Strengthening Core Infrastructure for Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Electricity and Waste Services in Health Care Facilities (HLPF 2026 Side Event)

Very good afternoon to everyone.
Thank you for those of you who are on time, which as you know, in this building is a rare occurrence.
So out of respect for you that are here at 1:15, we are going to kick off.
I'm we'll be joined by several other people also.
I'm the representative of the World Health Organization here in New York and it's a great pleasure to moderate this discussion in very esteemed company, which includes the Secretary-General Special Envoy on Water.
Whom I want to acknowledge.
Every time I'm at an event to speak, she is also there, so she's really doing her work very effectively.
Then in particular, to my right, the permanent representatives, and ambassador from Philippines and the ambassador from Hungary who have shown tremendous leadership on this agenda for many years now here in the General Assembly.
In fact, just a few days ago, the Assembly adopted a very, very strong impactful resolution overwhelmingly, which sets the agenda for all of us in the UN system, but also for countries to implement the wash in healthcare facilities, but also improving wash infrastructure across sectors in all member states of the United Nations.
Congratulations to them for their leadership and for their teams working so hard to bring this resolution to a successful conclusion.
This event, as you know, we focus on strengthening health systems, climate resilience, but also how do you integrate your planning and approach to infrastructure development so that WASH not only benefits healthcare facilities, but the population more broadly.
It's important to hear from all the country representatives that will be up here on the panel first part of the discussion, what they do in their country is also to plan across sectors and to coordinate effectively.
Then we will hear from those colleagues here from other stakeholders and constituencies that are very well versed in keeping governments on their toes and making sure they do their work properly the way they should.
That will be the second part of the discussion.
Let me just say, for the past four or five years or so, we have seen in WHO a tremendous increase.
We've seen a 60% increase in countries reporting on how they are strengthening water sanitation and hygiene facilities at national level, but also at subnational level.
101 countries now report to us in WHO on their activities to strengthen WASH, but also waste and electricity, which are crucial to have together with WASH in health care settings.
You all know, but needs to be reemphasized, wash is really crucial for infection prevention and control, which is the way that outbreaks happen, which then become epidemics and then become pandemics.
That is your first bulwark through which you defend is infection prevention and control.
But wash is also crucial for antimicrobial resistance, which is a key emerging challenge for us in the health sector and if left unchecked, will result in health facilities being ineffective because it will not have antibiotics that can treat infections.
But it is also important for maternal and child care and particularly neonatal care, and so it is something that benefits society as a whole.
It is also quite heartening for us to see in our statistics that 80% of infrastructure programs across the world, even countries that do not like to talk about climate change here in this building, they now have a focus on climate resilience in their healthcare facilities, which is a very, very good signal.
But all of these activities will not become very effective without monitoring how effective they are and how robust the implementation is.
The accountability part, I think is very important and we'll hear about that more in the second part of the discussion.
Without any further words from my side, it's my great privilege to ask Ambassador Enrique Manolo to my right to deliver opening remarks and he will be followed by the special envoy, Ensudi Ambassador.
Thank you very much It's welcome.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Moderator.
Mr.
Obermeyer from the HWC is here in the UN.
Good afternoon, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, partners.
On behalf of the group of friends in support of water, sanitation, and hygiene or wash in health care facilities, it's my pleasure to welcome all of you to this side event.
I also want to acknowledge the presence of my co chair of the group of friends, Ambassador Susana Horvat the PR of Hungary.
Our discussions today are especially relevant for this year's HLPF in which SDG six on clean water and sanitation is under review.
In fact, the other SDGs under review are also very pertinent to WASH, namely SDG seven on affordable and clean energy, nine on industry and innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and 17 on partnerships.
Ensuring water and sanitation for all indeed requires a focused and integrated approach.
In this regard, I am glad, of course, as you might be aware, that two days ago, the General Assembly adopted the resolution presented by the group of friends on sustainable and safe water sanitation, hygiene, waste, electricity services in healthcare facilities.
The adoption of the resolution reflects the international community's recognition that these essential services are fundamental to resilient health systems and sustainable development.
I believe that resolution and today's events will also contribute to the high level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response to be held in a few months and also the 2026 UN Water Conference.
Together, these processes remind us that resilient health systems begin with resilient infrastructure equipped with adequate, accessible and affordable wash.
Since its launch in 2021, the group of friends, as I mentioned, co chaired by the Philippines and Hungary, has worked to elevate Washington healthcare facilities from a minor concern to a global political priority.
This is because millions of people still receive care in facilities without safe water, sanitation, hygiene, reliable electricity, or adequate waste management.
Behind these figures are mothers giving birth without clean water, health workers providing care under difficult conditions and communities left more vulnerable to disease outbreaks and climate related emergencies.
Considering these continuing challenges, our event today will explore practical and innovative solutions, strengthen partnerships, and identify opportunities to invest in resilient infrastructure and healthcare facilities.
And we extend our sincere appreciation to our distinguished speakers and panelists, especially our keynote speaker, also my dear friend, the UN Secretary-General Special Envoy on Water.
Her excellency, miss Repnno LP Marsudi.
I also wish to thank our colleagues from the World Health Organization and all our partners for making this event possible.
In closing, I look forward to a rich exchange of experiences and good practices and to help ensure that we continue working together to ensure that every healthcare facility is equipped with essential services needed to protect lives, strengthen resilience, and leave no one behind.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Ambassador Manolo.
It's now my great privilege to introduce the Secretary-General Special Envoy.
You may know that she has served as Foreign Minister of Indonesia for a decade and she tells me that she's finding her current job much nicer than a previous one.
