To this end the conference will

• provide an overview of the principal issues and challenges and present potential solutions,
• give participants the opportunity to share best practices and alternative models, and 
• engage stakeholders in identifying factors for success and map out specific recommendations.
  

Main themes

• pro-poor sector reform
• leveraging the local private sector
• developing improved urban poor data management
• listening to the voice of the poor.

Main messages

• Sector reform strategies and implementation structures need a stronger pro-poor focus.
• Pro-poor regulation is the key to bringing transparency to the sector and making the poor benefit from reforms.
• Better use needs to be made of the potential of partnership agreements between the utilities and the local private sector (LPS) including small-scale providers (SSPs).
• Information systems on services and performance benchmarks for the poor need to be adopted.
• Service providers need to listen to the voices of poor customers.

Documents

Brief issue papers on the main themes have been prepared by the convenors of this conference highlighting the principal challenges and giving the framework for discussion and presentations. Likewise, three topics will be discussed in the context of the key themes: sanitation, pro-poor regulation and financing. For each of the main themes output papers will be drafted and later on reviewed to accommodate the conference discussion and results. The output papers will contain recommendations on concrete actions that could be initiated by governments, utilities, regulators, international donors, private sector and civil society to accelerate water supply and sanitation for the urban poor.