Dean Taylor

Dean is a management executive with extensive experience in the operation and maintenance of water utilities. Dean specialises in asset management, operations, maintenance and customer service. Through his career, Dean has worked as a consultant in Australia and through Asia and the Pacific in countries including Vietnam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, China, Samoa and the Philippines.

Maria Tran

Maria is an engineer with over ten years' experience working with regional, rural, and vulnerable communities to access critical services such as water and sanitation. Her recent work in Nauru working in the water, sanitation, and solid waste management sectors particularly highlights the unique way in which these services can impact nutrition, agriculture, and climate-resilience. Maria has experiences in combining urban agriculture with water and sanitation solutions for the climate resilient and nutrition- smart recovery of Nauru.

WEBINAR 1: Taking a Fresh Look at How We Fix Sanitation

Lack of access to safe, adequate, and affordable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services has a devastating effect on the health, dignity, and prosperity of billions of people across Asia and the Pacific. More than 55% of the region’s population will live in cities by 2030. With higher population densities and urban expansion, managing the vast amounts of human waste is becoming ever more challenging.

Lal Muthuwatta

Dr. Lal Muthuwatta is a hydrologist by training with a specialization in numerical modeling for water resources management. His research and professional background include over 20 years of experience in the fields of GIS, remote sensing, and numerical modeling. He has worked in multiple river basins across Asia and Africa, including Ganges, Salween, multiple river basins in Sri Lanka, and Karkheh in Asia; and Volta, Tana, Nile, and Naiwasha in Africa.

ADBI-Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Roundtable on Sanitation and Development

Sanitation gaps are a global problem that continues to affect large segments of developing Asia and the Pacific, despite the considerable progress of efforts to address it in recent decades. The COVID-19 crisis has further increased the importance of improving inclusive sanitation access and the lives of targeted users, especially across poor areas and vulnerable groups.