About The Nakuru Forum
INAUGURAL I4WASH FORUM, 2023 NAKURU
Climate-proofing our WASH systems and Solutions.
The proposed Forum is a ‘home grown’ initiative that seeks to provide a sustainable approach to addressing the need for innovation in the water and sanitation sector not only in Nakuru but the region as well through private sector engagement. Technology and innovation have been prescribed as the strategy to deliver this aspiration as an enabler to efficient water use, which thereby reduces the strain on the utility companies in the country.
While climate change threatens clean and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, it also offers an opportunity to rethink our approach to sustainable outcomes.
By nurturing ‘home grown ‘solutions developed by local and regional innovators, the Forum seeks to provide a platform which show cases cutting edge innovations by private sector and seek to address WASH challenges that hinder uptake of the same.
This Forum will bring together various stakeholders and provided a platform for them to:
- Gain an understanding of the policies, programmes, and interventions that the government has in place aimed at fostering positive action in sustainable water management.
- Showcase various innovations in the Eastern African Region market and the value they create within the water and sanitation sector.
- Facilitate an exchange between the sources and seekers of capital by offering organizations the opportunity to present, in time-limited segments, their mission, their value proposition, and other relevant information.
- Give presentations on the available sources of financing, and requirements.
- Showcase their areas of intervention, for those not directly involved in seeking capital and financing.
- Create partnerships geared towards sustainable water and sanitation management.
Background
The UN 2030 Agenda rightly places the private sector to drive sustainable development for the good of the people, the economy and the planet. Private sector can make huge contributions and investments into developing innovative technologies and business models to tackle the sustainable development challenges while also increasing competitiveness, creating jobs and promoting sustainable, inclusive economic growth in the county and the country.
It is therefore important that an integrated approach is applied in;
- Developing solutions that demonstrate efficient water use and greater storage capacity thereby enabling among other activities; greater agricultural production and make zero hunger possible through a sponge city approach
- Ensuring that there is adoption of sustainable wastewater treatment and pollution technologies and solutions to protect life on land and in water
- Providing a sustainable water supply through utilization of clean energy (solar, wind etc) that ensures there is continuous production of affordable, industrial development, decent work, economic growth, and the elimination of poverty.
- Ensuring water and access to sustainable sanitation solutions are available to all, is necessary to achieve equality based on gender and other factors, and to prevent conflict and preserve peace.
- Increasing investment in WASH to generates positive returns in reduced medical burden and increased productivity, removes barriers to marginalized groups’ participation in society, and creates long-term jobs.
- Increased Innovative financing for water resource management will be needed to help attract investment, create jobs, and support governments in fulfilling their water and climate goals.
- Applied efficiency measures along the entire agrifood chain can help save water and energy, such as precision irrigation based on information supplied by water providers, and protection of ecosystems alongside agriculture and energy production can ensure environmental integrity.