So over to you.
Well, thank you very much, Mr.
Moderator.
Excellencies, colleagues.
First of all, of course, I thank the Philippines, Hungary, and WHO for inviting me in this very important side event.
And my apology, I won't be able to stay for the whole session because at the same time, I have to host the engagement with the private sectors.
Colleagues, among many water challenges, the lack of wash in health facilities provide us a sobbering reflection, that the word cannot wait for action and progress in water.
I would like to repeat it again.
The word cannot wait for action and progress in water.
We have heard many times that water is life and that water and sanitation sustain human dignity.
Unfortunately, in many places, the reality is far from the statement.
At least until 2023, data shows that 1.1 billion people were still served by health care facilities that lack basic water surfaces.
1.7 billion were served by health facilities without basic hygiene surfaces such as hand wash utilities, and 3 billion were served by health facilities without basic sanitation.
This data shows the grave reality surrounding our health system and our water.
Therefore, it is time for us to take action.
Colleagues, allow me to convey three things how to accelerate progress.
First, putting WASH at the center of health system.
Making WAS central at the heart of health system is strategic and appropriate.
International cooperation, of course, must put WASH at the heart of global health agenda.
Second, innovation and investment and financing.
At the global level, we are witnessing the shrinking commitment to international cooperation, but at the same time, we continue to see growing attention to water and sanitation issue from private sector.
This is actually opportunity not to be missed.
Last, make the best use of the current and upcoming strategic political momentum.
The SDTSC is currently under review with the ECSC FLBV mechanism and the third UN Water Conference will take place at the end of this year, and these are the opportunities we must not waste.
Colleagues, inclusion, allow me to emphasize my commitment of supporting works that ensure water, sanitation, and hygiene for all, especially those in need in health facility and wishing you a successful meeting.
I thank you very much.
Thank you very much and good luck with the other event.
I know the private sector is important because they are the major investors in infrastructure development.
So I we were successful for that event.
Now I want to turn to some of the countries that are here to give us examples of what they are doing in their settings and also what they are doing in support of other countries.
First on my list is Bangladesh.
Also to my right, the speaker is the principal coordinator for SDG affairs in the Prime Minister's office, doctor Abullawal.
Thank you very much for joining us.
It's now your turn.
Thank you very much.
It is my pleasure to be here to join the sessions.
Thank you.
I think most of you knew about Bangladesh, right? Bangladesh is a very climate vulnerable country.
Due to the geographical location, can you hear me? It's all right.
Due to the geographical location, we do have a positive side and the negative side.
The positive side is we do have a fertile land.
We can produce a lot of agricultural crops.
Negative side is, we do have a lot of natural disaster, a lot of natural kilometers.
So one of the major challenges nowadays we have is the water security, we are not calling it port security.
I would more preferably call it water security.
If you consider the northern area of my country, the people who are living in very rural area are suffering a lot due to the lack of fresh drinking water.
If you consider the coastal area, the people are suffering a lot due to the saline water.
So think about the grassroot people living both sides of the countries.
Water playing a vital role in our country.
Our government After the Democratic election held on February, we took the powers.
We are in the power now, and we have a proper strategy to address this type of problem.
One of the strategy that government has to excavate canals.
We have a canal digging program.
Our aim is to dig in canals of about 20,000 kilometers in the next five years.
Why we are doing that? Because, as I mentioned earlier, we used underground water for irrigation system for the agricultural productivity.
But if we can produce a lot of water reserver, then we can use the surface water for irrigation systems.
That's our plan.
The second plan, as our water level is getting down and down and down, if we have a water reserver then it will discharge the underground water and it will ali the level of underground water, and the water will be easily accessible for the rural people.
That's our strategy that's government made nowadays.
We do have another plan which we call Tista bars project.
I don't know whether you heard about the Tistabs project or not.
This project is basically based on the northern area.
That area is based on the agricultural forecast area, but we had a lot of water lacking for the irrigation system, particularly during the dry season.
So we share water from the China to India to Bangladesh and also Nepal.
But due to the transboundary water sharing issues, we had a problem that our government now having the strategy to develop our own system so that we can do a lot of canal excavation program, can connect canal with the rivers so that we can store our own water, right? That's another problems and things that we are addressing.
And regarding the health system, you know, water is directly linked with the health system, right, as mentioned by the previous speakers, Particularly, Bangladesh is doing great in the health over the years.
We do have a good immunization system, we do have good vaccination systems.
However, still we have a lot of challenges, our government giving the priority on health, particularly the grassroot people, inspired by the UK NSS systems, our plan is to establish a healthcare unit at different Indian grassroot levels, and our plan is to recruit one lack health care workers out of one lack 100,080% will be women so that we can encourage the women empowerment.
So in that way, we are addressing the problem in the water system as well as in the health systems.
So I think thank you very much.
I'll be stopping here, and if you have any question further, I'll give you the answer.
Thank you very much.
Those are really concrete and very good examples.
When we transition and have the stakeholders come up to the podium and they are through their presentations, we will have time for questions and answers, and then I'll be grateful if you were here to respond if there are.
The next speaker on my list was a colleague from Ghana, but I am told that he left with his team when they were kicked out or knocked out of the World Cup, so he's not going to be here.
Then following him, I have Grace Wood from the UK, who has never stopped celebrating since they got through to the quarterfinal.
I'm very happy that she made time to join us here today.
Thank you, Mr.
Moderator, and I was also supporting Ghana, so I was sad about that loss as well.
But thank you so much for convening this event and the group of friends for their leadership around advancing Washington healthcare facilities.
