SWA partners Exchange Forum on balancing consumer protection and utility financial stability during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dear SWA partners and friends,
 
We invite you to join Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) and our co-convener, The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for the next SWA partner exchange forum on balancing consumer protection and utility financial stability during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It will take place on the Wednesday 10th of June 2020, at 8:00 a.m. EST, 12:00 UTC.
 
This virtual forum will explore the tension between consumer protection and the need to ensure everyone can access and afford water during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the imperative to keep utilities financially stable and solvent.
 
Under normal conditions, there is a tension between consumer protection and ensuring universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation services, and maintaining the financial stability of service providers.  These problems become particularly acute when users are unable to pay due to external factors, and when these services become critical to ensuring not just the health of individual users, but the health and well-being of the general public at large. 

During the current pandemic, human rights advocates and consumer protection groups have called for utilities to provide discounted or free water to many or all consumers during the pandemic. These calls come at a time that utilities are facing a crisis in revenues as consumers struggle to pay their bills, and high-volume commercial water users, such as factories, are shuttered.  Many utilities are facing a significant decrease in the funds they will have available to both run their existing operations and invest in future growth.

The Forum is organised by the SWA partners and provides a platform for cross constituency exchange and learning on Covid-19 Pandemic related challenges.  The Forum will be facilitated by The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of the series of webinars hosted by the SWA Research and Learning Constituency members.
 
Panelists to include representatives of government, utilities, regulators and civil society organisations
 
To be presented in English, with simultaneous translation in French
Note that a similar forum will be presented in Spanish at a later date (TBC).
 
This call will be on Zoom. To join please click here: https://unicef.zoom.us/j/97480986642
 
All the best,
SWA Secretariat and partners