MRR talk: Open hour

Top experts and practitioners talking about human rights at local level

Practitioners from Bangladesh to Ghana and from India to Kenya have questions on human rights and valuable experiences to share. MRR talk: Open hour is your space to connect with experts and your peers. Join us live every other month, because we need to talk!

Next Open hour: Thursday, 9 June

Two experts will be there for you in each MRR talk: Open hour.

On 9 June, connect with:

Sareen Malik, Executive Secretary of the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) and Vice Chair of the SWA Steering Committee.
Lajana Manandhar, Regional Coordinator of Freshwater Action Network South Asia (FANSA) and Executive Director of Lumanti, Nepal.

Our experts waiting for you

Sareen Malik, Executive Secretary, African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW).

Lajana Manandhar, Regional Coordinator Freshwater Action Network South-Asia (FANSA) and Executive Director, Lumanti.

Mohamad Mova Al’Afghani, Director, Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance (CRPG).

Alana Potter, International Coordinator, End Water Poverty (EWP).

Malesi Shivaji, CEO, Kenya Water and Sanitation Civil Society Network (KEWASNET).

Hannah Neumeyer, Coordinator, Make Rights Real consortium (MRR).

Laura van de Lande, Manager, Make Rights Real consortium (MRR).

About MRR Talk: Open hour

Practitioners working in civil society organisations from Bangladesh to Ghana and from India to Kenya are aware that water and sanitation are internationally recognised human rights. Many use human rights in their work, invoking rights with government, lobbying for policy change, or activating people to claim their rights.

However, human rights often remain an abstract concept that’s difficult to apply to the complex mix of challenges:

Government officials can be reluctant or unable to live up to their duty.
Change is slow and this creates frustration. International human rights seem meaningless when marginalisation is based on age-old social norms.
Or there may simply not be a budget for duty bearers to work with.

We are all aware that water and sanitation are internationally recognised human rights. MRR talk: Open hour provides a space for learning and exchange on the questions and challenges of working with rights – and the positive experiences that have contributed to real change.

What to expect

Talk, discussion, questions! Working with human rights makes a difference, but at the moment, this remains hidden. By connecting people with similar experiences, questions and challenges across countries and contexts, we can learn from each other. Don’t be shy and join us to make MRR talk: Open hour as lively and useful as it can be!

Who can join?

The talks will be interesting for anyone working in civil society organisations – whether you are already using human rights in your work or are interested in doing so (more). For those working with human rights at a more international level, it can be a valuable space to hear about the challenges of applying rights in practice. In any case, everybody with an interest in the practical use of the human rights to water and sanitation at local level is welcome to join!

How to join

MRR talk open hour will be live on Zoom every second month. There is no set agenda – simply join at any time and listen in, ask a question, share an experience. Don’t be shy! We all have questions all the time! Every Open hour will host two of the experts from our panel and discussions will be moderated by Hannah and Laura. There is no need to register in advance, simply click the Zoom link to join.

Listen to the last MRR talk: All questions answered

For episode 3 of MRR talk, we wanted to know which questions you need answered to enable you to more effectively motivate officials, to demand more action or to push for change. Thank you for sharing your questions. Listen to the recording of MRRtalk episode 3 to get answers to your questions.

Our speakers:

Mohamad Mova Al’Afghani is Director of the Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance (CRPG), Indonesia. He obtained his PhD in Water Law from the University of Dundee, UK. As regulatory consultant, Mova provides advice to various government institutions, UN agencies, development agencies and development banks. He also works with civil society on environment and natural resources issues, especially relating to water, dangerous chemicals and mining governance.

Hannah Neumeyer. Hannah leads the Make Rights Real consortium and is the Head of Human Rights at WASH United. A lawyer by training, Hannah has worked on the application of economic, social and cultural rights in development cooperation for many years – both on human rights protection and on how human rights can be used to realise services for all.

And you! Join the live talk to share your experiences or questions.

#MRRtalk will be live on zoom. No account or registration needed. You can join using the zoom client or a web browser (click “Join from Your browser” for this option).