I'll speak a bit about how the UK is partnering with other countries to progress this agenda, less about what we're doing domestically, but more about how we're partnering internationally.
Um I mean, as we know, and as the opening speakers have said, this area is really fundamental to both SDG six around clean water, but also SDG three around health and many other SDGs, and investment in these services, it reduces infections, it improves maternal and newborn health, it strengthens preparedness and helps to build more resilient health systems for the future.
Um, as my colleague from Bangladesh just said, obviously, progress does happen fastest when countries lead and when partners lign behind that and when we can share good practices across our systems.
So we are working to support governments to try to move beyond some of what was previously maybe individual projects towards more of a system strengthening approach for the longer term.
Um, so for example, one area we've been working on, we've been backing the World Bank's Water Forward Initiative, which is supporting the development of national water compacts.
So that's trying to help countries to translate the ambition into action and aligning different parts of government that can sometimes And be quite fragmented, finance ministries, planning, health, water, and environment, and then also external partners who ourselves can be quite fragmented too around a shared vision, a shared set of priorities, a shared set of reforms where that might be needed, and including for climate resilient wash in schools and as well as healthcare facilities.
Um, in some countries that this has been working in such as Sierra Leone and the DRC and Senegal, these compacts have then been linked to longer term programs that have sought to attract and have attracted additional public and private investment over time.
So they have a bit of a multiplier effect.
This is a really important model from our point of view.
Um, because although we're talking about infrastructure, sustainable progress in Wash will not be achieved just by investment in that infrastructure, it also requires stronger institutions, and better planning, more coordinated planning, and clearer accountability across sectors.
Another area that we are supporting on um as well as we have a community of expertise on health pretty recently launched at the global Partnerships conference that we held in May, and this is looking to provide more responsive technical assistance and expertise and support to partner governments who might want that to provide more tailored advice for their needs.
Um, and We know that it's not just a technical solution.
You know, anything that happens we're in the UN, anything that happens is about political will.
So that's why we've also been supporting the Heads of State initiative with the Netherlands and UNICEF and IRC and Water Aid and sanitation and water for all.
Um, we think that's really important because it is encouraging the top political leaders to champion wash as part of core development priorities and to embed commitments around wash within development and financing strategies.
So that is why it's great that we have this focus here this week with the UN Water conference coming up as well, it really needs to be prioritized at that top level.
So as we look ahead to the Water Conference later this year, I think we've got really good momentum so far, we need to build on that and, you know, ensure that we have the right investment, the right technical partnerships, and the political leadership to ensure that every healthcare facility has safe and reliable infrastructure to deliver quality care to those who need it.
So with that, thank you.
I will stop.
Thank you, Grace and thank you very much also for the financial support the UK has been giving to the water agenda for many years now, and we look forward to the same levels being sustained in the coming years.
You're going to have to respond to that immediately.
I That concludes the delegations from the member states.
I'm now going to ask all the other speakers from World Vision, IRC Water Aid, Catholic Relief Services and World Bank to join us here at the podium.
I'm very happy that you mentioned the Water forward.
There was a very good event yesterday on that specific initiative, which is very exciting actually, and if scaled up the way the bank intends will make a major difference.
Of course, one pillar focuses on sanitation and health, which is a key to integrate into the other sectors also.
So thank you very much to the colleague from Bangladesh and from the UK who are now able to listen.
We're being relegated.
No, you are just being swapped.
Okay, there will be enough seats for the others.
Apparently, he's late, but I don't know how late.
I mean, he should be in the building.
He's not here.
Garner is not going to come.
Thank you very much.
It's not that you have to leave the podium.
If we could have more seats here, if it were not for the austerity measures, we could all be at the podium.
But there is life here.
We should be grateful there is sound at least.
I'm now going to turn to the colleagues who are here to tell us what they do actually because I think this is important to hear from the constituents who are at the podium now because even though infrastructure development and safe water remains the responsibility of governments, it cannot be done only by governments.
Obviously, partners are necessary, whether it's a private sector or other stakeholders and these are key support drivers for us also with the UN system because we work with many of them in addition to working with government.
So it's very important to hear from them.
Let me first turn to Kelly Parsons, who is the CEO of Water Aid America to give her reflections, Kelly.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My name is Kelly Parsons.
I'm the CEO of Water Aid America and delighted to be with you all today.
I had the honor of moderating the last UN side event held on this issue in September, and this is an issue that is very close to my heart as I lost my mother to an antibiotic resistant disease or infection.
I also have the honor of working regularly with women in the communities where Water Aid works, and we hear time and again how harmful the lack of clean water, decent sanitation, and good hygiene is within a healthcare facility.
So today, I'm going to bring three of those voices into this room.
We know that it's often women that are most effective.
Take Evelyn's experience at a hospital in Western Uganda.
These are her own words.
The toilets in the hospital were dirty with over 20 people or more waiting to use one single toilet.
They weren't functional and we weren't able to use them.
Let us not forget that women make up over two thirds of the global health workforce also.
I'd like to share the experience of Santte, a midwife in Grand Cape Mount Liberia, who even while working in such unacceptable conditions, still had not only thoughts for herself, but for her patients.
Jeanette shared with us, if the patient is brought in in labor in the time it takes me to go and look for water, she might deliver and need my immediate attention.
But I'm not around because I'm out looking for water, and that could cause significant harm to either the mom or the baby.
She might have a postpartum hemorrhage in the process, I'm looking for water.
These mothers might bleed to death.
When sustainable wash services are in place, there's a transformational often lifesaving effect on the local population.
In Water aids research, we've seen that simple affordable essentials like clean water, toilets and handwashing could cut maternal infections and deaths by at least 50%.
