protecting water resources. The International Water Association is the global network of water professionals working on the most pressing water issues. We bring people together to share knowledge, experience and know-how and find new ways to safeguard and deliver water supplies for the future. We connect scientists, practitioners and communities so that pioneering research can underpin new solutions. We foster technological innovation, support sustainability and drive best practice through international frameworks and standards. Inspiring change to deliver a better water future for all. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jean Grillo. I'm the IWA Events Underwater Director. I was welcome you all here this afternoon and to start I would like you to rise up for the national anthem of the Sri Lankan Republic. Please, additional ceremony in Sri Lanka which is the line also rise for the Minister of Foreign Relations and the former Minister of Water Supply and Urban Development Minister Dinesh Kauradena. The State Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Water Supply Honorary the State Minister Vasudeva and Anna Wekremas, Secretary of Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Water Supply. The Secretary, Ministry of Ports and Shipping and former Secretary of City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education, Mr. MMP Mayadune. The additional Secretary, Technical of the Ministry of Water Development, Housing and Water Supply, Ms. Mangalika. The additional General Secretary of the National Water Supply and Rainage Board and Secretary of the Governing Members, sector of IWA in Sri Lanka, Mr. Tilina Vijatunga. The IWA President, Mrs. Dayan Dharah and the IWA Executive Director, Professor Kala Varavamurthy. Please rise up. And I would now like to proceed by inviting Professor Kala Varavamurthy, Executive Director of the International Water Association, on stage. Good afternoon. Dear distinguished guests, dear members of IWA, dear Water Professionals and Congress participants. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the 2019 IWA Water and Development Congress and Exhibition in my home country of Sri Lanka. My name is Kalani D. Varavamurthy and I'm the CEO of the International Water Associations. Let me begin by welcoming our distinguished guests, the Honourable Vasudeva Nana Yakara, the State Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Water Supply, Madam Dayan Dharah, the President of the International Water Association, the Honourable Dinesh Guna Waradthana, the Minister of Foreign Relations, Mr. Tilena Vijaytunga, the Congress President and the Additional General Manager of the National Water and Supply and Surage Board, Dr. Priya Banda Vikrema, Secretary, Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Water Supply, Mr. Maya Duna, Secretary for the Ministry of Ports Shipping and Mrs. Mel Mangalika, Additional Secretary for the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Water Supply, and Mr. R.H. Ruviness, the General Manager of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. This Congress would not have happened without the strong support and enthusiasm of all of you and of course without the direct support of our main sponsors. Pao China, Larson-Tubro, Vitek Babag, L.I.H Technology Hawan Company and our many strategic partners. Can we have the logos of the strategic partners? So these are our strategic partners. As I'm talking to you right now, around 600 to 800,000 people are flying in a plane at an altitude of about 11 kilometers above the Earth's surface and are traveling at speeds of 800 kilometers an hour. Many of you have done this to come here to Colombo. In fact it is estimated that any given time during the day or during the night an average of 750,000 people are airborne. All of these people are provided with safe drinking water, good sanitation and their wastes are safely handled. Isn't it amazing that in the 21st century humankind is capable of permanently maintaining the population of a reasonably sized town of 750,000 people 11 kilometers high and providing them with all of their essential services. But you know what's even more amazing or I should say astonishing is that in the same century we have not yet managed to provide safe water and sanitation to all our fellow human beings on the ground and this is not due to a lack of trying. When we look back in history it is the management of water and sanitation that has determined the longevity and the exuberance of civilizations. As I said I'm from Sri Lanka and here we have great examples of water heritage and sustainable water management. In Sri Lanka over two and a half thousand years ago the great Kings of the past developed one of the one of the finest hydraulic civilizations of the world to deal with water scarcity in the dry zones of the country. The Kings built a sophisticated network of small tanks connected by canals and large reservoirs in order to collect and redistribute every single drop of rain that fell on this beautiful land. The tanks were built in a cascading system using natural topography and the main goal of these systems was to save and reuse water in order to support and sustain economic development. You know people managed to successfully cultivate rice all year round in the dry zones while at the same time communities were provided with drinking water supply but more importantly the Kings were visionaries. They also recognized the need for humans to live in harmony with nature so certain areas of these tanks were dedicated to support animals from the forest and to support biodiversity. In fact it is the only man-made ecosystem that managed to keep a perfect ecological balance for centuries while at the same time providing flood control and water conservation. The thinking behind the design of these ancient tank systems was poorly understood by modern engineers and they became neglected and abandoned particularly during the colonial era but we have now realized their importance particularly in the face of climate change and so the government of Sri Lanka is rehabilitating and rejuvenating these tank systems and they're doing this by reviving the wisdom from the nearly forgotten past. This collective memory is shaping the waterwise future of this beautiful country. It is indeed lessons learnt that allow us as a collective to rethink and reimagine the future of water. We can see this in how the lessons from the Millennium Development Goals, the MDGs, have now helped shape the transition to the Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs. Yes we're back to aspirational goals but with a difference. We have become more pragmatic and more grounded in humanist values and this is the golden thread that runs through this Congress. The fact that interventions must have at their core the philosophy that no one is left behind and this is a non-negotiable objective and that it is no longer just about access to improve sources and facilities but it's about safe equitable reliable and affordable services for everyone. So in the next four days during this Congress you will be having discussions on a range of topics that all contribute in some way or another to the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the International Water Association we believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of sanitation and that emerging economies have a unique but fleeting opportunity to change the way they think about water and sanitation. To rethink