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ONLINE COURSE Introductory level. Self paced (3 modules, 12 hours) Coming soon More details coming soon Who is this course for? Political decision-makers, professionals, civil society advocates, regulatory entities, and water and sanitation utility staff. Students and researchers in social and technical disciplines. Urban planners, engineers, and architects. Language English and Spanish Free Access Access to the course content and activities is completely free. Optional paid certification Participants who successfully complete and pass the course can obtain a certificate of completion upon payment of a fee.

Integrity indicators and reporting frameworks for regulators to supervise service providers. WHEN TO USE IT To raise awareness on integrity risks and their negative impact on the performance of service providers and show paths for building integrity To incentivise water and sanitation service providers for integrity To benchmark and set standards for crucial integrity measures that can benefit service providers HOW IT WORKS The indicator framework can be used by regulators with input from water service providers under their purview. HOW IT WAS DEVELOPED The indicator framework has been developed by the Consortium for Integrity in Latin America (WIN, IVL, and cewas) with support from the Inter-American Development Bank.

by Savithri Sellapperumage; Barbara Schreiner, Executive Director, Water Integrity Network; Aaron Salzburg, CEO, The American Water Resources Association; Nick Hepworth, Strategic Advisor, Water Witness International; Nchedi Moripe Photo credit: David Yarasca / Salud con lupa. Aerial view of the Ica region of Peru shows agro-export agricultural fields irrigated through extensive groundwater pumping, juxtaposed with neighbourhood communities facing scarce and contaminated water supplies. In a previous blog titled Unequal Waters: Why water poverty is a problem of power, not governance failure, it was emphasised that the water crisis goes beyond a crisis of political will, technical and fiscal capacity, or governance. It is rather the result of structural and systemically reinforced inequalities, driven by unequal access to power and a failure of accountability. Six mechanisms, namely; political exclusion, resource capture, rights denial, knowledge suppression, process capture and social reproduction, form a self-reinforcing loop that traps communities in water insecurity across generations. While these mechanisms help diagnose the underlying conditions, what could be the treatment? The three-part seminar series at Stockholm Water Week 2026 attempted to address these reinforcing mechanisms by setting out principles for just water transformations. These principles moving beyond proposing improved efficiency in the continuation of current systems, urging us to rather address the existing power structures. The principles address the need to change who holds power, where resources flow, whose knowledge counts, and who is accountable to whom. These ideas are capture in eight principles; six directly address the mechanisms of the Inequality Trap, while the remaining two look beyond the water sector and push us to reflect on our own roles, assumptions, and responsibilities in shaping just water futures. The eight principles: Shift power. Put people experiencing water insecurity at the centre of decisions that affect them. Move beyond consultation towards meaningful representation, shared power, community leadership and accountability. Allocate fairly. Direct water, finance and infrastructure toward people and places with the greatest need, not those with the greatest influence. Today, unconnected households often pay multiple folds more for water than wealthier, networked communities. Make rights real. Indigenous communities, and those in informal housing are rendered invisible and often have no legal standing to challenge utilisation and allocation of their own water. We need to strengthen equitable enforcement, and accountability is what turns a right on paper into a right in practice. Democratise knowledge. Hydrological monitoring gaps leave the most vulnerable communities invisible in the data that shapes investment decisions. In order to close that gap, we must validate lived experiences and Indigenous knowledge alongside technical expertise, and enable these invisible data to be accessible. Make participation count. Multi-stakeholder platforms often legitimise decisions that have already been made, while barriers of class and language exclude the communities most affected. Participation has to be judged by ability to influence, not attendance. Break the cycle. Water insecurity follows gender, class and caste systems, and geography affecting marginalised communities through generations. As a result, women in marginalised communities are mainly responsible for collecting water and may even be denied access to public water systems such as the Dalit communities in India. Breaking that cycle means connecting water policies and action, to health, social protection, land rights and historical legacies. Turn the lens on ourselves. Inequalities are embedded and maintained in institutions and systems. This does not exempt us from reflecting on our own ways of working. Who gets funded? Who leads? Whose expertise counts, and in which language? The water sector’s funding strcutures, conferences, research and networks can reproduce the very inequalities we are trying to solve. Align with other struggles. Water insecurity is shaped by forces outside the water sector. Historical dispossession, concentration of power, lack of accountablity, and an unequal global political economy in which trade, tax, and debt regulations favour profits over water rights. These issues cannot be fixed with tools within the water sector alone. Solving them requires us to build alliances and cross-sectoral commitments on, for example, tax justice, trade rules, land, and labour rights. How does this look like in practice? Applying these principles looks different depending on different actors. For governments, it means reforming trax, trade regulations and subsidies that produce water insecurities, while protecting and expanding civic space and platforms that allow communities to hold those in power accountable. For donors and finance institutions, it means supporting governments' ability to realise the human rights to water and sanitation, recognising that these burdens are often linked to past development financing models. For business and corporations, it means adopting water justice not as an act of philanthropy or corporate social responsibility but a condition of legitimate business, and paying the full social and ecological costs of water use, rather than externalising the costs onto communities, the environment or future generations. For civil society and NGO’s it means, building collective power and investing in community agency to claim rights that exist on paper. For researchers, it means protecting scientific independence, academic freedom and recognising lived knowledge as evidence in its own. And for those working in the water sector, it means accepting where own instituions concentrate power rather than sharing it. However, the challenge of application comes at a precarious moment. Cuts to development assistance and geopolitical turmoil across the globe have exposed communities to further vulnerabilities and climate change is deepening insecurities for those least responsible for it. Water inequalities, if built by systems and institutions around us, should strive to dismantle them too, but only if we are willing to look beyond the water sector at the same time turn the lens on ourselves first. These ideas are brought together in the background paper Forging a Fair Water Future produced as part of the seminar series held at Stockholm. We invite you to engage with the paper by sending your comments to: nickhepworth@waterwitness.org