It's a huge impact.
Finally, I'll share Zefia's experience, a nurse in Malawi, who shared the profound impact of introducing wash services in the health center in which she works, a success story.
We've seen a huge drop in sepsis cases, she says.
For the past four months, we have not registered any cases of sepsis because we now have clean water, sanitation, and good hygiene.
I'm unable to do my job without this and keep babies and patients safe from infection.
So I'm now so grateful and happy to be good at what I'm here to do.
Countries must act on the demands voiced by women like these and others all around the world and ensure that there's an understanding across sectors that a healthcare facility is not a healthcare facility without water sanitation, and hygiene.
Member states must do this by ensuring close coordination between ministries of wash, health, and infrastructure to prioritize wash and healthcare facilities in order to meet those joint goals.
As said earlier, we need to put wash at the heart of health care.
We know health ministries are, for example, currently engaging in UN high level meetings on pandemic prevention preparation and response process for which investing in Washington health care facilities is very real.
There must be a cross ministerial effort to finance and implement wash and health care facilities costed roadmaps, including through integration with initiatives such as health and Water compacts.
2026 is the Year of Water.
It is both the African Union's theme and, of course, the year of the UN Water Conference.
It's an opportunity for step change, and we're delighted to be a part of this.
I'd like to thank the governments of Ghana and Switzerland for their championship of the needs of people as co chairs of the Water for People Dialogue.
We need to ensure that governments are meeting people with essential wash services throughout their lives, starting in the delivery room, including schools and ultimately in the health care facilities we all rely on later in life.
And finally, I'd like to thank our hosts, the governments of both the Philippines and Hungary for their ongoing work in elevating this important issue.
We look forward to working with you to ensure that nobody will have to use a healthcare facility which is undignified, drives deadly infection, and ultimately not given the bare basics to protect lives.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Kelly.
It's important also that you mentioned the ongoing negotiations on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, of which I am right in the middle.
So it's not so nice always to be reminded of it, but the infection prevention control wash and focus on primary health care is key to that outcome and already included in the outcome document also.
So rest assured it will be there and it will be a strong focus.
Now I turn to the people with the money, who is my friend and colleague, work very closely with WHO from the World Bank.
Linda Mobola who is the senior health specialist.
Good afternoon, everybody and thank you so much for having us.
Kelly spoke about voices from the fields that are really important.
I'm going to reinforce that before I talk about the Waterford Initiative that many of you have heard about.
In 2018, the second largest Ebola outbreak was declared in DRC and communities told us that they needed water.
Ebola was a concern, but what was more important for them was access to water and healthcare.
And in DRC in particular, the World Bank has invested in wash rehabilitation, rehabilitation of infrastructure, water supply, waste management, and IPC in a particular province, and that has had an impact specifically on other services like maternal child health.
But also investments in energy have led to an increase in utilization of services across the board in specific health zones in the province of Igua.
During this ongoing Ebola outbreak that you're very familiar with, uh, You know, wash has been integrated as part of the response and as part of the response budget to prioritize this issue because there are many health care workers that get infected if you don't have access to clean water and good waste management.
I'm going to take a step back and talk a little bit more about the Water Ford Initiative, which was launched in April of this year during spring meetings and many of you have heard about this already.
It's a new global multi stakeholder initiative with the aim of improving water security for 1 billion people by 2030.
The bank has committed to reaching 400 million people with improved water security.
The strategy is organized around three main pillars, water for people, water for food and water for planet.
And at its core, we've talked about these country water compacts, which are government led action plans that integrate policy reform, institutional strengthening and investment planning, but under full national ownership, government ownership, and that's really, really key.
As you know, the bank comes alongside governments to provide funding, to really prioritize investments that they consider as a priority.
And so as part of the launch, there have been 14 countries that have announced compacts for water in particular, and there are more in the pipeline.
I think there are 48 potential countries that will be launched by the end of 2026.
And I'm going to talk a little bit to give a couple of examples of some of these countries.
Angola, for example, has committed to universal wash access in schools and health, health care facilities by 2032.
Tanzania targets 100% coverage in both schools and health facilities by 2031, and DRC, which I mentioned, has allocated 1.95 95 billion specifically for institutional wash, and that's 10% of its total sector budget.
Alongside the water compacts, we have health compacts as well, and I come from our health unit.
So the World Bank is working on what we're calling a target implementation plan, which aims to reach 1.5 billion people with affordable health care.
As part of that, we have health compacts that are working in parallel with the water compacts.
Our goal is to really align the two, improve coordination between these two sectors internally but also externally, which is why we're here today.
And there are 16 countries that have already launched their health compacts.
We're aiming to have around 40 countries launch their health compacts by the end of the year, by the end of 2026.
And the idea is to really look at improving health facility readiness as a priority, looking at IPC, making sure there's climate resilient washing infrastructure, but also energy.
And so our goal is to, as I had mentioned, align our resources.
This can be challenging sometimes because you have to be operating the same geographic area and you have to be within the same cycle in terms of project implementation, but this is something that the bank has committed to and has prioritized.
And so we continue to work on ensuring that water security is achieved for 1 billion people, 400 of which will be part of the bank target.
But looking forward to working with you to address these community needs because at the end of the day, what we're doing is responding to the needs of the communities that we serve.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Binda.
Now I want to turn to the International Rescue Committee, and also to my right, Mesn Tacuesima who is the Senior Director of their health unit.
Min.
Yeah.
Thank you very much for having me, and I will speak from IRS's perspective where we work in the most fragile and climate stress environment, and people are experiencing this scarcity daily.