how water is used, how water is reused, should water systems and their infrastructures be centralized or decentralized, linear or circular and should we have sewers or not. These will be the key questions discussed and debated during this Congress. The Congress also brings together researchers, innovators and practitioners to facilitate the development of nimble and affordable solutions which will help emerging economies to leapfrog from the legacy of clunky costly centralized systems to more distributed and circular approaches. We will talk about how digital water is an enabler that allows us to transition to this new normal of one water. You see opportunities just don't happen, you create them. This is the spirit of the IWA community and of this Congress. When I think about thought leadership and agenda setting it is all of you that are constantly pushing the boundaries of water science, technology and innovation and it is at Congresses like this where you create those opportunities to shape the water sector, to shape the water future, to meet with experts in the industry with whom we have always wanted to meet and interact, to exchange, to network, to share memories, to learn, to teach and to empower ourselves to become modern water thinkers. And opportunities just don't happen. We create them. The IWA through its 50 specialist groups with its presence in 140 countries develops new ideas and solutions that inform and influence global practice and policy. You see the institutional heart of IWA has been in existence for more than 70 years, but this year 2019 is very special because it is the 20th anniversary of the marriage of the two associations WSA and IAWQ that came together in 1999 to form the IWA that we all now know and cherish. So opportunities just don't happen. It's you and us working together that creates them. So again, welcome to the 2019 IWA Water and Development Congress and Exhibition. And so with this I would like to now invite my president, Madam Diane Daris, to deliver her opening address. Diane, the floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you, Kala. Dear Excellencies, Honourable Vasudeva Nana Yakakara, Mr. Tilina Vijetunga, dear Doolai, dear Percetive Participants, Delegates, dear Water Professionals, dear Friends, we all agree on that humanity cannot trade and survive without water. Cities cannot function without water. Agriculture, industry, and the environment are all vulnerable to water risks. The world faces an unprecedented challenge to ensure we have a sustainable water future that is capable of meeting these challenges. If IWA members are today mainly dealing with water services to the people, we more and more have to find a way to share the resources in between daily sanitation services to people, our core activity, with the need of industry and the need for more irrigation in agriculture to cope with the developing populations. Irrigation has been and is central to human development and some civilizations have developed it further than others. As Kala said, Sri Lanka is a good example of that. In the 12th century, agriculture reached its zenith in this country. According to the chronicles, the king Parakramamabahu, the first, believed in it and I would like to quote him. He decided and he pushed that not allowing even a drop of rainwater to flow to the ocean without being used by man. What a wonderful vision for hoping the IWA water and development congress in the Ghibishan. However, the reality today, 800 years after, is not so brilliant around the world. The third commission of the United Nations relating to the human rights is preparing the resolution on safe drinking water and sanitation which should be adopted in the General Assembly of the United Nations before the end of the year. I would like to quote the United Nations resolution and I quote them. According to the joint monitoring program, if between 2000 and 2017, progress has been made, the situation in 2017 is still not acceptable. At least 29% of the population lack of the human rights water services. In fact, the percentage of population using only very basic drinking water service, not safely managed, is 19%. And even worse, 18% of the population do not even have those very basic services. In sanitation, it's not better. Even worse, 55% of the world population lack of access to human rights to sanitation. The percentage of the population using very basic sanitation is 29%. And nine, two billion people don't have even that. And we have to remind that 700 million people still practice open defecation, representing both population, 26% of the world population. The resolution of the nation, the United Nations, said that United Nations is deeply alarmed that water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases hit children the hardest. While noting that child diarrhea is a second leading cause of death in children under five years old. Carla has spoken about flights. It means that every day, the equivalent of three jumbo jets of children are dying because of that. The United Nations reaffirms that the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation has components of the right to an adequate standard of living are essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life and all human rights. It reaffirms that states have the primary responsibility to ensure the full realization of all human rights and to endure to take steps individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical cooperation, to the maximum of their available resources with a view to progressively achieving the full realization of the rights to safe drinking water and sanitation by all, by all appropriate means, including in particular the adoption of legislative measures. UN calls upon states and international organization to provide financial resources, help capacity building and technology transfer to help countries upon their request in particular developing countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. This is where the role of organization like IWA can speed up the process of development. As water professional, we have a lot of knowledge and solutions, but the development sector is very complex with different models and structures. This requires for water professionals to be open to diversity. The Water and Development Congress and Exhibition is an event that bridges science, practice and needs. As I just said, the needs are huge, enormous, in terms of the services people need. The IW Water and Development Congress and Exhibition is different from the other big IWA B annual Congress in the sense that it is a place where you have to face two days development reality. Water professionals meet development professionals and water needs. Needs in terms of technology, but also in terms of governance, financial means, human skills. We aim to bridge the adoption gap. However, what we want to promote cross-thinking, solutions that work well in a country are not necessarily the ones that will fit best other realities. We have to work around importing problems when we want to spread the solutions. Understanding and sharing the challenges, the gaps are key elements to identify effective solutions that adapt to the different realities. Listing to and sharing with other organization individuals is an important element for progress. That is the nature of this exceptional event. We must commit to diversity. The skills that each of us bring to the table are different, but complementary. Economic and cultural