Insights and calls for action from 700 changemakers at the All Systems Connect International Symposium 2023
Systems change starts with us. Now is the moment.
Published on: 13/06/2023
The biggest issues facing our world today cannot be solved by the fragmented and siloed thinking of the past. Our global challenges – from climate change to competition for scarce resources – require us to think differently, act differently, and connect across sectors and disciplines.
We can only do this through systems leadership and collective action, with governments at the centre.
This communication draws together the key insights and calls for action from 700 changemakers and systems leaders from water, sanitation and hygiene, health, climate, economic development and social justice. Importantly, these included governments from some of the countries facing the greatest injustices.
They came together as part of a determined intervention to change the way we work, to accelerate action towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and to promote water, sanitation and hygiene as a gateway to justice.
All Systems Connect (World Forum, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2-4 May 2023) was convened by the One For All Alliance – IRC, Water For People and Water for Good – with partners. It featured:
Read the systems leadership priority actions that arose from the event
All systems must perform
We need to move from all systems connecting, to all systems performing – and continue to learn and accelerate actions in systems strengthening.
We need to take transformative action in strengthening national systems across all interconnected sectors, complemented by strategic support from private sector and international partners. Collectively we can and must increase opportunities to unite diverse stakeholders for joint visioning, learning, and mutual accountability in collective action.
Together, the only way
No single organisation or leader can realise the transition from failing infrastructure to safely managed services. Weak regulatory systems prevent even well-designed policy changes from bearing fruit in terms of services. Data is not accessible to decision-makers, making it difficult to plan and coordinate effectively. We don’t have enough people with the right skills and knowledge, who are connected across sectors, to achieve SDG6. These simple building blocks of public service delivery must be systematically improved.
The Government of Rwanda has committed to hold a follow up to the All Systems Go Africa! Symposium 2022, in Kigali in 2025 to enhance ownership and commitment by all strategic players to achieve the post-2025 Africa Water Vision.
This communication is just the beginning. Please share it widely and use it as a seed for forging new relationships and collaborations, and a prompt for continued conversation.
The One For All Alliance is continuing to receive insights, synthesis notes, and personal reflections from the 700 participants at All Systems Connect, and we’ll be compiling and sharing these over time.
Explore the All Systems Connect 2023 presentations by theme.
ALL TOGETHER PLENARIES
See the presentations
WASH LEARNING
CONNECT
COUNTRY DIALOGUES
See the presentations
INTERACT
See the presentations