So for us is water sanitation, and hygiene, and electricity in healthcare settings are the foundations of high quality health care.
And in such settings, this foundation are also critical and frontline for epidemic control and prevention of pandemics.
So we are seeing this actively playing out in many places, including the Ebola current Ebola, as well as other disaster.
So for climate resilient wash and electricity in healthcare setting should increasingly be viewed as a core health security infrastructure.
Yes, it is necessary to provide service, but it does more than meeting immediate basic need.
So that is where we call it the foundation for quality of our healthcare.
And I think that's where I think, you know, weak wash and IPC in healthcare facilities also is a condition for the spread of infection and where an outbreak can become epidemic, epidemic can become a pandemic.
So a health facility with a reliable water sanitation and hygiene and, you know, proper infection control, that's where outbreak gets contained.
And a facility without them is where actually it gets amplified, even become a public health emergency of international concern.
I think that we have seen it in eastern DRC now.
As the outbreak spread silently earlier this year, it was the infection of healthcare workers that alerted the international community and in one of the hospitals in Ituri.
And in fact, the WHO risk assessment noted that the cause of their infection is a critical breach in IPC protocol.
So that's where I think infection prevention control is so critical for protecting frontline health care workers at defense for health security.
Of course, we know that the outbreak is spreading much wider than initially reported.
And in this context, health facilities that were already overstretched are now they are expected to meet their need and which is pushing them to the breaking point.
And I think we need to continue to do better in terms of protecting health system with infection prevention control.
I think, previous speakers spoke about the statistics.
It's sobering And I would only quote one from the fragile and humanitarian settings where 60 countries are classified as fragile.
In these settings, you know, according to the data from WHO UNICEF GMP 2023, 37% of health facilities lack basic water, and then 46% lack basic hygiene and 81% lack basic sanitation.
You know, 81%, that's a sobering statistics, you know, to think about it.
So this is a context that we are operating.
And in our work, we are supporting our countries to improve IPC infrastructure as well as access to electricity.
So where there is concerted effort and investment, we see progress, and it is possible to change the outcome.
And this outcome are required financing as well as investment.
So just to give an example, IRC, we support more than 2,700 healthcare facilities in these settings, and many of them are managed by the Ministry of Health in the countries where we operate.
And we did an assessment using the Wash Fed Align Digital Assessment tool in 2025.
And the finding was that out of the 833 health facilities in 20 plus countries assessed, just only 33% have met, you know, overall IPC target.
That's 33.
These are health facilities that are expected to detect and respond to outbreak.
And where facility level IPC are also strengthened, we also see a result.
I think the example that we have seen, for example, from Uganda, from our work with the Ministry of Health there, 85% of health facilities that we supported in refugee hosting, you know, districts, they met the national IPC target.
And that is progress, you know, where there is concerted effort and direct investment happening.
I have seen myself in Nigeria where, you know, our team shifted from diesel powered, you know, power supply to health facilities to solar power.
And during the disruption of, you know, during the war with the disruption of fuel supply, I have seen health facilities continue to maintain cold chain without interruption of supply of vaccine.
That's where I think the adaptation to climate and electricity investment is critical.
We welcome actually in the resolution, the inclusion of several of these provisions.
And I think it's important that we continue to invest on financing and improvement of these facilities.
Not only protecting from attack.
Yes, I mean, healthcare facilities are attacked in conflict settings, but also investment in IPC, which is also a direct defense for infectious disease.
So the national roadmap, which previous speakers spoke about it is critical, but we also need to recognize the Civil Society humanitarian organization, the example that I mentioned that we work in these settings, that those partnerships are inclusive of the different diversity of stakeholders that are needed.
I think we also need to measure what we are doing.
If you don't measure, we will not know whether we are making progress or not.
So, you know, realities in a fragile context must be captured and measured through subnational disaggregated data and ensuring that the reporting include data from these settings, it is only by doing that we'll be able to know the differentiation, the progress, as well as where there is no progress.
So that's where I think we do think strengthening through data, through partnership, and ensuring that the clear investments are made in fragile settings that we can build our frontline defense from infectious disease outbreak.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Mf.
As you mentioned, many of the health clinics in fragile countries are off grid.
And so we also make sure that in working with the World Bank, Irina and many of the other UN partners, we invest through the health ministries in solar power in those areas where we can maintain obviously coal chain, but also many of the other facilities that we need in a functioning health clinic.
Now I want to turn to the Catholic Relief Services, Michelle Gfilian who is the Vice President for international funding and thank you for all the work you also do in particularly African countries.
Yes.
Thank you.
It's a to be here today.
I work for Catholic Relief Services and we work in about 100 countries around the world.
As this group understands, a fundamental message that we at Sierra strongly believe in is that without Wash, there is no safe healthcare.
Kelly said that eloquently just a little bit ago.
So that's why WASH is a core pillar of our water security strategy, especially in high risk settings, health facilities and schools.
I just have three main points I'd like to share that are very important from Catholic Relief Services perspective as we continue to collaborate in this community for WH and health care facilities.
The first is that my colleagues have said this, investment is critical.
We know that WASH and health care facilities is one of the most cost effective investments that we can make in health system resilience.
So, conflict and climate change and outbreaks are placing unprecedented stress in our health systems and we're seeing this now, for example, in DRC.
Over the past five years, CRS and our partners have improved wash conditions in roughly 500 health facilities across Africa, Asia, and Central America and we're committed to continuing to reach hundreds of healthcare facilities in the coming years both through direct support and through systems approaches.
One small example that I'll share is from Kenya, the Muto Catholic Health Center.
