Executive Director, Dr. Sasha Kramer Represents SOIL at Latin America and Caribbean Finance Ministers’ Meeting

Graphic courtesy of Sanitation and Water for All

In November, SOIL Co-Founder and Executive Director Dr. Sasha Kramer represented SOIL and the private sector at the 2020 annual Latin America and the Caribbean Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) hosted by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), a collaborative partnership of governments and stakeholders in civil society, the private sector, United Nations agencies, research and learning institutions, development banks and the donor community.  Sanitation and Water for All works at country, regional and global levels to coordinate and monitor progress toward the sanitation, water and hygiene- related targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Latin America and the Caribbean Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) is one of three regional meetings organized by SWA which focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 6. The 2020 meeting brought together finance and sector ministers from across Latin America and the Caribbean to discuss WASH success stories in the region, where governments have been able to “use a mix of taxes, tariffs, external transfers and repayable finance to ensure people’s access to water and sanitation, while at the same time generating substantial benefits for the economy, public health, and the environment.”

SOIL’s Dr. Kramer represented the Haitian private sector constituency, where she addressed the importance of partnership in achieving equitable access for all citizens, stating that

“If we want to achieve our shared goal of essential service provision, a basic human right for all citizens, we need to radically rethink the way that the private sector and governments collaborate.”

Effective collaboration is important in combating the sanitation crisis, particularly in underserved and vulnerable regions in Latin America and the Caribbean, and around the globe. We at SOIL know how challenging this work can be and how critical cross-sector collaboration is to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for sanitation, but our progress shows that it is possible. Together, we can provide the security and dignity of clean water and sanitation for all!  To view the Latin America and the Caribbean Finance Minister’s meeting (in Spanish or French) click here. Read Dr. Kramer’s full comments below:

Sanitation and Water for All, Latin America and the Caribbean Finance Ministers’ Meeting – Transcript of Dr. Sasha Kramer, SOIL

Greetings honorable ministers and excellencies all protocols observed.

My name is Dr. Sasha Kramer and I am the Executive Director of SOIL, a social enterprise in Haiti providing safely managed urban sanitation. Today I am here representing the SWA private sector constituency.

The private sector is with you on the frontlines of battling the global public health crisis. I am here today to suggest that if we want to achieve our shared goal of essential service provision, a basic human right for all citizens, we need to radically rethink the way that the private sector and governments collaborate. We need a new way of working together that frees countries from dependency and supports local value chains and entrepreneurship.

Honorable Ministers, the private sector is poised to be a key partner in the fight against preventable disease, but we cannot achieve equitable access for all citizens without partnership. The private sector has enormous untapped potential to support your efforts through innovation — including nature-based solutions that can reduce costs and mitigate climate change and off-grid services which can rapidly reach where piped networks do not, efficiency –which can be achieved through a commitment to cost effectiveness combined with the use of bold digital technologies, and new sources of capital — from climate financing to private equity. To unlock the potential of the private sector we need to work with you in three key areas: regulation, public education campaigns and proper incentivization through tariffs, taxes and results-based financing. Every citizen deserves the security and dignity of clean water and sanitation, and I believe that together we can make this a reality!

Thank you very much.

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