Webinar: WASH, gender equality and Beijing+25: holding states to account

2020 has been a watershed year in more ways than one – both the year of the devastating pandemic and the year that marks 25 years of Beijing Platform of Action. 25 years ago, the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) – the foundational global agreement on women’s rights – called on all governments to ‘Ensure the availability of and universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation and put in place effective public distribution systems as soon as possible.’ In 2020, as the international community observes the 25th anniversary of the BPfA as well as the tenth anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s recognition of water and sanitation as human rights, the right to gender-responsive WASH facilities has become even more urgent in view of the spread of COVID-19. 

Opening remarks and welcome

Wangari Kinoti, International Policy Advisor, Women’s Rights, ActionAid International

Roundtable

1. Dr. Pedi Obani, Senior Lecturer, University of Benin and Visiting Researcher, POLIS at Leeds
2. Margarita Lopez, CONTAGUAS (Confederation of Water, Sanitation and Environment Workers of the Americas), member of Public Services International’s World Women’s Committee
3. Memory Kachambwa, African Women’s Communications and Development Network (FEMNET) – Beijing+25, COVID-19 and WASH, from a feminist lens
4. ActionAid Myanmar (TBC)
5. Young Urban Women representative, India – gender-responsive toilets (TBC)

Respondent

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, Mr. Léo Heller

Closing remarks and thanks

Abdul-Nashiru Mohammed, West Africa Regional Director, OR Mariame Dem, International Programmes Director, WaterAid (TBC)

Register: https://zoom.us/j/92907451817?pwd=ckVqYXBZUWdCc0hodDdoZGVJL3FlUT09