Governments, international agencies, and private organizations have invested heavily in sanitation improvements in Asia and globally in recent decades, though the benefits for vulnerable groups such as the poor, women, and children have yet to be systematically captured. There is also a need to better understand how to optimize sanitation services across households, considering prices, competition, and other supply-side factors.

Evidence-based research on sanitation may help pinpoint what progress has been achieved, where efforts are still lacking, and what types of programs work. New empirical evidence may also provide a strong foundation on which practitioners and policy makers can build future programs on sanitation and related Sustainable Development Goals.

The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Batten Center for Social Innovation at the University of Virginia and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) are therefore bringing together leading researchers to present their cutting edge empirical research on sanitation and development over the course of this two-day conference.

The following sessions will be open to the public:

Wednesday 27th October, 8PM - 9PM EST
Keynote Speech: Sebastian Galliani, Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland
Register here

Friday 29th October, 3AM - 4AM UK time
Closing remarks: Meera Mehta, University of Manchester
Register here