diversity are key to find and implement the solutions humankind needs. As an example, we can refer to the United Nations who recommends, in this resolution, to promote both women's leadership and their full, effective and equal participation in decision-making on water and sanitation management and to ensure that the gender-based approach is adopted in relation to water and sanitation programs. We, as a global community, have to think differently and act differently to respond to a new paradigm and to respond with the urgency our world demands. However, there is hope. There is hope for a sustainable future for all, especially for developing countries. Thanks to investment in innovative technology, to Worsh project, to desalination, we can bring the increased water security. Thanks to the potential for adopting nature-based solutions, we can expect more resilient, cost-effective and decentralized approaches. Thanks to the digital technology, as anticipated in the IWA digital water program, utilities can transition from analog to digital management systems, offering new solutions and greater efficiency. It is also key that we grow our association in order to represent better the population who still do not have access to the human rights to water and sanitation. I welcome new members from developing countries in order to grow and improve our impact. We need them. Thus, I would like to take this momentum to further thanks you all for your contribution and presence. I would like to thank the IWA member and partners and especially the ones who have shaped this IWA Congress, the program committee and all of you who made the IWA Water and Development Congress exhibition 2019 happen. And sure, you have fruitful discussions and connect with one another. They will learn from you. You will learn from them. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Diane, for an inspirational speech. You know, the IWA Congress doesn't work without local support. And we have been very fortunate here in Sri Lanka to have had strong support from the ministry and also from the national water supply and sewage board. The key person in all of this, the engine that kept pushing and pushing was Mr. Thilena Wijatunga from the water supply and drainage board. So I would very much like to now invite Mr. Thilena, the Congress president, to deliver his opening speech. Mr. Thilena. Honourable Dinesh Gunvardhana, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Skills Development, Employment and Labor Relations. Honourable Vasudevan Anayakara, the State Minister of Water Supply. Honourable Dr. Priyadbandu Vikramar, the Secretary to the Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Water Supply. Mr. Priyanta Mayadune, the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Shipping. Mr. Mangalika, the Additional Secretary of Technical, Chair, Joint Operations Committee. Representatives from Foreign Missions, Donations, especially Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Jaika and FD. All secretaries to the Minister of Water Supply, additional secretaries to the senior officials from sister organizations and the Director General Irrigation. All Sri Lankan Organizing Committee members, Ms. Diane, the President of International Water Association, Professor Kala, the Executive Director of Aiva, colleagues and friends. Even though Sri Lanka is blessed with an annual rainfall of 2,000 millimetres, Sri Lanka faces its own unique problems in drinking water sector. The geographical diversity and the climate variations in Sri Lanka makes the drinking water issues even more complicated and complex. Being a country in which one-third of its population engage in agriculture, compete in demands for agriculture and water for drinking is becoming a major issue. One could assess the seriousness of the water quality issues, which is evident from the chronic kidney disease epidemic, which has made the major serious health impact on several provinces in Sri Lanka. Over the last decade or so, Sri Lanka had been attempting to develop its industrial and commercial sectors, anticipating an economic growth, where the water supply services and infrastructure became becomes a fundamental requirement. Supply in potable water to urban cities, industrial zones, commercial hubs have been a major challenge mainly due to water resource constraints and limitations. We have been exploring alternative options such as desalination, but at the same time face with technical, financial feasible issues as the current water tariff is heavily subsidized. In a nutshell, we could say that the drinking water sector has been going through a transition phase encountering quality and quantity issues while facing cost recovery and investment challenges. In addition, even though Sri Lanka has a healthy indicators on sanitation, for pipe water service coverage, Sri Lanka has to go a long way. In this backdrop, we were eager to network with the Global Knowledge Hub to share experience and to learn from contemporary best practices in the drinking water field. We envisaged that there may be other countries which would have gone through this phase and we were eager to share the lessons learned by our international counterparts in tackling these issues. This persuaded and encouraged us to convince IWA to hold the 2019 Water and Development Congress and exhibition in Kalambo, Sri Lanka. The IWA naturally became the best candidate for us to link with consider its global reach and its worldwide network. We had no hesitation in promoting our partnership with IWA. Both parties worked in dedication and resolution, worked towards a common goal. And we are here today being the proud host nation of the IWA 2019 Water Development Congress and exhibition. The government of Sri Lanka gave us clearance to go ahead and extend its fullest cooperation to make this event a success. Under the stewardship of the water ministry over the last year, we as a team worked tirelessly to materialize this event. First and foremost, we would like to extend our gratitude to our former secretary, Mr. Mayadunni and our additional secretary technical is Wangalika and the ministry staff for giving us the courage and the guidance to come so far. We do not do justice if we do not recognize the support extended by the universities, especially the engineering faculties of Borotua, Peradenea, Ruhuna and Jaffna who supported us all the way up to this point. From the inception, we had a very cold year relations with IWA, OCC, and we were very happy to work with them. We set up several working committees such as main co-ordinate committee, delegation committee, local delegation committee, exhibition committee, conference committee and so on. And I'm telling you now, the commitment and the dedication shown by those teams were exceptional and we would not have been here if not for the team spirit and the dedication shown by those committees. We were well on track until the unfortunate Easter Sunday incident threw us into a spin. Imagine the confusion and the uncertainty that engulfed us when you have to organize the event of this magnitude with international involvement in uncertain circumstances. Then came the second bombshell. That is President's election to be held either in November or December and the exact dates unknown. But already the days for IWA conference had been reserved as from 1st to 4th December as the venues had to be booked in advance. You could imagine the uncertainty and tension that prevailed during that period. It