Good Dignity Practices for Gross Domestic Product (GDP for GDP) Advocacy Campaign
"The WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) Coalition Pilipinas is doing an advocacy campaign aimed at making local governments act and invest in sanitation and inspire small-scale entrepreneurs to create WASH-related local businesses. Dubbed GDP for GDP (good dignity practices for gross domestic product), this advocacy campaign adds value to efforts already underway. It does not ask local governments for money but offers them a way to make money and to create jobs. Good dignity practices for economic benefits are highlighted: promoting environmental sanitation; re-using household wastewater -- treated with low-cost wastewater treatment technology options -- to create lush gardens for income and tourism; decentralized cooperation actions for positive profiling of human waste; re-using human waste as a resource through low-cost technologies like biogas digester septic tanks for generating clean renewable fuel; funding and implementing sanitation plans leading to a wealthier community; innovating, working together, creating new mechanisms and sharing experiences of initiatives already being done. The advocacy campaign specifically influences and engages the following: politicians and decision-makers who allocate budget to sanitation and hygiene and make policies and plans; small-scale entrepreneurs, who have the potential to create businesses around WASH; sanitation and hygiene practitioners; advocacy organizations and campaigners in other sectors who want to become involved in WASH efforts. The WASH Coalition, which is led by the NGO Philippine Center for Water and Sanitation (PCWS), is a loose coalition of organizations, individuals and communities working for the achievement of access to WASH for all, upholding the UN General Assembly 2010 resolution that “Access to water and sanitation is a human right essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” For the GDP for GDP advocacy campaign, members of the WASH Coalition build upon their social capital to supplement their diverse expertise, knowledge and experiences.Keywords: WASH advocacy; decentralized cooperation; environmental sanitation; social capital to supplement their diverse expertise, knowledge and experiences.
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Lyn N. Capistrano
Executive Director
Philippine Center for Water and Sanitation -
ITN Foundation (PCWS-ITNF)
Penthouse 3, Minnesota Mansion
267 Ermin Garcia Street
Cubao, Quezon City, 1102 Philippines
Phone/Fax: (632) 912-0531
www.itnphil.org.ph
[email protected]
[email protected]
National Coordinator, WASH Coalition Pilipinas
Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
15, chemin Louis-Dunant1202
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 560 81 68
Fax: +41 22 560 81 84
www.wsscc.org
[email protected]
Member of the Board of Trustees
Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands (SCPW).
Unit 208, Grand Emerald Tower
F. Ortigas Jr. cor Garnet Sts.
1605 Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Tel/Fax: (632) 637-2409
http://www.psdn.org.ph/wetlands