Sarphati Sanitation Awards and Symposium at the Amsterdam International Water Week 2019

Sarphati Sanitation Awards 2019

The Sarphati nominees, winners, and friends of Sarphati at the Opening Ceremony

The Sarphati Sanitation Awards are a biennial award which honors innovation and dedication to sanitation in the spirit of Dr. Samuel Sarphati who radically improved sanitation and health in Amsterdam in the 19^th century. This year, the winners of the Sarphati Sanitation Awards 2019 were honored for their contributions to the global sanitation challenge during the Opening Ceremony of the AIWW on 4^th November, 2019.

The Sarphati Sanitation Awards are comprised of two categories: The Sarphati Sanitation Award for Promising Entrepreneur and the Sarphati Sanitation Award for Lifetime Achievement. 

Savita Sonawane and Sharmila Gimonkar accepting the Sarphati Award for Lifetime Achievement on behalf of Jockin Arputham

The winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was announced in August as Jockin Arputham, the late founder of SDI. Jockin passed away in 2018, after decades of fighting for the rights of slum dwellers and the improvement of sanitation in slums around the world. During the ceremony, Savita Sonawane and Sharmila Gimonkar accepted the award on behalf of Jockin and were able to share his message with the audience due to their years of work with Jockin in the slums of India. 

From left to right: Raul Briceno Brignole (X-Runner), Mwila Lwando (Live Clean), Savita Sonawane and Sharmila Gimonkar (SDI) and Ajeet Oak (The Tiger Toilet)

This year, the nominees for Promising Entrepreneur were Live Clean Initiatives (), the Tiger Toilet (), and X-Runner (). All three organizations were nominated for their commitment to sanitation and success in providing solutions for their communities. For the first time ever, the Sarphati Sanitation Award for Promising Entrepreneur resulted in a tie. The two winners this year are X-Runner from Peru and the Tiger Toilet from India. 

Left: Raul Briceno Brignole, CEO of X-Runner; Right: Ajeet Oak, CEO of the Tiger Toilet

Congratulations to all nominees and winners for their well-deserved recognition and innovative and empowering sanitation solutions!

Sarphati Sanitation Awards

The call for sanitation for all continued on Wednesday, November 6 at the first Sarphati Sanitation Symposium. At the symposium, diverse actors from different sectors discussed the pressing issues and solutions needed to bring safe and adequate sanitation access to all worldwide. 

Symposium organizer and moderator Otto Ferf Jentink addressing the audience

The symposium kicked off with stimulating pitches from Kala Vairavamoorthy (IWA), Cheryl Hicks (the Toilet Board Coalition), Pritha Hariram (FMO), and Victor Langenberg (Acacia Water), discussing the elements needed for universal access to sanitation: expertise, solutions, financing and awareness. The existence of these elements already in the field, and the importance of collaboration between these different stakeholders was underlined through their inspiring pitches. In the following panel discussion, the speakers were challenged to provide practical examples for the “HOW” of bringing together the expertise, solutions, money and awareness to accelerate progress.

The symposium was held in the Future Water Theatre at Aquatech Amsterdam

Participants were also able to hear from the winners and nominees of the Sarphati Sanitation Awards. The Promising Entrepreneur nominees were able to speak about their experiences providing decentralized, integrated solutions and how sanitation start-ups can survive, thrive and scale-up.

Guests were also treated to a lively performance called “Water 4 Life” by the Health Promoters () – an education theatre group from South Africa. The Health Promotors use musical theatre to educate vulnerable groups in South Africa about the importance of water and good sanitation. 

The Health Promotors are an educational theatre group from South Africa

After lunch, fruitful roundtable discussions were held on key topics in sanitation, including financing, monetizing social impact through data, working towards behavior change, making sustainable innovations, funding entrepreneurs in sanitation and monetizing the nexus with other SDGs though integrated approaches. 

The afternoon program featured thought-provoking roundtable discussions with diverse groups of experts

At each table, a case was presented as a starting point, after which the group shared their vision and exchanged experiences and ideas. An observer was present at each table who summarized the most important takeaway messages during the plenary session. 

Participants engaged in roundtable discussion 

Finally, closing remarks were given by Pim van der Male from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who summarized the main conclusions of the day. Mr. van der Male reinforced the necessity of the valuable exchanges that took place during the symposium and stressed the importance of  further collaboration between sectors to bring sanitation up to the speed of the other SDGs.

The day ended with an extraordinary and honorable surprise for one of the symposium organizers, Sjef Ernes. Sjef, the former Managing Director of Aqua for All, was awarded Officer of the order of Orange-Nassau by the King’s Commissioner for his lifetime commitment and outstanding achievements in the sector as well as involvement in his local community in Eindhoven.  

King’s Commissioner Jack van der Hoek (left) presenting Sjef Ernes (right) with a royal decoration

The symposium was a great start to the discussions, collaborations and awareness required for the worlds sanitation needs to be met. To quote the organizers of the day, Otto Ferf Jentink and Sjef Ernes: “Access for All, Within Reach does not end with a question mark, but an exclamation point!”

For more photos from the Sarphati Sanitation Symposium, as well as more information about the Sarphati Sanitation Awards, please visit and like our Facebook page. () You can also stay up to date with all the Sarphati Sanitation news on our Twitter ().

Did you participate in the Sarphati Sanitation Symposium 2019, or do you have any questions for the Sarphati team? We’d love to hear from you! Please send any feedback or comments to: [email protected] ().