was like shooting in the dark but when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. The IWA stood by Sri Lanka and did not let us down. We appreciate you for the trust you place on us and our Motherland. You did not desert us at the time of need. From our side, we were made to see the courage and the resolution of Sri Lankan working groups as well. All of them in USA said never said I. No turning back now. Let us go forward and excel. That is why we are here today. This is the resilience of our country. This is the spirit of Sri Lankans. It may be war, tsunami, Easter Sunday but we never give up. Here we are today in full glory all done and dusted and looking forward to propel the drink in water sector to the next level and give the much needed boost to the economic development of our Motherland. When we look back now, there could not have been a better time in for this event to be held at this junction. With the new government in place and with boosting aspirations and spiraling hope, we all are looking forward to a new era of development and economic revival with enthusiasm. It is the time for new beginning and it is the beginning of the Christmas season as well. We all could feel the hope and admiration and excitement in the air. You cannot ask for any better timing.  His excellency president has declared the policy of the new government. We have a golden opportunity to make use of this event as a moral booster to kick start the drink in water sector development keeping in line with circulated government development policies. We are sure that we could have a healthy dialogue, knowledge sharing and technology transfer during this conference. Most importantly what we will finally achieve is the strong bond we could build with Iowa and strong network we could make with international knowledge which will be immensely useful to all of us and in time to come. Last but not the least, I shall take the opportunity to mention about the national water supply and drainage board research and development symposium which will be held as a parallel event start in tomorrow. Getting an opportunity to amalgamate the R&D symposium of NWSTB together with Iowa water development congress is a huge boost to uplift the quality and standard of the NWS our R&D symposium to be on power with international standards. Again finally on behalf of the water ministry the management of the NWSTB and the Sri Lanka Organizing Committee we once again extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to IWA for holding hands with us all the way for 2019 IWA Water and Development Congress and exhibition to see the light of the day which means a lot to us and to our motherland. From Sri Lankan side we will ensure and guarantee that 2019 IWA Water and Development Congress exhibition will be an absolute success. I wish all of you a very fruitful three days to come on behalf of Sri Lankan Organizing Committee. Thank you very much. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much Mr. Tilana for your inspirational speech and for your kind words and I must say the hard work that all your committee members put in to make sure that this conference is a success. Now I would like to invite our chief guest the Honorable Vasudeva Nanna Yakara to give the chief guest's address please minister. Good evening ladies and gentlemen Ajubo and Vanakkam. Honorable Dinesh Konodhan the minister of external affairs and labor relations and etc. Madam President Deyayan I'll leave the rest of your name for difficulty in pronunciation. Kala Vairav Amurthy the CEO Priyat Nandu the secretary to this ministry. Of course the minister being the prime minister. I'm only the state minister and all other secretaries and officials and organizers of this conference. It happens to be by luck and thanks to the universal franchise and political democracy that I am here at this podium instead of the former minister which is a result of the last presidential election that changed the government. We invited the former minister Honorable Rao Fahking to be present at this event and we expect him to be here at any time. This thing which delegates dear friends who have come from far and near. It is indeed an honour for me to address this audience gathering with more than if I am right about 600 participants from about 80 countries. We thank the International Water Association for choosing Sri Lanka as the host country for this all-important congress of water and development. As a state minister for water supply and drainage appointed a few days ago I'm sure I will be inspired by this event for the work that I have to undertake as a new minister. My task will be made easier by what you will be discussing here in the next few days and the conclusions that you arrive at in regard to the all-important question of water issues. Our purpose is as Kala said water for all and at affordable prices and in sufficient quantities. The principal feature of our welfare state and society is this as one pillar. Fair education, another pillar free health is another pillar. Water and sanitation is the other pillar. These are the pillars on which our welfare state stands and our welfare society flourishes. Now I wish to briefly address you on our history and geography but much of what I wanted to say has been stolen from me by the previous speakers. Your president even referred to Parakram Bahu the great our king and what he said so I am deprived of that. We are known as the pearl of the Indian ocean my mother learned. 66,000 square kilometers five percent of it is covered with internal water or internal waterways including the large man-made tanks dating back 2000 to 2000 years of recorded history, recorded history. The Buddhist civilization that commenced with the advent of Arhat Mahindra Thero the Buddhist missionary monk the son of Emperor Ashoka our country developed and evolved into a new civilization. It is recorded that Arhat Mahindra Thero said to the king Devan Ampyatisha who was then the king of Anuradipura and Sri Lanka. He said to the king that he is only the trustee of the resources of nature and not the owner. This was cited in a recent Supreme Court case which upheld the right of the people to natural resources and therefore inalienable. This has set the tone of our culture and secondly in our governance under all governing regimes. I also must mention the valuable contributions Hinduism later on has made towards the evolving culture and also Christianity and Islam still later in their contribution towards this evolved civilization. Our country is best with an annual average rainfall that figure was given by our director 2000 millimeters therefore we have surface and groundwater in abundance but yet we experience droughts and we also have a large number of communities with deficient water accessibility and supply. This is a contradiction as you will see we should have been able to solve this contradiction long ago with the kind of culture that we have discussed and the history that we have inherited. However it was not to be for the reasons to which I will come later. Well one thing that strikes me as another contradiction is like the abundance of water but scarcity of water. Fewer people who can afford consume and use a large proportion of water while a large number have a deficiency in water. This too is a contradiction in almost all developing countries made worse by the neoliberal economic structures. We have about 100 river basins with five major rivers with a perennial flow