We and our partners changed the way the facility received water.
Instead of collecting water from long distances or paying really high cost to vendors for water delivery, we were able to develop a gravity water system built with financial and technical support both from CRS and other investors, and now that provides large quantities of water every day to the health center.
Not only have the costs reduced, but as we're hearing, neonatal sepsis has also decreased from nearly 15% to practically nothing and postpartum sepsis is nearly eliminated.
So that investment, of course, has had a ripple effect as surrounding schools and the community have a water point that provides access to clean water with minimal fees now collected to help with that water facilities maintenance.
So we know though, that infrastructure is definitely not enough, so the real challenge is how do we ensure these services remain functional during shocks and stresses? And that brings me to my second point, that the future of wash and healthcare facilities is not individual projects.
It's really in a whole systems approach.
Probably one of the biggest lessons that we've learned is that sustainable progress comes not from building systems, but strengthening the systems that sustain them.
So we know that our approach in this goes way beyond construction, and we focus on planning and budgeting, monitoring, and data systems, technical supervision, quality improvement, and of course, probably most importantly, local ownership and accountability.
Um, I think an important thing to mention here is that we have helped work on a sustainability framework that emphasizes governance and finance, technical capacity and climate resilience as interconnected components to wash services, and we've been actually able to test this framework in more than 60 health facilities in nine countries with the support from several organizations and in collaboration with the Vatican DCastre for promoting integral human development, and that improves the quality, functionality, and sustainability of wash in Catholic health care facilities.
Um, so to get to my third point, we know that one of the most important ingredients to sustainability is trust, and that is why we really believe that faith based actors are strategic partners to achieving sustainable access to Washington healthcare facilities.
There are three factors, I think that faith actors provide that maybe can't easily be replicated.
It's reach, trust, and staying power.
As we know, faith based organizations are often among the first institutions communities turn to in times of crisis and among the last to leave once that crisis ends.
So CRS works both across government and faith based health systems to strengthen overall health performance, and we've really seen that power of colleagues learning from each other and bolstering their strong voice to advocate for increased investment.
And even more importantly, and I know our colleague who couldn't be here or W O Vice stated this earlier, but wash is not just a technical intervention.
It's really core to our values to uphold human dignity of every person.
We believe that every mother deserves to deliver in a clean and safe environment, every newborn deserves protection from avoidable infection, and every patient deserves care that respects their dignity.
Access to wash services is fundamentally linked to that right to health and the dignity owned to every person.
Um, I'll just share one quick thing earlier this year and some of you are partners in this, we were able to hold a convening, CRS and other faith based organizations.
We had a global gathering in Rome, and 115 participants from 90 organizations pledged to accelerate action on Washington healthcare facilities.
That meeting really reinforced the importance of stronger collaboration between faith based and government health systems and using our collective voice to mobilize action.
I think some of the elements of the resolution that were celebrated and ratified earlier or echoed there.
So just to close, if we want resilient health systems capable of withstanding the pressures of conflict, climate change, and future outbreaks, then wash and health care facilities must move from the margins to the center of health system investment.
It is about water security, health security, resilience, dignity, and equity.
Thank you so much for spending this time together.
Thank you, Michelle, for emphasizing, especially in your closing the dignity and equity aspects of what we are discussing here today.
The final panelist before we have a question and answer session is Peter Heinz, to my right, Senior Manager of watch programs at World Vision.
Great.
Well, thank you so much to the organizer for this important event and for all of you for being here.
I think we all agree that it's really important to keep this topic of washing healthcare facilities at the top of the priority list.
As World Vision, we're both a fundraiser and a strong implementer.
We have strong wash programs across 42 of our countries that we implement in.
I just wanted to take a minute to reflect on the three points that the special Evo on Water brought up earlier from world vision's perspective.
The first thing she said was to put wash at the center of the global health agenda.
I just want to admit that that's difficult.
It's hard.
I think alignment across sectors at the government level is really hard.
Even at an NGO level, having the wash sector and the health sector talk to each other really strongly can be difficult.
We all have our own projects we're doing, we all have our own small little things.
We need to think bigger.
I think one of the things we've found is having strong champions for wash and health care facilities and both the health side and the wash side has been really helpful and successful in bringing programs together and bringing more momentum.
Um, I also think that the World Bank Water Compact might be really helpful in catalyzing this action.
We as an implementer, are looking for the governments to guide us to where we should be doing our work.
We have priority intervention areas at World Vision, priority geographic areas, but where that aligned with the government? How can we invest in projects together and really do the work and strengthen each other? That's my hope.
The second thing that a special envoy said was innovation in financing is really important.
I think we all can be a little bit more creative.
On the fundraising side at World Vision, we found that washing healthcare facilities is something that individual donors can really get behind.
Understanding the need for wash in health care facilities is not hard for people to grasp.
It's very obvious to see.
So I think for individual private foundations, for individual private donors, I think we should be sharing the message more to try to raise more funds and invest in more healthcare facilities.
The other thing which IRC, you mentioned too was around the electrification of healthcare facilities.
I think as we talk about water being a strong infrastructural need in health care facilities, electricity is an equally high infrastructural need in health care facilities.
So if we can bring water and electricity together at a healthcare facility, we can think about creating many micro grids that then are the off point for community engagement and community building.
We've experimented with that a little bit at World Vision in both Zambia and Malawi, and that's a different donor segment than maybe is normally interested in the water side of things.
I think we need to be pushing on that a little more as well.
The third thing that the special envoy mentioned was just using the upcoming political moments that we have in front of us.
