The United Nations Water Conference, held in Mar del Plata, Argentina was part of a series of UN conferences during the 1970s aimed at addressing critical global challenges, including environment, population, and food security. It recognised that no single nation could tackle these issues alone, necessitating international cooperation. It was a pivotal event in global sanitation management. This conference was notable for being the first major international gathering focused specifically on water and sanitation issues, bringing together representatives from 116 countries, primarily led by ministers responsible for water resources. It addressed the growing concerns about water scarcity and pollution, advocating for sustainable practices in water and sanitation. The conference also marked a significant shift in how water and sanitation issues were perceived globally, placing them firmly on the international political agenda. It acknowledged that clean water and environmentally sound sanitation is a fundamental human right and called for increased political will and investment in water and sanitation infrastructure.
In Mar del Plata, the Water and Sanitation Decade was announced. This initiative aimed to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all, highlighting that hundreds of millions of people lacked these basic necessities.
FSM conferences. In more recent years, the Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) conferences sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were opportunities to exchange ideas. They started in Durban with the FSM1 in 2011 and FSM2 in 2012.