having its sources located in the central highlands. The uneven development, unevenly developed economy has resulted in polarized urbanization and the large rural sector. This corresponds with the density of the population. Our aim is not merely to build smart cities which is what Colombo and its periphery is developing into but is to build inclusive cities even if not smart. Further our new government intends to give the facilities of the city to the rural regions and this we have been doing in the previous times when our governments were in power allocating large amounts of money for the development of the rural sector. The difficult rural sector, the difficulty of the rural sector will be overcome only when the facilities are available like electricity and water. We thought as a dictum that facilities of the city to the rural regions and the environmental bliss of the rural regions into the cities. We are faced with the daunting challenges in providing safe drinking water to all the people and more urgently to the rapidly increasing population in Colombo and other cities. It has been said that our expenditure on the health will significantly reduce with the accessibility for all to safe drinking water. More safe drinking water, lesser hospitals. This has been what one of my friends Dr Anton said to me, provide safe drinking water then you will have least expenditure on your health. Not less urgent is the same need that is the availability of water in the dry zone areas. Once again the chronic kidney diseases that is increasing in those areas has been referred to by an earlier speaker. It is connected with water they consume as the scientists have begun to understand. Thankfully Sri Lankan mentality has been very wise and appropriate in regard to urban migration. Migration is one problem which relates to the issues of water availability. I say our mentality of our people have been wise and appropriate because they have their own property or ancestral homes in the villages from which they were not easily uproot. They are deeply rooted there and settle in their own properties or ancestral lands or homes. If this were to be the pattern with less migration into the urban areas as has been noted Sri Lanka has the least migration and urbanization in South Asia. It's supposed to be 1.36. What we need will be public transport systems. I don't want to go into another sphere but that would check the unnecessary urbanization. The water and environmental issues vary from city to another or to a non-urban areas. The mother of all issues related to water is the destruction of catchment areas and the loss of forest cover and the misuse of chemicals in agriculture at high elevations. Of course these issues arise partly out of lack of proper employment and income to the people who are in the lower segment of the population and partly due to the corruption of officials and partly to the responsible greedy unscrupulous rich. But these in contrast to our 2000 year old culture which has been contemporarily unique in the sustainable water resources management systems and practices that we had. Our ancient cities had running water facilities and sanitation too. We have to ask ourselves why we have degenerated over the years. Our own long-term people's interests were overrun by the colonizers who denuded our forests the richest resource we had as has the UN now realized and underscored. Development is not merely growth it is not merely in economic terms it means inclusive human development of all people and no one to be left behind. Economic development is a means to an end then is ultimately human development. Our new president his Excellency Guadabai Rajapaksa emphasized that all development should be people-centric and any development should reflect in the standard of living of the people. In our culture the pollution of water or the waste of water is considered a sin and there's a veneration of water. In the past every village had its own large storage of water in the village tank. Looked after by the villagers we had thousands of such tanks most of which are today among the Ruins. A large number of our ancient irrigation canals and anarchists were destroyed by the colonial rulers in the retribution and repression when the people raised rebellion for independence. Therefore rightly we are entitled to compensation that will be taken up later on I suppose at the UN. Now our new government has undertaken like few previous ones to harmonize development with environmental conservation and enhancing the quality of life with better incomes and this by ensuring social welfare. In this endeavor as matters our previous government succeeded in providing electricity to the entire population which I believe is a harder task than providing water. I believe it is our task now to provide safe drinking water and usable water to all citizens living in all parts of the country. Up to now I have the figure of 51% is provided with safe drinking water, tap ball. International cooperation has helped us to start on many water supply projects for which we express our gratitude. I'm sure the National Water Association will support us in our efforts to mobilize funds. There's plenty of rain here these days unusual for this time of the year probably it is a celebration of our water and development Congress and to welcome you the rains have come. Please find excitement and joy seeing our unique island and meeting our smiling hospitable people and take back present memories of your visit here. Thank you very very much. Thank you very much honourable minister Vasudeva for a wonderful speech. Okay so now we're going to have some light entertainment and we have a wonderful dance performance by the Chana Upali performance performing arts foundation and they will perform a piece called The Pearl of the Indian Ocean so please if we could welcome the Chana Upali performing arts throughout the ages travelers from all corners of the world have journeyed to a mystical and magnificent island nestled in the heart of the Indian Ocean all through throughout the ages travelers from all corners of the world have journeyed to a mystical and magnificent island nestled in the heart of the Indian Ocean all through history this island nation has been referred to by many a name such as Thaprobene Serendib, the granary of the east and still to this day the pearl of the Indian Ocean. On their day by paying homage to the sun, the people of the island work the fertile soil that nourishes an entire nation.  