Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council
Encyclopedia
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is an international organization
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...

 whose secretariat in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 is hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). WSSCC is a global multi-stakeholder partnership organisation that works to improve the lives of poor people by enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals around sanitation and water supply. Through this work it contributes to the broader goals of poverty eradication, health and environmental improvement, gender equality and long-term social and economic development.

The activities undertaken by WSSCC were recognized in the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

 resolution A/RES/45/181 of 21 December 1990. WSSCC's operational work is divided into Networking & Knowledge Management, Advocacy & Communications and the Global Sanitation Fund.

WSSCC’s mission is to achieve sustainable water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...

 and sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...

 for all people. In order to achieve its mission, WSSCC follows these core principles:
  1. WSSCC only exists to serve poor people.
  2. WSSCC puts the people themselves at the centre of planning and action for achieving sustainable water and sanitation.
  3. WSSCC works by enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals rather than by implementing its own projects.
  4. WSSCC recognises that water and sanitation are essential for social and economic development.
  5. WSSCC aims to be at the forefront of global knowledge, debate and influence in its field.
  6. The number of people without sanitation is much greater than the number without water, while the agencies working in sanitation are fewer; therefore WSSCC dedicates most of its effort to sanitation and hygiene.


Programmes and activities

To achieve its mission, WSSCC divides its activities into three programme areas: Networking & Knowledge Management, Advocacy & Communications, and the Global Sanitation Fund. The activities of these three programmes complement each other so that the effectiveness and impact of the whole is greater than the sum of its three parts.

Through Networking & Knowledge Management, WSSCC provides a space in which individuals and organisations concerned with water, sanitation and hygiene for poor people in developing countries can network and share ideas. WSSCC currently has National Coordinators and National WASH Coalitions in 36 countries. They act as the focal point for country-level activities, including the facilitation of National WASH Coalitions to support coordination and networking. WSSCC’s thematic networking focuses on themes directly related to the sustainable delivery of water supply and sanitation services and sustainable hygiene behaviour change.

The organisation previously organised global fora where sector professionals from developing and developed
Developed country
A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...

 countries may meet and exchange information. The first such global forum took place in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, in 1991. Since then, there have been five meetings, the most recent one in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, in 2004.

WSSCC promotes global and national advocacy efforts by members and partners to raise awareness of the humiliating and harmful social environment of the unserved poor. WSSCC carries out advocacy campaigns at both the community level and at the national, or government, level. This is done with the dual aim of building grassroots support for improved water, sanitation and hygiene schemes, and of convincing policy leaders to take up the challenge of providing water and sanitation for all people. The main advocacy initiative is the Global WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Campaign.

WSSCC created the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) in 2008 to support national efforts to help larger numbers of poor people to attain sustainable access to basic sanitation and to adopt good hygiene practices. Implementation is beginning in 2009.

The Executive Director is Jon Lane, OBE, a United Kingdom national.

The Steering Committee of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council elected Professor Anna Tibaijuka
Anna Tibaijuka
Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme...

, former Executive Director of United Nations Human Settlements Programme
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya...

, as its new Chair on 19 october 2010. Tibaijuka will succeed Roberto Lenton, whose second and final term of office ended in March 2011.
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