Upcoming Water Integrity Global Outlook on water and sanitation adaptation and maladaptation - a deep dive into strategies to mitigate corruption and integrity risks in climate work in the water and sanitation sectors CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND MALADAPTATION Water Integrity Global Outlook 4 A new report due in 2027. Join the journey, share your feedback and questions! GET IN TOUCH Corruption compounds climate risks. Water and sanitation integrity is key to resilience. Climate change is intensifying pressure on water and sanitation systems—especially where integrity is already fragile. The fourth edition of the Water Integrity Global Outlook, WIN’s flagship triannual report, will dive into how integrity in climate adaptation can build more resilient communities, water infrastructure, and systems. Recognising global power imbalances and economic injustices, WIGO4 will also look at the need to urgently mitigate integrity risks in the water and sanitation sector planning, financing, and management, to cope and prepare for coming challenges. WIGO4 will be published in 2027. Stay tuned! New working paper Different integrity issues and corruption exacerbate vulnerability to climate change and undermine adaptation processes. They also can lead to maladaptation. A new WIN research paper proposes definitions, risk frameworks and adaptation principles to ground the discussion. READ RESEARCH WIN is now starting up research and discussions with partners and stakeholders. Do share your feedback, questions, and ideas with us here: First name Last name Name of organisation Email* Share your feedback or questions Would you like us to keep you in the loop on this WIGO initiative? Submit Latest insight on water and sanitation climate adaptation Climate Finance: Where is the money going and is it really ensuring water resilience? Integrity in water allocation systems in the face of climate change Climate adaptation finance: Where is the money going and is it really working? Local governments are the frontline implementers for water and sanitation climate adaptation: they need integrity Who gets what water? Water allocation, water permitting and corruption in a changing climate Integrity risks in water and sanitation climate adaptation 1 2 3 4 5 Praise for the WIGO series “ WIGO2024 is forging a resilient future, where accountability and ethical practices safeguard our most vital resource. Through its exploration of the synergy between water, finance, and integrity, WIGO2024 will inspire you to cherish water, fortify decision-making, and promote transparency and good governance. Together, we can create a world where water thrives and generations flourish.” Amgad Elmahdi, Regional Manager, Green Climate Fund JOIN US Join us at upcoming events No events at the moment Spread the word on social #IntegrityInEveryDrop Share the report and messages on social media, send us your questions. Become a WIN partner Together we can make integrity the norm Formal partners commit to integrity in the work they do for water and sanitation Apply for partnership

View our open and upcoming online courses of the Water Integrity Academy. Engaging videos Online Courses Ready to learn, explore and make a difference? Our online courses bring water integrity to life through engaging, practical and interactive learning. Discover new perspectives, learn at your own pace, and strengthen your skills to promote more transparent, accountable and sustainable water services. Open Courses Coming Soon 1 2

Upcoming and past events and Integrity Talks of the Water Integrity Network No events at the moment Events Past events Wed 24 Jun Integrity Talk 17: Climate finance - Where is the money going and is it really ensuring water resilience? / zoom Details 24 Jun 2026, 10:00 – 11:30 CEST zoom A discussion on climate finance tracking for adaptation, with a focus on water and sanitation: why we need it, how it works, and how governments and civil society can track effectively and with integrity. Tue 24 Mar Against the current: how water access affects women and men differently — and how to change it / https://uni-bonn.zoom.us/webinar/register/W Details 24 Mar 2026, 17:00 – 18:30 CET https://uni-bonn.zoom.us/webinar/register/W Panellists will dive deeper into the lived reality of women in different settings to better understand how water flows are not only physical and shaped by infrastructure, but also subject to power relations and inclusion or exclusion. Wed 18 Mar Integrity Talk 16: Water Justice Advocacy in Mining Areas / online Details 18 Mar 2026, 09:00 – 11:00 GMT-5 online In mining areas across the world, civil society organisations are demanding water justice and coming together with different strategies to confront corporate and government abuse of power. This talk is a space to learn from these organisations, and share experiences for fair water futures Thu 11 Dec Integrity Talk 15: Who gets what water? / online Details 11 Dec 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 CET online Water allocation, water permitting and integrity in a changing climate. Tue 28 Oct Navigating Integrity Dilemmas in Water and Sanitation Utilities / Bonn Learn more 28 Oct 2025, 16:00 – 18:00 Bonn, Platz d. Vereinten Nationen 2, 53113 Bonn, Germany In-person water integrity training at the 6th Global WOPs Congress in Bonn Load More