Healing rituals were performed to cleanse the body and mind of impurities through the recital of spiritual chants called slokas. The study of astrology was central to the ancient system of education. The wisdom sought counsel from the stars and bred the future looking at planetary positions. Time, space and energy were harnessed in the art of movement and traditional drumming which gave rise to the traditional dances of Sri Lanka. Let's start this Congress showcasing the grace of Sri Lanka to all of you. I just want to acknowledge the Honorable Ralph Hakim who has just walked into the meeting to the Congress. He was the former minister of city planning, water supply and higher education and he was very instrumental in bringing the Congress here and he gave a lot of support to us. So thank you very much Honorable Ralph Hakim for your help and support. The IWA is a membership organization and at this Congress we celebrate the achievements and successes of our members and the global water community. So we should now begin the IWA Water and Development Awards. The IWA Water and Development Boards have two categories. The first is research and the second is practice. The research award recognizes high quality, disruptive and impactful research in the areas of water and sanitation with a focus on low and middle income countries. The practice award celebrates outstanding accomplishments in the practice of forward thinking applications and solutions to advance safe water and sanitation in low and middle income countries. This year the awards attracted an unprecedented level of interest. We had 74 nominations from 29 countries and we put together a high quality judging panel from our membership who were responsible for judging these nominations. And let me tell you, they had great difficulty because many of those nominations were exemplary. But there can only be two winners and today we are going to honor two outstanding professionals. I would like to invite my president, Diane Duarez and the Honorable Minister Vasudeva to come to the stage to be part of the award ceremony. In the research category, we had three runners up and all of their submissions were viewed as being exemplary. And I would just like to acknowledge Professor Damir Bravanovic from IHE Delft, the Netherlands, Professor Daniel Orther from Missouri University of Science and Technology in the USA, and Professor Sara Vanamutlu Vigneshvren from the University of Technology in Sydney, who also is originally from Sri Lanka. All of these people submitted outstanding applications, but they were the three runners up. We can only have one winner and the winner of this year's Water and Development Award for Research is Dr. Miriam Otto. I would like to invite Miriam to the stage to receive her award from the president, Madame Duarez and the Honorable Vasudeva Naneyakara. Dr. Otto's research work was in the area of resource recovery and reuse with a focus on business models. The award jury was convinced that her work will be instrumental in helping the financial sustainability of sanitation and that her work goes beyond the technical challenges of triple R, but provides policy recommendations. The judges were unanimous as they felt that the scientific rigor of her work was top notch. Congratulations, Dr. Otto, please. In the practice category, we had three runners up. We have the practice category runners up. We had Mr. Gérard Payant from the French Water Partnership, Astille-Ondeo Aquafed in France. We had Dr. Nian Shi from Tinghua University's Innovation Centre in China, and we had Mr. Libby Johnson from Grand Bicasse, Odisha in India. Again, they all submitted outstanding applications, but they were the three runners up. There can only be one winner, and this year's winner for the IWA Water Development Practice Award goes to Mr. Sikandasab Maranik. Please. Sikandasab is the CEO of the Sankalapal Rural Water Development Society. He started an NGO that installed rainwater harvesting recharge systems in bore wells in rural India. This low-cost technology has been implemented in extremely vulnerable dry regions and was considered by the jury to epitomize the spirit of the IWA Development Practice Award. To date, Sikandasab has implemented the systems across India in over 1,500 bore wells. Please, Mr. Sikandasab, receive your award. And now we would like to take a joint photo with Miriam. Miriam, could you just come back? She's running. Come, come, come. I used to work with Miriam. She's fantastic. Miriam, please. I must say it was fantastic that we had so many nominations and we had a fantastic judging panel, and they took a lot of time to come up with the winners because it was very, very difficult. Okay. So, as most of you are aware, what makes IWA Congress's famous is the strength of the program. It's content, the new thinking, and the rigor that underpins the new ideas that it promotes. And, of course, the way that we ensure that the program is so strong and appealing is through our program committee that is formed by our members. Can I have the photograph of our members, please, yeah? It is only through our members' efforts that we are able to consistently deliver high-quality programs and content. So, I would just like to acknowledge the hard work of the program committee for the 2019 Development Congress who put together such a fantastic program. If we could please show our appreciation to these individuals. Now, the chair of the program committee was a very esteemed person, and we are so happy and honored that he has agreed to deliver the keynote address during this inaugural session. So, it is my great pleasure to invite Dulai Kone to the stage to deliver his keynote. Dulai is the deputy director of water and sanitation hygiene at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is disrupting the traditional models of sanitation by reinventing the toilet and reimagining how we deal with fecal sludge management. He is responsible for shaping the foundation's efforts in birthing a new sanitation industry that focuses on serving the poor communities in developing countries. He is leading the global efforts to commercialize transformative sanitation technologies. Dulai, we are all really honored to have you here, and we are very keen to learn about your vision on partnerships to accelerate the dawn of the golden era in sanitation. Please. Thank you, Kala, for the invitation, for extending this invitation to me, and allow me to be here today. Honorable minister, and like you said, I won't make a mistake trying to pronounce your name, but my neighbor, I believe, is minister Dinesh. Honorable minister, we just arrived, dear secretaries, and dear delegates. It's a great honor for me to be here today and speaking partly on behalf of the program committee which Kala just shared, but also I want to share some of the work that I believe we should keep doing together if we want to grow the impact of our work in these communities. First, I was really impressed by the performance, okay? So as an African, I also like music, and I felt that sometimes I need to... Maybe I will learn some of those moves, and when we invite you guys from Sri Lanka and Africa, we'll try to do some additional moves, okay? Thank you. William, when I heard your name, I thought maybe I should change my keynote because I wish I was able to explain today to everyone in this room what you did in this publication and in this book. It's amazing. If you are under 40, can you raise your hand? Okay. There's enough knowledge. This is like a library of what tomorrow, the tomorrow sanitation looks like. This is what Miriam has written. It's really worth reading. Let me start by saying thank you to all the committee members. We are able to work remotely today, but we can do great things together. Most of these people, I would meet them for the first time this week. Some are new before. But thanks to internet and the great connectivity, technology is evolving in many domain, not on sanitation, but many domain. So thanks to technology, we were able to come together and propose a program which I believe is very compelling that everyone here... I really hope you would leave the conference with very strong relationship and very strong partnership. I also want to thank the CEO actually, Carla and the Secretariat for also choosing those members and making sure that we have great representation. If you've seen on the pictures, they've tried their best to make sure that this is gender balance. We strive to do that. It's not something we have to celebrate. It's like the normal thing to do.   