New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): As a part of the Second India International WASH Conference being organised throughout the ninth India International Water Week (IIWW) 2026, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, on Thursday convened a high-level Indo-Africa Roundtable on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, to deliberate on shared water and sanitation challenges and discover alternatives for future cooperation, in keeping with an official press launch.
The roundtable introduced collectively Ambassadors and representatives of twenty-two African nations, senior officers of the Government of India, improvement companions and worldwide organisations. AICTE-affiliated engineering college students from the National Capital Region had been known as to witness the deliberations.
Setting the Context, Ashok KK Meena, Secretary, DDWS, highlighted that India’s expertise in rural water provide and sanitation extends past bodily infrastructure and is essentially about public well being, dignity, ladies’s empowerment and group possession.
He emphasised that sturdy political dedication and native institutional possession have been central to India’s progress below the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G). Drawing consideration to the decentralised governance framework adopted in India, he underlined the vital position performed by Gram Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees in planning, operation, monitoring and sustainability of rural providers.
Meena additional highlighted that over 2.48 million ladies have been educated in the usage of Field Testing Kits for water-quality surveillance, making ladies lively individuals in native water governance. He additionally recalled the transformative influence of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin, which transformed sanitation right into a nationwide individuals’s motion via behavioural change, native management and group participation.
Emphasising the significance of sustainability, he outlined 5 key classes from India’s expertise: sturdy political management, empowered native governments, funding in individuals alongside infrastructure, planning for operation and upkeep from the outset, and the usage of easy and interoperable digital techniques for accountability and repair supply.
Secretary DDWS mentioned that India is honoured to share its operational data, digital approaches and expertise in group governance, whereas studying from improvements and experiences rising throughout Africa.
The goal of this deliberation is to study from each other and strengthen approaches that may ship protected water, dignified sanitation and resilient providers for communities. Such cooperation can contribute meaningfully to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6, the press launch famous.
Presenting India’s expertise in rural drinking-water service supply, Kamal Kishore Soan, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Jal Jeevan Mission, highlighted the unprecedented scale of investments made that present political will.
Launch of Jal Jeevan Mission on 15 August 2019 marked a decisive shift in direction of guaranteeing purposeful tap-water connections for each rural family. The expertise has strengthened the significance of political dedication, public funding, coordinated implementation and group participation.
He famous that these classes can contribute to the broader trade of information amongst nations looking for to strengthen dependable and sustainable rural water providers. He introduced that tap-water protection has elevated from 32.4 million rural households in 2019 to over 159.4 million households right this moment and defined how the Mission has addressed long-standing challenges of restricted piped-water provide, non-functional schemes, extreme dependence on groundwater and water-quality issues via a mix of infrastructure improvement, supply sustainability measures, water-quality monitoring and group participation.
He knowledgeable that India’s rural water-management technique is more and more targeted on sustainability, together with a gradual shift from groundwater dependence in direction of larger utilisation of surface-water sources. He additionally showcased Sujalam Bharat, India’s rising Digital Public Infrastructure for rural water governance, which goals to offer source-to-tap visibility, digital asset mapping, data-driven governance and improved service administration via a standard interoperable digital spine.
Presenting India’s sanitation journey, Aishvarya Singh, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin, highlighted how the Mission reworked sanitation right into a individuals’s motion via unprecedented group participation and behavioural change. She famous that greater than 120 million family bathrooms have been constructed since 2014, serving to India obtain common sanitation protection and attain SDG goal 6.2 forward of schedule.
She said that SBM-G has now moved past rest room building in direction of sustainable rural sanitation service supply. The present focus consists of stable and liquid waste administration, visible cleanliness, ODF Plus Model Villages, digital monitoring techniques and institutional mechanisms for normal evaluation of sanitation providers.
She additionally highlighted current initiatives corresponding to Swachh Seva Aandolan and efforts to institutionalise sanitation service supply via native governments, digital techniques and community-led verification. Stressing the significance of behaviour change, she noticed that sanitation outcomes will be sustained solely when communities themselves develop into custodians of cleanliness and public-health beneficial properties, the press launch said.
Delivering the worldwide perspective, Saroj Kumar Jha, Global Director-Water, World Bank, described India’s water and sanitation transformation as one of the vital examples of large-scale improvement change witnessed throughout creating nations. He noticed that sturdy political management, institutional coordination, progressive financing, public funding and group participation had been key elements behind the success.
Highlighting the worldwide water-security problem, he famous that billions of individuals worldwide proceed to lack entry to protected water and sanitation providers. He emphasised that water safety is prime to financial development, employment technology, prosperity and social stability.
He known as for larger international investments in water and sanitation, stronger political dedication and enhanced partnerships, whereas additionally emphasising that Africa needs to be considered not solely via the lens of challenges but additionally as a supply of innovation, enterprise and domestically developed options. He welcomed the India-Africa dialogue and advocated for continued engagement and institutionalised cooperation between the 2 areas.
