By Nina Mitch
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council Water Supply (WSSCC) which recently got approval to evolve into the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is joining forces with Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), and other United Nations agencies, international financial institutions and stakeholders to underline the conviction that government-led, collaborative and multi-stakeholder decision-making leads to more effective and sustainable solutions.
This has become imperative in view of the relevance of prioritizing water, sanitation, and hygiene in response to COVID-19.
“Until there is a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, there is no better cure than prevention,” a statement issued on 14 May by a global platform for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 6, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) stressed.
According to the Executive Chair, WSSCC, Hind Khatib-Othman, WSSCC is joining the call for action to emphasize the need for a scalable and global Fund that can effectively address sanitation and hygiene crisis bedeviling the world, particularly low-income countries.
“Joining this vital and timely call, we are emphasizing the need for a scalable and global Fund that can effectively tackle the sanitation and hygiene crisis with a transformative, long-term approach. We are urging world leaders to scale up investments in sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health through the new Sanitation and Hygiene Fund. Our goal is to provide low-income countries with the means needed to achieve sanitation and hygiene for all,” said Hind Khatib-Othman.
The SWA stressed in its statement that water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), together with physical distancing, are vital to preventing the spread of COVID-19, and the first line of defense against the serious threat to lives and health systems.
