252 पटक हेरिएको 
Kathmandu: The three-day Global South WASH Financing and Sustainability Conference, which had been underway in Lalitpur, concluded with the issuance of a seven-point declaration.
On the third and final day of the conference, which saw participation from 31 countries including Nepal, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uzbekistan, Uganda, Switzerland, the Philippines, Thailand, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the Maldives, Malaysia, Madagascar, Indonesia, India, Ghana, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Bangladesh, the Chairperson of the Society of Public Health Engineers Nepal (SOPHEN), Er. Sharad Prasad Adhikari, read out the seven-point declaration.
The Ministry of Water Supply, the Society of Public Health Engineers Nepal (SOPHEN), and WAFON jointly organized the Global South WASH Financing & Sustainability Conference 2026 with the objective of reducing the global financing gap in safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services.
The seven points issued by the conference are as follows:
1. Commitment to Closing the WASH Financing and Spending Gap
We commit to develop and implementing sustainable financing strategies, to include public, private, and blended finance, that close the persistent WASH financing gap, supported by investment-ready project pipelines and country-led system strengthening. We further commit to strengthen aspects of the policy. finarice, regulation and strengthened institutions in the WASH systems to capitalise on existing resources laddress inefficiencies like underutilization and make the sector more wabile to other sources of finance.
2. Strengthening Government Leadership and Institutional Capacity
We afflem the leading role af governments in driving WASH systems reform, supported by strengthened public finance management systems, and commit to enhancing public sector leadership, indusion, mstitutional capacity, data-driven decision-maling, and wharter resource allocation. Strengthened governance and responsive institutions are essential to equiltable, climate-resilient, and sustainable service delivery.
3. Advancing Blended Finance and Private Sector Solutions
We pledge to create an enabling environment to expand market-driven, inclusive, and blended financing models that leverage private capital (including philanthropist and remittance), circular economy principles, and innovative business approaches. These mechanisms must priontue underserved populations, support systemic change, and advance long-term financial sustainability of WASH services.
4. Embedding Climate and Disaster Resilience into WASH Systems
We commit to ensuring that all WASH financing integrates climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, and long-term water security. The includes expanding access to climate finance instruments and embedding climate adaptation measures into planning, infrastructure, and service delivery systems to safeguard vulnerable and marginalized groups.
5. Driving Innovation for Future-Ready Urban WASH Systems
We support the adoption of transformative technologies, performance-driven utility models, and resilient urban WASH investments informed by systems thinking. These approaches must promote affordability, and inclusion, aligned with SDG 6, the New Urban Agenda, and future ready urban development pathways.
We further commit to accelerating the digital transformation of WASH sisteme by adopting smart technologies, digital tools, and emerging innovations including artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and real-time monitoring platforms to strengthien planning, hance stility performance, reduce operational neficencies, and improve transparency and accountability.
6. Strengthening Local Governance and Multilevel Partnerships
We commit to empowering local governments through an enabling environment supported by national and sub-national government systems, Inclusive governance structures, strengthened public institutions. and robust technical capacity building, complemented by sustainable financing tools.
We further commit to advancing South-South collaboration for knowledge sharing, peer learning, and capacity strengthening enabling countries across the Global South to exchange innovations, lessons, and scalable solutions. In addition, we pledge to deepen partnerships across sectors including government, civil society, utilities, communities, financial institutions, academia, the invate sector, and media to drive systemic change, inclusion, and resilient WASH outcomes We commit to supporsing local governments in adopting digital tools, management information systems, and Al-enabled analytics to improve service delivery, fmancial management, and data-driven deoson making, while building the skills and capacities needed to operater and sustain these tectinologies.
7. Strategic Positioning of the Global South WASH Financing Network
We commit to transforming this platform from a one-time conference into a sustained, inclusive, and gender-responsive Global South WASH Financing Network, coordinated by a dedicated Secretariat established immediately following the conference. This Network will drive system strengthening and transformation and sustainable financing by facilitating continuous collaboration, transparent knowledge exchange, joint pilot inituitives, and capacity building across countries and institutions.
The Network will articulate a clear value proposition and unique positioning within the WASH financing ecosystem of the Global South and establish measurable milestones to track progress. It will remain outcomes-onented, strategically relevarit, and capable of driving long-term, equitable, and climate resilient transformation in WASH financing.
Conclusion
in adopting this Declaration, we reaffirm our shared vision: a future where every community in the Global South has access to safe, inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable WASH services. We call upon governments, development partners, investors, private sector actors, and civil society to uphold these commitments and translate them into urgent, strategic, and collaborative action that strengthens systems and delivers lasting impact for all
Adopted by participants of the Global South Conference on WASH Financing and Sustainability, Kathmandu, Nepal 3 April 2026