So that's how we're going to keep thriving and achieving our gender balance. So we want to do that in our work. Let's show it. When we come also on stage. This is some of the issues we are discussing. Water is becoming a scarce economic resource. But we need water to do many, many, many, many things. Many people in our profession like myself have been educated to use water to drive sanitation solution. And what I want to share with you, maybe it's the time to rethink that. Maybe it's the time to think differently because water is no more available. And the concept of using water to drive sanitation is not moving fast enough. 21st century, six people out of ten don't have decent sanitation solution. No matter what your water coverage is, you can't be celebrating any success. You cannot say, yes, we have 80% water supply, but you know what, sanitation would come tomorrow. No.  And it has a huge burden on the economy. When I say partnership, I'm not asking the top water engineer to become the top sanitation engineer or to become the top hygiene engineer. How do we extend our work, our relationship? How do we cross borders so we can talk to the others? Then together, maybe we can do bigger thing. These numbers are huge and I don't like recalling them all the time. I wish I would be on the stage one day and say, hey, here's a lot of money that people can make. So let's build an industry and let's go and make that money. This is something which breaks my heart. I mentioned technologies, you know, how we use technologies to plan this conference. Me sitting in Seattle, other people in Sri Lanka, in India, in Europe, and we're able to plan great thing together. When it comes to water and sanitation solution, there's a huge inequality in the world. I need to check the time with, it's not showing on the screen. If someone can display the time for me. When it comes to water and sanitation solution, huge inequality in the world. If you are rich today, your toilet drink more water than yourself. That's what it is. Every single time you flush, 5 to 10 liters. You go in P, 5 to 10 liters. You do number two, 5 to 10 liters. You're two years old, 5 to 10 liters. We cannot sustain that. We know it and we need to take action. Things around us are changing. We have a great representation from the government today. Free ministers, several secretaries. When I said, you know, raise your hand when you are below 40. It's on purpose because I know when I was also below 40, I used to be very impatient in those plenary sessions. Like, yeah, people talk too much while all these long speeches. Because this is the time where we have to translate for the policy makers what we have learned, what we know, what type of advice we need to give them. If we do that well from this meeting, they can get empowered and they can take action. I believe that's also part of the plenary session you're trying to, for some of the good of the plenary session you're trying to achieve, Mr. C.U. Around the world, governments are campaigning with sanitation as a theme. And they win. India showed it. Very recently, Nigeria signed into law a bill to end open defecations by 2025. China since 2015 launched a huge program on sanitation and toilet revolution. Several governments, if you are from a developing country, I can guarantee you this is one of the priorities of your government. If you're working in a developing country or an emerging economy, this is one of the biggest priorities of your government. Not everyone is making big media coverage about this. Communities are asking. Industries are asking. And governments are coming forward. Now, how is professional? How do we answer? I'm going to give some examples. South Africa. South Africa did an amazing work on the policy level. This is the Ministry of Trade and Industry taking notice that water is becoming scarce and maybe disruptive sanitation technology can actually help save water. Not the Ministry of Water and Sanitation as the Ministry of Trade and Industry. National policy action with budget behind to fund industries that can come up with what they call smart water toilet. It means toilet that doesn't drink drinkable water. Those toilets can make their own water today. Technology is available to do that. And the government is putting huge significant budget to push for solution like this. If you are industry players today, that's one place to go. Partnership here means the work that the Department of Water and Sanitation is doing together with the Department of Trade and Industry can actually help boost an economy in South Africa. Can we have similar effort in other places, in other countries? The market is there for sure. This graph shows on the right side the coverage on on-site sanitation system. Most cities, large cities in the world today don't have full coverage of sewer system. If we want to accelerate service provision in those countries and in those cities, it has to be a different solution. And the YX is showing, these are also the growing economy. It means the opportunity is there. I gave an example of South Africa. I gave example for China, India, next to us here. This is where the industry potential is today. And as sector professional, we need to organize ourselves to extend our knowledge, extend services, extend technologies that would actually respond to these needs.  Those logos here, these are multi-billion companies coming together. Some of them are members of IWA, our community. Others are not. Maybe they will come soon. Politicians are asking, industries are organizing themselves. There are many others. The Africa Sledge Management Association is one newly created. You will hear about them very, very, very soon to do that. So this industry association called the Toilet Board Coalition is actually a grooming entrepreneur. It means if you are a young researcher today and you can invent a technology, you may have an opportunity to become part of the Toilet Board Coalition to apply to some of the accelerators and actually spin out the business. Because those companies are looking for the next disruptive ideas and business model to go to scale. Now, when I stand here, many people have said, hey, Dula, you talk too much about Omsa Sanitation. See what is good? Yes, see what is good. And I want to go back to this gentleman, Edwin. When see what was invented, I was not going to make it to people's home on his own. It took some effort by gentlemen like this, Edwin, to develop standards, service standards. That would make it mandatory for the technology to be available to everyone. The big difference today is because all those regulations and standards exist, the sewage industry is a powerful industry. It's a powerful economy. It's great. How do we do that for Omsa Sanitation? Remember the numbers? 