In the case of water resource management, it’s not simply a technological fix. As Professor Anas Ghadouani, stated at the 2018 Safe Water Summit: “We have the technology ... that’s not the problem." The real challenge lies in its implementation.
Throughout parts of Australia, marginalised groups – Indigenous peoples, women, children, refugees, disabled people and others – have remained overlooked or have faced discrimination under traditional water and sanitation servicing provisions. For these communities, complex economic, political, social, cultural and environmental circumstances often complicate and obstruct access to traditional water and sanitation services.
Leaving no one behind in this respect is not simply a matter of technology, infrastructure and service provision – but one requiring a shift in thinking from traditional one-size-fits-all solutions, to those that can effectively account for local challenges.