Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) access is essential to climate adaptation and creating healthy and equitable communities. It is important to prioritise rights to WASH in broader water resource management (WRM) to increase the climate resilience of communities, especially those that are marginalised and often excluded from decision making. Water systems globally are also under increasing pressure from climate change, and diversification of water resources is essential for communities to be more resilient to climate change. 

This session will include a discussion and presentation of three case studies demonstrating WaterAid’s work on integrating WASH into broader WRM across Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea. The presentation will discuss practical approaches to encourage cross-sectoral dialogue between the WASH and WRM sectors, increasing gender and social inclusion, as well as approaches to strengthen climate and water resources data management. 

The audience will be able to takeaway important learnings and insights into strategies used to address some of the main challenges in the water sector across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, as well as an understanding of why rights to WASH must be prioritised in WRM. The presentation will include key takeaways and recommendations for WASH practitioners wishing to engage with WRM actors to increase the climate resilience of the communities they work in. The participants will also receive interactive opportunities to engage with the content and each other, as well as share their own experiences of work in similar contexts.