We need innovative solutions and we need them now
It has been 10 years since Safely Managed Drinking Water and Sanitation For All was enshrined as a human right, but there are still people being left behind. The gaps in access to services have been made all more apparent by the Covid-19 pandemic, which shows that many communities are yet to have total access to clean water and sanitation.
Innovative service delivery solutions are needed to close existing gaps in access to services, reduce inequalities, and ultimately ensure Safely Managed Drinking Water and Sanitation for All. It has been shown that business-as-usual will not address the problems of low coverage, inadequate service level and poor sustainability of water and sanitation systems.
This special issue seeks to gain a better understanding of the role and contribution of innovation to better management infrastructure, strategies, and governance processes that can lead to improved and sustainable services, and achieve universal coverage, paying special attention to low-income and vulnerable customers.
SIWI’s Ricard Giné has been asked to edit the special issue and explains why it is so important: “It is time to make a difference on delivering services to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of population”. He emphasises the need to share good practices, success and failures alongside lessons learned to drastically improve the delivery of services. “This Special Issue is a contribution to this end. By disseminating knowledge and expertise from academics, practitioners and decision-makers, it supports the outreach of delivery models, solutions and arrangements that can provide services for all on any scale.”
Deadline for manuscript submissions is 30 September 2021.
