The 17th Annual Meeting of WEPA
April 22, 2022, Hybrid (Kumamoto City + online)

Progress of WEPA Activities in 2021
22 April, 2022

Kazuyuki YAGIWEPA secretariat
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

Progress of WEPA Activities in 2021
 WEPA Action Programs• Cambodia• Myanmar• Lao PDR
 Assessment on Water Environmental Governance WEPA Publications
 Participation in the 9th World Water Forum Distribution of WEPA NewsWEPA Action Program in Cambodia
Capacity building of the officers at sub-national level onidentifying major pollution sources and estimate
pollution in Tonle Sap Lake
Implemented by the Department of Water Quality Management,
Ministry of Environment, Cambodia (MOEC)
Objectives
 To improve the water quality management of Tonle Sap Lake byenhancing the capacity of sub-national level government officials
in understanding the pollution load from the surrounding area
Significance A model case that attempts to improve the capacity of subnational level government officials in understanding the sourcesof pollution load and possible countermeasures through in-fieldsurveys and laboratory analysis in the target area
 The results will be translated to a guidebook for provincial staffs
about “How to identify pollution sources and estimate pollution
loads in order to formulate the Comprehensive Water Quality 3
Management Plan for Tonle Sap Lake (TSL)”WEPA Action Program in Myanmar
Establishing surface water quality standards including
rivers, lakes and marine water
Implemented by the Environmental Conservation Department,
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation(MONREC-ECD), Myanmar
Objective Support the development of environmental standards for surface
water quality by ECD
This year's plan
1. Support for the development of surface water quality standards• Organize and present reference information necessary forfinalizing environmental criteria for surface water• Review of the above final draft
2. Support for capacity building of staff involved in water quality
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monitoring and assessment

WEPA Action Program in Lao PDR
Development of Guidelines for the selection ofappropriate decentralized domestic wastewater
management systems in Lao PDR
Implemented by the Department of Natural Resources andEnvironment Inspection, Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment (MONRE), Lao PDR
Objective To provide scientific basis to develop the standard for septictanks and decentralized wastewater management systems
Expected Results
1. Strategic planning for the development of legal systems forthe installation and maintenance of domestic wastewater
treatment systems
2. Preparation of guidelines for the introduction andmaintenance of decentralized wastewater treatment systems
based on local conditions
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Assessment on Water Environmental Governance The WEPA Secretariat continued to work on assessing thecurrent situation on water environmental governance in
WEPA Partner Countries
 Based on the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in
FY2020, the WEPA Secretariat conducted an analysis of casestudies on improving domestic wastewater governance inJapan.
 Following that, the WEPA Secretariat requested the WEPA
focal points in Republic of Korea and the Philippines toconduct analysis of a case study in their respective countries.
 The results of case studies are reported in the 1st shortsession of this meeting.
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WEPA Publications 2021
 WEPA Policy Brief, No. 8

Toward the Establishment of Sustainable
Faecal Sludge Management - Lessons Learned
from WEPA Partner Countries and Japan –Authored by Pham Ngoc Bao, IGES

 An enormous progress has been made in the Asian region to increase the ratio ofhousehold access to improved sanitation facilities such as septic tanks;
 However, it is still necessary to involve the broader sanitation service chain,including the safe management and proper treatment of effluent as well as faecal
sludge from sanitation facilities;
 In order to address the current challenges of faecal sludge management faced by
WEPA countries, strong political commitment and multi-stakeholder approachshould be taken into account. Furthermore, improvement of technical capacity oflocal governments to enable monitoring and enforcement of safe faecal sludge
treatment and disposal is necessary.
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uploaded on the WEPA website: http://wepa-db.net/en/index.html

WEPA Publications 2021
WEPA Outlook on Water Environmental
Management in Asia 2021
 The updates on water environment governancein each WEPA Partner Country before 2020 arecovered; Moreover, we plan to disseminate further
information on the country updates by uploadingon the WEPA website.
 The WEPA secretariat is grateful to the focal
persons and the collaborators of the following
WEPA partner countries for their contributions
and constructive input, as well as their support
in the preparation of this publication.
 We also extend our appreciation to the WEPA
Advisory Board for their guidance and invaluable
input.

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uploaded on the WEPA website: http://wepa-db.net/en/index.html

Participation in the 9th World Water Forum
21-26 March 2022, Dakar, Senegal The WEPA Secretariat, as a member of Action Group 1.B,
prepared the planning of the co-hosted session 1.B.2:
Improve water quality and waste management.
 Date & Time: 21 March, 2022 @ 14h00– 15h30
 Moderator: Mr. Frédéric Maurel, Agence française dedéveloppement (AFD) Presenters and Panelists: Technical University ofCologne, Université Pierre & Marie Curie – La
Sorbonne, City of PARIS, Stockholm International
Water Institute, and Israel Water Authority
 Outcome of the Session: Strengthened awareness,
capacities and inclusiveness at all levels are
significantly important; thus, approaches such as fromsource (household/local) to sea (global/ocean) require
harmonized action.

 At the Japan booth, posters and handouts
introducing WEPA were displayed.

Distribution of WEPA News34th Issue (5 October 2021)• Latest WEPA Policy Brief• WEPA Action Program in Cambodia• WEPA Action Program in Lao PDR• others
35th Issue (8 February 2022)• WEPA at the 9th World Water Forum• 17th WEPA Annual Meeting• WEPA at the 4th Asia-Pacific WaterSummit• others
36th Issue (31 March 2022)• WEPA Action Program in Cambodia• 17th WEPA Annual Meeting• others

WEPA Secretariat 2021-2022

Kazuyuki YAGIProgramme Manager

Yukako INAMURA
Policy Researcher

Bijon Kumer MITRA
Deputy Director

Pankaj KUMAR
Senior PolicyResearcherNgoc-Bao PHAM
Deputy Director

Osamu MIZUNO
Programme DirectorBinaya Raj SHIVAKOTI Miyako CULSHAW-ISHII
Project OfficerSenior PolicyResearcher1111