I think the UN Water Conference is a great opportunity for all of us to continue the momentum that we have now and to try our best to align water investments in healthcare facilities and actually show the progress that we're making and be able to celebrate wins at the Water conference and into the rest of the SDG era.
So thank you all very much.
Thank you very much, Peter.
I notice many delegations here in the room today.
So let me remind those of you who are here not only about the Water conference, but the General Assembly high level meetings on pandemic prevention preparedness and response and next year's universal health coverage high level meeting, which are two outcomes where this wash agenda should definitely be featured prominently.
Now we have some time for questions and answers, and I believe Slovenia and Azerbijan have already indicated that they wanted to speak.
So if you could raise your hand, representative of Slovenia, please, ma'am.
Thank you so much.
Thank you to the organizers of today's event, the great leadership of the Hungary and Philippines missions here in New York, and of course, the panelists today.
It's not a one off event.
It's a multi year effort that keeps bringing the attention of the General Assembly to the issue of washing in healthcare facilities.
Wanted to speak quickly to reaffirm the support of Slovenia to the agenda as part of the core group on the resolution that was just adopted in the GA a couple of days ago.
Just a really quick reflection following today's discussion, I wanted to shed a light on the issue of water and wash in health care facilities also in the areas that are affected by armed conflicts.
Water is increasingly under attack as we see and often in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
Um, the consequences of attacks on water systems and personnel not only cause devastating immediate humanitarian consequences, but also unraveled decades of development in healthcare facilities.
They have long lasting detrimental effect to the health of humans as well as the environment.
As many of the speakers today have already mentioned, the upcoming UN 2026 Water Conference really provides an opportunity to identify effective pathways forward.
Um, to not only prevent these incidents and deliberate actions, but also to invest in more resilient delivery of water and health in fragile and conflict affected settings through priority actions and flagship initiatives of interactive dialogues, especially the Dialogue A on water for people.
Maybe a question for today's, um, prefers, especially those who are very much active in our partners in the humanitarian context in the context that are affected by armed conflicts.
Could you reflect a bit on the issue of ensuring wash in healthcare facilities, a task that is already difficult to achieve in peaceful settings, let alone in armed conflicts.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Do we still have Azerbijan? If Azerbijan doesn't identify immediately, then yes, sir.
Distinguished Chair, Excellency colleagues.
Mexico calls for accelerated implementation of sustainable development goal six by recognizing water, sanitation, and hygiene, not only as basic services, but as essential enablers of resilient health systems, climate resilient, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development.
Achieving these requires stronger political commitment, adequate and sustainable financing, and strategic investments in resilient wash systems, particularly in healthcare facilities, schools, and communities exposed to droughts, floods, and other climate related hazards.
When water and sanitation services fail, health risks increase, infection prevention and control are weakened and the continuity of essential health services it's compromised.
As we move towards the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, Mexico underscores the need for coherent, integrated, evidence based water governance grounded in the human right to water and sanitation, a watershed approach, and the meaningful participation of communities and other stakeholders.
Water should no longer be addressed through fragmented approaches.
It must be recognized as a cross cutting priority that underpins health biodiversity, climate action, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development.
Strengthening coordination across sectors and across the United Nations systems will be essential to translate political commitments into effective implementation on the ground.
Mexico also calls for the full integration of WASH into emergency preparedness, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation strategies.
Investing before crises occur is not only more cost effective, it reduces risks, prevents avoidable harm, and saves lives.
The 2026 United Nations Water Conference provides a unique opportunity to reinforce global cooperation, strengthen water governance, and accelerate collective action towards a more resilence, equitable, and water secure future for all.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Are there any other interventions or questions from the floor? Don't be shy people.
If there are none, then I'm going to turn to the panelists if they want to reflect on what they've heard, specifically the comment on how to deal with WASH in already fragile settings in health and humanitarian emergencies where there is an existing breakdown of facilities.
Then the other issue around the human rights approach and the integration and policy integration with wash among sectors.
Let me Let me start with Mesn who actually addressed one of the areas already briefly here.
Yeah.
Yeah, thank you, Slovania, I think, for raising this point.
I think protecting, you know, essential service that are, you know, built or designed for civilian purpose should never be attacked during conflict.
I think we have seen again and again in many places, whether WaterPoint health facilities, schools being attacked during crisis or conflict.
And the Security Council passed a resolution, you know, upholding what is already included in the Geneva Convention that civilian infrastructure should not be a target of war.
So I think what we need is accountability, and we should not accept impunity as the outcome of attacks.
So, you know, we have international instruments, but it has to be implemented.
I think that's where we are lacking.
I think the special envoy said, you know, I think political will, that's what is missing.
So for this resolution even to have impact, they need to be a mechanism for accountability.
Yes, in fragile humanitarian settings, we see water and access to sanitation service very poor.
But we have also seen the opportunities where there is concerted effort to make a change.
We have seen it the example I mentioned about Uganda and I can add on Yemen as well, where we've been working in terms of improving water infrastructure and we've been able to improve actually the IPC standard in health facilities.
However, when, you know, significant foreign aid cut happens, then those gains have reversed over, you know, quickly.
So I think the gains are also fragile.
So I think that's where I think sustained engagement and investment is needed to really improve the water, you know, sanitation facility, as well as access to electricity in this setting.
So yes, it is a challenge we are very much aware of, but it's also a solvable problem.
There is international instrument available, but we should not accept impunity as the outcome for anyone violating those provisions.
Thank you.
Thank you, Linda.
Thank you so much for this question, which is really important.
I'm just going to add to what our colleague from IRC said in terms of when there is conflict, we know that there's increased displacement and increased risk of certain outbreaks like cholera.
