Declaration

MEETING THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN

HYGIENE, SANITATION AND WATER SUPPLY

DECLARATION ON STRENTHENNING RESOURCE CENTERS IN SRI LANKA

Background

Over the years, developing countries including Sri Lanka have gathered valuable knowledge and experience related to planning, implementation and management of water supply and sanitation services. This knowledge needs to be gainfully used to resolve issues close to where they are and contribute to progress in meeting the nationalgoal namely “to provide safe drinking water to all by year 2025” and the millennium development gals of halving the population without access to water supply and sanitation by year 2015. In order to achieve this target, a participatory approach involving all stakeholders is necessary.

In this process, it is crucial to make informed decision by the correct time by various stakeholders at different level. This requires gathering relevant information, packaging it and making it available to those who need it. A mechanism therefore is needed to collect, analyse, store and disseminate supportive and provide links to relevant support agencies. Existing resource centres by their very objectives could provide that mechanism strategically. It is therefore necessary to strengthen such centres in the country, with possible networking with similar centres in country, within the region and globally for mutual benefit when collective and collaborative support is needed.

Realizing this need at the local, a group of concerned sector professionals initiated relevant activities. Subsequently, a national level workshop was organized on 12th – 13th September 2001, with the assistance of IRC (International Resource Centre for Water and Sanitation) and the Rural and Sanitation Division, Ministry of Housing and Plantation Infrastructure, enclosed by the Secretary to the Ministry. The workshop enclosed a core group (steering group) to move activities forward for selection and strengthening resource centres to achieve needed objectives. IRC agreed to assist the process of strengthening the relevant resource centres in Sri Lanka as has been undertaken by them in other developing countries.

Objective

To strengthen local resource centres and networking amongst them to provide an effective partner to the formal organization through knowledge management in meeting the millennium goals (MDGS) in water supply and sanitation, adopting the principles of vision 21.

Strategic focus

To this end the strategic focus in the short term (next 3 years) shall be:

1.identifying knowledge and capacity gaps in meeting the MDGS and vision 21 and in developing programs to help close the gaps;

2.Awareness raising and developing a good information base;

3.facilitating access to information and experience for people to use;

4.linking with the WASH campaign to achieve the principles of vision 21 (A people centred approach)

In moving ahead

Aware of the need for a steering committee to co-ordinate and steer support activities in moving ahead and achieving progress in the identified focus areas, we the undersigned who participated in the workshop in Kandy on 17thand 18th July 2003 to discuss the expectations from resource centres and priority actions to be undertaken to meet such needs, declare our acceptance and support to the following to take responsibility as a steering committee during the next three years namely July 2003 to July 2006.

Number of members will be six in total with the following composition.

Six members of the Steering Committee:

Mr. Deepthi Sumanasekara (NWSDB)

Mr. W. Piyasena or his representative (RWSS division)

Mr. Janaka Amarasinghe (NGO Water decade Services)

Dr. Induka Werellagama (University of Peradeniya)

Mr. Suneedha Senerathne (IDC Integrated development Consultants, for private sector)

Dr. Liqa Raschid (IWMI)

Ex officio:

Secretary: Mr. Palitha Jayaweera

Chairperson: Mr. Ranjith Wirasinghe accept to stay on as Chairperson for another two years or less if a governance structure is put into place.

Mr. Teun Bastemeijer (IRC) would be formally participate in the steering committee in an advisory capacity.