We must work to make cities places where built environment professionals, and others, want to work and can see a career path. Professionalizing local government will be an important step in ensuring that we can continue to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements – where the 2.4million citizens of the Commonwealth live, work and innovate. The challenge is now; and the Commonwealth is well placed to respond quickly by mobilizing its unique network of governments, local governments, professionals, civil society and experts to help deliver a more sustainable urban future.
2.6.5 ACCESS TO SERVICES
Erik Harvey, Programme Support Unit Director, and Hannah Crichton-Smith, Sustainable WASH Advisor Critical to human health, well-being and socio-economic development, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are central features of any built environment around the world. WASH is the foundation of health services and central to the reduction of child and maternal mortality, as well as ensuring people are resilient to climate-induced hazards. Water and waste management are also critical for economic activities. However, weak sector capacity, coupled with poor sector governance, threatens the achievement of inclusive and sustainable WASH access for all (SDG 6) and will have knockon effects for the achievement of all other related SDGs. This is despite capacity being well-recognised as a need in the WASH sector globally45, and prioritised under target 6.a of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)46. The preliminary findings of the 2019 Built Environment Professions in the Commonwealth Survey reflect WaterAid’s own understanding and experience of supporting improvements in the delivery of inclusive and sustainable WASH in developing countries. The findings also reflect those of the 2014 International Water Association’s assessment of capacity gaps in the WASH sector in 15 developing countries47. For example, weak capacity to implement WASH policies at local levels; limited ability to enforce WASH regulation and standards to ensure quality; insufficient resources and skills to monitor, budget and plan for inclusive and sustainable WASH service provision; limited skills to design financially viable and sustainable management models; and limited opportunities and resources to maintain knowledge and continue professional development. Achieving sustainable and thriving built environments is critically dependent on welldesigned and managed WASH services that reach everyone. This in turn requires strong governance and capacity across a wide range of disciplines including engineering, urban/ town planning, economics, architecture, social science, water resource management, behavioural science, data analysis, to name but a few.
45 https://iwa-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1422745887-
an-avoidable-crisis-wash-gaps.pdf 46 “By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building
support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies.” 47 https://iwa-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1422745887-
an-avoidable-crisis-wash-gaps.pdf
48
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Planning for climate change and rapid urbanisation