Sanitation Financing to take centrestage at global One Water Summit

Sustainable financing solutions, including the UN SHF’s market-based approach, to be showcased at much anticipated Heads of States event to reinvigorate deeply lagging progress on SDG target 6 on water and sanitation and strengthen links to climate action

GENEVA, 2 December 2024 - The United Nations’ Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) welcomes the upcoming One Water Summit organized by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and the President of the World Bank Ajay Banga in Riyadh on Tuesday 3 December on the sidelines of COP16 on desertification. 

Coming on the heels of COP29 on climate and COP18 on biodiversity, the first Heads of States summit dedicated to water and sanitation marks a fitting acknowledgment of the centrality of these themes to the sustainable development of people and the planet, and the need for urgent, sustainable financing and action.

Today, almost half of the world’s population lacks access to safely managed sanitation worldwide while 1 in 3 people do not have basic handwashing facilities with soap and water at home and 1 in 4 women and girls struggle to manage their menstruation safely and with dignity. Furthermore, 42% of household wastewater is not safely treated before discharge, leading to an estimated 113 billion m3 of household wastewater being released to the environment with inadequate or no treatment. Each of these statistics have significant consequences on health, education, economic participation and growth, gender equality, and the environment, requiring a radical overhaul of how sanitation, hygiene, menstrual health and wastewater are valued and financed, especially on a rapidly warming planet. 

Estimates commissioned by SHF indicate growing sanitation economies in five African countries alone could unlock close to USD 19 billion dollars in economic gain, job creation, women’s empowerment and environmental protection by 2030. As the only global fund dedicated to sanitation and catalyzing public and private investments into sanitation economies and the menstrual health market, SHF, in particular the Chair of the Board Cecilia Akintomide, has been invited to participate in the One Water Summit discussions on new models of water management and innovative technologies and solutions, including on financing, as a moderator.

“The One Water Summit is a pivotal opportunity to galvanize much-needed political momentum for a sector that has long been marginalized. Notably, few development sectors exhibit as much untapped investment potential as sanitation, hygiene, menstrual health and wastewater. By investing in these sectors today, we can rewrite history - and our collective future - creating sustainable sanitation economies where people, markets and the environment can thrive,” said Cecilia Akintomide, Chair of the Board, SHF. “We commend France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank for their leadership in bringing this potential to the global stage to back ambition with action, and intention with investment.” 

The One Water Summit aims to contribute to the ongoing United Nations discussions and process to enhance global water governance, accelerate action on SDG6 on water and sanitation and deepen its integration with the climate action agenda. As the only UN fund dedicated to sanitation, SHF will highlight the importance of unique, innovative approaches to develop and finance sustainable, inclusive sanitation economies to strengthen access to sanitation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Poor sanitation can cost billions to some countries, from between 2% to over 7% of their GDP according to the World Bank. Specifically in terms of climate impacts, untreated fecal waste is a significant source of methane, a greenhouse gas with a warming potential that is 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide in the first two decades while increasingly frequent extreme weather events and resulting damage to critical infrastructure, including sanitation and hygiene, have consistently highlighted the growing need for climate-resilient solutions. SHF is working with partners for closer alignment of sanitation financing and climate finance, a priority for the One Water Summit. 

A high-level SHF delegation consisting of Ms Akintomide and Dominic O’Neill, Executive Director, SHF will be in attendance at the summit and are available for media interviews and requests from Monday 2 December onwards in Riyadh. Experts in development finance, governance and policy with experience across Africa, Middle East and Asia, they can speak to the potential of market-based approaches and innovative finance mechanisms to drive transformative impact in sanitation and related sectors, in particular through Next Generation Sanitation that focuses on delivering innovative, non-sewered sanitation solutions that are operationally, financially and environmentally sustainable, to people, with special consideration to the needs of women and girls. With the stakes at an unprecedented level, SHF is committed to ensuring that sanitation remains a fundamental aspect of the extensive water agenda to be addressed during the Summit and beyond, including at the next UN Water Conference in 2026, to be co-hosted by the Republic of Senegal and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

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For more information and media interviews, please contact:

Rucha Naware, Communications Specialist, SHF: rucha.naware@shfund.org or +32 465 75 1339 (Whatsapp included)

About the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) 

The UN’s Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) works to achieve universal access to sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health through market-based approaches. SHF works with Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to catalyze investment into robust, climate-resilient sanitation economies and the menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) market. Capital M is SHF’s market-led moonshot for menstrual health. Find out more on www.shfund.org and www.capital-m.org. You can also follow us on LinkedIn as the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) and Capital M. 

Cecilia Akintomide

Cecilia Akintomide is a distinguished leader in development finance, corporate governance, and strategy, currently serving as Chair of the Board of the United Nations’ Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF). With extensive experience across global organisations, she sits on the boards of prominent companies in finance, engineering, and innovation, and has held senior roles at the African Development Bank and Ecobank Transnational. A passionate advocate for women’s economic empowerment and sustainable development in Africa, Cecilia has been recognised with prestigious honours, including Nigeria's National Award of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). 

Dominic O’Neill

Dominic O'Neill is the Executive Director of the UN's Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) since its inception in 2021. Dominic has a long-standing career spanning over three decades in international development and environmental health. In his early career, he worked for the Ministry of Health in Namibia as an Environmental Health Adviser. He then worked for the UK Government as a senior civil servant in the Department for International Development serving as Country Director in Yemen, Sierra Leone, Nepal and as Head of UN funding in DFID. 

On leaving the UK Government, Dominic became the Global COO for WWF International. Dominic has previously served as an Executive Director on the Board of the African Development Bank representing the Governments of the Netherlands, the UK and Italy from 2013 to 2016, under Dr Kaberuka and then Dr Adesina. Dominic graduated in Environmental Health and later completed an MSc in Water. Deeply committed to inclusivity and gender equality, Dominic became a member of the International Gender Champion Network in 2024.