Representatives from the World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) and BISAG-N shared worldwide experiences, improvements and greatest practices in WASH service supply. Discussions highlighted the rising position of digital applied sciences, geospatial instruments, group establishments, water-quality surveillance, local weather resilience and evidence-based policymaking in strengthening water and sanitation techniques.
Participants additionally emphasised the significance of partnerships amongst governments, communities, improvement organisations and know-how establishments for attaining sustainable WASH outcomes.
Yvan JF Hutin, representing the World Health Organisation (WHO), underscored the shut hyperlinks between protected consuming water, sanitation and public well being outcomes, and highlighted the significance of water-quality surveillance, preventive well being measures and resilient WASH techniques.
Paulos Workneh, Chief WASH, India, UNICEF, shared experiences on community-centred service supply, behaviour change, inclusion and strengthening WASH providers for girls, youngsters and susceptible populations.
Ruchika Shiva, Director, Global & Asia Regional Programme, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), emphasised the significance of multi-stakeholder partnerships, country-led motion, accountability and collaborative approaches for attaining common entry to water and sanitation.
Vinay Thakur, Director General, BISAG-N, showcased the usage of geospatial applied sciences, GIS-based planning and digital mapping options for monitoring water infrastructure, bettering asset administration and enabling data-driven decision-making within the WASH sector. Collectively, the audio system highlighted the rising position of digital innovation, local weather resilience, group participation and evidence-based governance in strengthening sustainable WASH techniques.
Addressing the gathering, Shivala Naik Mude, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, highlighted India’s longstanding improvement partnership with African nations and reaffirmed the nation’s dedication to supporting Africa via infrastructure improvement, institutional capability constructing and data trade.
He famous that Digital Public Infrastructure, water-resource administration and technical cooperation current vital alternatives for future India-Africa collaboration. Recalling the historic and civilisational ties between India and Africa, he emphasised the significance of working collectively as companions of the Global South to handle frequent improvement challenges, the press launch added.
During the interactive session, Ambassadors and representatives of African nations shared experiences and views on water safety, sanitation, irrigation, local weather resilience and sustainable infrastructure improvement of their nations.
They acknowledged India’s achievements in increasing entry to consuming water and sanitation and highlighted a number of frequent priorities, together with water harvesting, groundwater administration, wastewater therapy and reuse, supply sustainability, inexpensive water-treatment applied sciences, waste administration, digital water governance and climate-resilient infrastructure.
The discussions underscored the necessity for sensible, inexpensive and domestically adaptable options, notably for rural, drought-prone and underserved communities. African representatives additionally highlighted the significance of sustainable financing, efficient operation and upkeep techniques, institutional capability constructing, non-public sector participation and improvement of native technical expertise.
Several individuals expressed curiosity in pursuing government-to-government cooperation, technical exchanges, pilot initiatives, analysis partnerships, educational collaboration and publicity visits to facilitate data sharing and know-how switch, in keeping with the press launch.
The day began with welcoming the individuals by D Senthil Pandian, Joint Secretary, DDWS. He known as the roundtable an vital platform for strengthening cooperation amongst nations going through comparable improvement challenges. Highlighting the worldwide water problem, he noticed that entry to protected consuming water isn’t merely an infrastructure situation however one among dignity, well being and alternative.
Referring to India’s expertise below the Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission, he emphasised that long-term sustainability of water and sanitation providers can solely be achieved when communities themselves develop into lively stakeholders and homeowners of the belongings created. He underlined the significance of collective motion and data sharing at a time when the worldwide group is working in direction of attaining Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation for All by 2030.
In her concluding remarks, Swati Meena Naik, Joint Secretary, DDWS, mentioned that the deliberations reaffirmed a standard understanding that protected consuming water, sanitation and hygiene are basic to public well being, dignity, gender equality and sustainable improvement.
Focusing on the way in which ahead, she said that the deliberations had opened new avenues for India-Africa cooperation in water safety and sanitation. She highlighted data trade, capability constructing, water-quality administration, digital public infrastructure for WASH, community-led governance, climate-resilient water techniques and sustainable sanitation as precedence areas for future engagement.
She additional famous that SPM-NIWAS may help this cooperation via coaching programmes, publicity visits and technical exchanges. Emphasising a partnership-based strategy, she said that the target could be to collectively develop inexpensive, scalable and domestically adaptable options for attaining sustainable WASH outcomes, the press launch said.
The roundtable concludes with a deepening of India-Africa cooperation via sustained engagement, mutual studying and sensible partnerships. The deliberations reaffirmed the significance of South-South cooperation in accelerating progress in direction of protected water, dignified sanitation and climate-resilient WASH providers for all. (ANI)