8th APWF Webinar:WASH as entry point to reduce Covid-19 vulnerabilities and other hazards

Date & Time
12th March 2021, 15:30 to 16:30 (Japan Time)

The Speaker of the 8th APWF Webinar
Speakers from UN-Habitat
Mr. Atsushi Koresawa, Regional Representative of Asia and the Pacific
Dr. Avi Sarkar, Regional Advisor, South-East Asia, Urban Basic Services
Ms. Inga Korte, Team Leader Urban Climate Resilience for Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
Mr. Juan Torres, Information Management Officer for Lao PDR Office
Ms. Odicea Angelo Barrios, Programme Coordinator of Community-driven development Unit for Myanmar
Ms. Parul Agarwala, Country Programme Manager, India office

Topic
WASH as entry point to reduce Covid-19 vulnerabilities and other hazards

Flyer
8th APWF Webinar with UNHABITAT Flyer

Overview
The impact of COVID-19 across Asia-Pacific Region has brought fore the importance of robust WASH infrastructure systems into focus. While the unfolding crisis affects the entire population across the region, certain groups are more severely hit due to the existing challenging accesses and conditions related to water, sanitation and health systems. Limited access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene are problems that weaken heath care systems across communities in Asia-Pacific every year. In addition, the limited mainstreaming of disaster risk and climate change considerations into urban plans or actions exacerbate these challenges that Governments face to achieve through responses in terms of adaptation, mitigation and improved resilience. A business-as-usual approach will not be enough to overcome the effects of the current pandemic and build resilience against the future shocks.

This Webinar will look into the COVID-19 response in several countries of the region, where on-going climate change related interventions have already made progress towards strengthening sustainable water resources management and service provision. This technical approach will look into three specific areas: (a) water resilient systems’ impact in communities, (b) sustainable engagement of local governments and communities through participatory approaches, and (c) importance of producing evidence-based data, mapping and knowledge for informed decision making.

Presentation Materials
https://apwf.org/apwf_wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/8thAPWFWebinar_Mar-3-2021-UN-HABITAT.pdf