4.5 billion people. We have tried. We're launching initiatives. And these are some of the work that I would like to open to our IW communities as well. As scientists, as professionals, we have to find ways to translate our science and knowledge into policy instrument, into regulation, into business model. If within this network we can build those relationships, I believe we can all achieve impact much faster. This is an initiative to try to standardize today what is Omsa Sanitation solution. How would you define that? How would you define performance? We can all complain about systems are not working. But I don't think we've done enough to sit together with standardization bodies, with regulators, with policy makers, and have the same language. But if we can do that, then the investment community can be secure about performance of technology, performance of service, performance of product. This is just to give you what this standard would require. If we have to provide Omsa Sanitation solution today, people expect the same quality of service as a flash toilet that is connected to a sewage system. And that flash toilet takes a pathogen away from the family. My kids play in the bathroom and they never get sick. If I have a latrine at home, I would never allow them to go and play in the latrine. That latrine has to be safe. So if we are providing quality service, equitable quality service to everyone, we have to abide to the same standard. So let's define standard for Omsa Sanitation services. If we want to make this an equal industry, as we did for the wastewater industry, as we did for the water supply industry, as we did for the telephone industry as well. These are some numbers to share with the audience what level of safety is required for standards like this. This is an example. I'm not saying this is going to solve all the problems. This is only one standard. We need many more. If we are very serious about developing solutions and services that would last, that would provide same quality service as people would have with the sewage system. We need to develop much more of these standards. It means we have to translate our knowledge and innovation into those instruments as well. These are examples of technology that industry partners and universities are developing.  Wouldn't that be great? That you don't have to worry about emptying, you don't have to worry about buying solids with contaminants. And those toilets can make up their own water. They don't have to rely on drinkable water. There's not enough already. Every year we can support the day zero in this country, day zero in this city. It can be. See where the system works, where it works greatly. For 4.5 billion people, maybe we can rethink. When I said the industry is developing this, it's not to say this is like new technologies. A company like SCG, SCG is a 15 billion US dollar company. In petrochemical industry. They believe in communities where they work in order to make a lasting impact. Removing pathogens from the environment is actually key. And they're opening a business opportunity to actually extend sanitation services. With toilets that would operate off grid. No water supply going in. No sewer connection. And minimum electricity. This is another example from a company in China. You don't have electricity. You can use solar panels. And this is based on electrochemical reactors. And these are all technologies available in the IW network. These are all technologies available in many, many universities and many publications already. How can we accelerate the transition, translation of those solutions into industry solutions? And I hope the work that we do within the network can actually help inform. Decentralized sanitation system. I started my PhD work with wastewater engineering and wetland system and activated sludge and pond system. When I started visiting treatment plant before I did my PhD, I visited many cities in Africa. I will visit a city. The municipal sewage treatment plant is not working. And by the way, it is still true today. Then I cross the road. I go to the industry. Nestle is on the other side. And they use the same technology. It's working. If I ask the city, oh, we don't have the money. We don't have the expertise. We don't have the capacity. The other side, they have great incentive and work. And they hire people from the country. So the knowledge is there. The expertise is there. Why it's not working for cities? Because most of the treatment plant that we have been building don't generate enough resources, revenue to cover costs. So part of the work that we do at the Gate Foundation is to call for innovators and industry players. How can you change this? And if you want to learn about, you know, what are those models? Miriam, raise your hand again. People can see you. She did a great job in her book. I read every single page. I'm talking about toilet. And sometimes there's one difficult question that people don't necessarily address. Malodor. It's stink. Feminic. I believe annual revenue is about... I won't give the numbers. But I don't want to make mistakes. I think it's about 20 billion. Feminic is one of the largest. It's the largest fragrance company. If you use a perfume today, maybe probably you use a product coming from Feminic. They produce perfume for all the biggest companies. They came up with a great technology that suppresses Malodor in toilet. You can clean your toilet. You use the product to clean your toilet. It doesn't stink anymore. Solution like this can accelerate behavior change. It can help changing behavior. It can help people accepting greater solutions, greater technologies as well. So, my call today is to invite all of you and especially the young professional to be part of this. This is your opportunity. If you are here today, you made the right choice. If you are in this business, you made the right choice. Years before, I was like you. I was doubting whether this was the right thing to do. I can guarantee it's 100% the right thing to do. Be part of this. What you can do. You don't have to be engineer because in our water sector, we have traumatized so many people. We have traumatized our social scientist colleagues. We have traumatized the economists, the policy makers. Because if they don't speak engineering language, then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's not good. We need a much bigger family. If I'm an engineer and I invent something and it's someone to sell. And it's someone to service. And it's someone else to use it. We need to be open. The area you can choose to contribute are enormous. It's like you can build things from scratch. Imagine that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for your very inspirational keynote. And I think everyone has learned a lot from this keynote. And as July says, we are in the right business and the opportunities are incredible. That was such a great way to kick off the Congress. And I'm sure you've energized everyone. Thank you, July. So we've nearly finished the opening ceremony. But I just have an announcement to make. Right after the opening session, we will inaugurate the exhibition with a traditional ribbon-cutting just outside the main hall. And so I would very much encourage all of you to gather outside in preparation for the inauguration of our exhibition. So I'm going to close the inauguration by saying that I really believe that this development Congress will be the most successful development Congress we have had to date. Two long years of preparation have made it so. And the Congress numbers substantiate that. We have nearly over a thousand registered participants from over 70 countries. We expect to see around 3,000 visitors over the next four days. We had 415 abstract submissions of which we were only able to select 115. We have 30 technical sessions, 30 workshops, 38 forums. So let's make this Water and Development Congress a great success. As I said earlier, opportunities don't happen. We create them. I now officially open the 2019 IWA Water and Development Congress and exhibition. Thank you all and enjoy the Congress and enjoy Sri Lanka.