I think it's really important to think about prevention, but also access to water at the community level.
We talked a lot about health care facilities, but also community level.
Wash interventions is really critical.
There are a couple of examples from the bank side, from Yemen and DRC that highlight how the importance of investing in both health and wash at the same time.
In Yemen, there is a integrated health and water project that's actually led by both the health sector and the water sector or wash sector.
And that to us was really, really important to have that integration at the country level for a single project.
I think it's a great example of how you can ensure that there's access to water at the community level and health care facility level in an area that's fragile in a humanitarian setting.
In DRC, also in eastern DRC, we actually provided water to internally displaced people camps, IDP camps for cholera prevention and when you do that, you're actually looking at reduction of risk for several diseases, not just cholera, but other thral illnesses and Ebola.
I think really thinking about how to leverage development funds, specifically in humanitarian settings to improve access to water at the community level is going to be really critical.
Thank you.
I might just quickly add to the importance of capacity building and all of that.
If a conflict breaks out, I can't send any World Vision staff to go in there right away because of our safety and risk protocols.
It might take a while for us to get there.
Where in these projects, if you have a strong capacity building component where private operators can repair water systems or do the fixes that need to happen to get the water system back online, that allows things to be sustainable for longer term, and so really important to do that capacity building side.
Maybe I'll just add to that point, you're making me think of the importance of partnership, sustainability.
Just to come back to the point about faith based actors, no matter the faith, they're really embedded in the community and they have that trust.
I think that's a really important lever that we can pull as we look at accelerating this progress and as we look at security.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Maybe just two points.
When we talk about health system strengthening, what we mean is that you build resilience from the ground up.
You look first at your community level health clinics health facilities, and then that is where you will be delivering a primary health care.
90% of the services you need for universal health coverage you can deliver through a primary health care approach.
When you start building your resilient health systems and you put in place functioning community health clinics or facilities, whether they are on or off grid, then those can withstand shocks much more easily.
It is obviously an incremental approach.
It's not something that can be done overnight.
Just to mention that there have been several intergovernmental agreements and outcomes which make the links very clearly in 2023 in the universal health coverage high level meeting, the right to physical and mental health and how important wash water, hygiene and sanitation is for realizing that right.
It was also captured in the resolution.
It was adopted two days ago.
That resolution also reflected on the WHO pandemic agreement which was adopted last May.
By the World Health Assembly, which realizes also in the text of the agreement, how important the wash is for preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
There are intergovernmental agreements on this.
Now is the time to make sure that it's implemented and implemented by everyone.
Any other questions or reflections? Then I'm sure all of you have been absolutely convinced as I am by the panelists here at the podium and it's my great privilege now to ask Ambassador Susana Hobart of Hungary to close the meeting for us.
Thank you, Werner.
Ambassador Mao, Director Werner, distinguished colleagues, and distinguished panelists.
It has been an honor for us to host you here today as co chairs of the group of Friends in Support of water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities.
It is always a great occasion to be among friends and to discuss important issues and to have the opportunity to learn from each other's examples.
My task here is to give concluding remarks, which is not an easy task, given the richness and the depth of the discussion today.
Nevertheless, I endeavor to leave you with the following three main take home messages.
First, the topic of washing healthcare facilities is a cross cutting issue.
Today's discussion has been a remarkably good opportunity to demonstrate the interlinkages between different SDGs.
It has been highlighted how progress in SDG six is a catalyst for other SDGs, and how progress in related SDGs, such as SDG nine on infrastructure have knock on effects on the realization of other goals.
Of course, progress under these goals go hand in hand with the implementation of broader goals of achieving universal health coverage under SDG three.
My second point is that despite some measurable progress achieved recently, challenges remain.
One key aspect of this interlinked nature of the problem is how climate and energy integration are foundational to achieving our goals.
In this regard, the Secretary-General progress report of 2025 highlighted that 80% of infrastructure programs now address climate and 44% of those countries that have updated standards have indeed integrated climate resilience and sustainability.
I believe that we have heard some very good examples of how climate resilient infrastructure is vital for our efforts.
Speakers before me have also mentioned the GA resolution that our group of friends have championed and that we have just adopted this Monday.
I will not delve deep into the subject.
Suffice it to say that we are grateful for all the support that we have received, including the more than 30 delegations that have co sponsored the resolution.
On this subject, our task is clear, have the implementation of the resolution and keep advocating for the issue.
My third and last point is that sharing of good practices and lessons learned are crucial in order to protect lives, strengthen resilience, and leave no one behind.
Maybe one of the key lessons here today is how essential it is to come together and learn from each other.
The unique character of the HLPF provides an indispensable platform for peer learning and sharing of best practices.
That is why we must thank all of our panelists for their invaluable contributions, including our keynote speaker, her Excellency, is Red Nosudi, the UN Secretary-General and special envoy on Water.
We also thank our excellent panelists from Water Aid America, the World Bank, the Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee, and the World Vision.
We have heard some truly excellent insights into how collaboration and partnerships can advance washing healthcare facilities from the work on preventing maternal and newborn mortality to preventing outbreaks and mitigating climate related factors to the exceptional community and faith based initiatives.
Last but not least, and in the spirit of SDG 17, we must emphasize the critical importance of forging partnerships for the realization of our goals.
For instance, our group of friends is one of such example, whereby a committed group of countries come together and champion and advocate for a common goal.
Therefore, I would be remiss not to conclude by indicating that our group is open to new member states joining.
Please feel free to let us know if your delegation intends to join.
With that, we thank again for all of our panelists and all of you who have joined here today.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We are now going to vacate the podium.