th February at 9am UK time) – this webinar included panellists from WaterAid UK. The session focused on:
    • The role of social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) when campaigning and advocating for water and sanitation.
    • The role of ICT in the WASH sector for monitoring and reporting purposes.

For more information on the presentation from the webinar, feel free to contact our panelists (Ellen Greggio, Petri Autio, Fran Hunter).

Watch the recording of this webinar.

  • Multi-Sector Collaboration (22nd February at 9am UK time) – this webinar included a panellist from Action Against Hunger. The session focused on:
    • The role and importance of nutrition and WASH.
    • The cross-cutting nature of Goal 6.

Watch the recording of this webinar.

It’s been almost three years since the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and we are behind in achieving Goal 6. Let’s take the month of March as an opportunity to raise awareness about the cross-cutting nature of Goal 6. Without providing safe water and sanitation services for all, no other Sustainable Development Goal would be achievable. For example, without the provision of safe water and sanitation in schools, the drop-out rate will increase (especially amongst girls during their menstruation). With this in mind, let’s join together in March 2018 and ensure we provide a sustainable world to future generations.

Water Action Month is not only an opportunity for End Water Poverty’s members to get involved, but also members of the WASH sector in general. Whether you’d like to share your thoughts through a tweet, organise a walk for water, write a letter to a policy maker in your country or organise an advocacy workshop for World Water Day (22nd March), your contribution to WAM is crucial.

To help you prepare for this campaign, we have developed a communications pack. Over the next few weeks, the Secretariat will be adding more materials to this pack to support its members and their campaign activities. End Water Poverty also highly encourages its members and participants of WAM to develop their own communication/campaign materials and messages in order to better resonate with the regional, national and local context.

To see the communications pack, please click here. If you have begun to organise activities and events for Water Action Month, please share the information with us. In case of any questions, please get in touch