Participation in IWA Water and Development Congress and Exhibition 2023 in Kigali

ITN-BUET attended the International Water Association Water and Development Congress and Exhibition 2023 held in Kigali, Rwanda. Director of ITN-BUET Prof. Dr. Tanvir Ahmed presented the research findings on ‘Sustainability Concerns of Solar Desalination Systems in Water-Challenged Regions of Bangladesh’ in the congress. His presentation outlined the challenges and solutions crucial for combatting water scarcity in the studied area. His presentation highlighted the feasibility, scalability, and financial implications of replicating such sustainable solutions in water-challenged regions.

Dr. Ahmed also facilitated a workshop titled ‘Sanitation-Wise Future: Climate Resilient Inclusive Urban Sanitation.’ This session was led by Dr. Juliet Willetts of UTS, Australia. The purpose of the session was to move from ideas to action on the challenge of integrating climate resilience into urban sanitation financing, implementation and monitoring. The session discussed recent research on climate impacts and adaptation actions at city level, as well as experiences of public sector actors and other development agencies.

Project Officer at ITN-BUET, Ms. Faria Tasnim, disseminated the findings of the study ‘Measuring the CWIS status of 10 municipalities in Bangladesh’, where she demonstrated an approach to quantify the CWIS framework providing a means to evaluate a city’s advancement in implementing CWIS. Participants of that session asked about the validation of the approach with any existing similar approach, whether the score had been disseminated with municipalities and the future plan with these indicators.

Several delegates from Bangladesh were present at the event, including Ms. Farzana Mannan, Joint Secretary, Local Government Division, Mr. Tofazzal Hossain, Deputy Secretary, Local Government Division, Mr. Shamim Ahmed, Project Director of the 10 town project and Executive Engineer of Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE); Dr. Abdullah Al-Muyeed, the Chief Operating Officer of CWIS-FSM Support Cell, DPHE; Executive Engineers from DPHE, and other representatives from various sector stakeholders including WaterAid and SNV Netherlands Development Organization.

During a significant event at the IWA Congress, Dr. Abdullah Al-Muyeed was honored with the prestigious Inclusive Sanitation Champion Award for the year 2023 by the International Water Association.

Throughout the congress, ITN-BUET remained actively engaged, participating in various workshops related to gender in sanitation, nature-based solution for sanitation etc., fostering collaboration and exchanging knowledge with professionals and organizations dedicated to addressing global water and sanitation challenges. Additionally, the collaborative efforts set forth by the MoU are anticipated to make a lasting impact on the global water and sanitation landscape, especially in South Asia.