Lisa Engler and project manager Heiko Heidemann then emphasised the great potential of the issues of skills shortages, young talent and women for partnership work. It is a topic that poses major challenges for German and international companies alike and can therefore be ideally addressed as part of an utility partnership on an equal footing. The companies can learn a lot from each other's experiences and find new ideas for challenges.

Fittingly, the utility partnership between Hamburg Wasser and eThekwini in Durban/South Africa, funded by GWOPA in the EU programme, then presented its working group and activities on the topic of gender (see also presentation Hamburg Wasser - eThekwini). Lungi Zuma and Dr Claudia Wendland reported on exciting exchanges between women and very different problems for women in the water sector: while at Hamburg Wasser many mothers only work part-time, the situation in Durban/South Africa is quite different, as mothers have to return to work full-time after 3-6 months at the latest in order not to lose their jobs. Both companies have one problem in common: the high fluctuation of employees. Further dialogue with each other and with experts is planned in order to identify the problems and develop solutions.

Christian Wiebe from Viva con Agua then presented the work of his NGO (see also the Viva con Agua presentation). It is also part of the utility partnership between Hamburg and Durban and uses social media to sensitise young people to the WASH sector and gender equality and to break taboos. To this end, the universal language of the arts is used with music, dance and sport and, for example, radio channels are launched, Dance4WASH is danced and even chart hits on the subject of WASH are set to music.

Jan Schlenk from the GIZ water policy project then gave an input on the topic of period hygiene, which is a major challenge, not least for women in the water sector due to the lack of toilets. In order to promote the job profile in the WASH sector, the famous footballer Barbra Banda, who many in the room recognised immediately, was In the concluding discussion, it emerged that Zambia, for example, is setting up working groups in the ministry to increase the proportion of women in the water sector. Women reported various challenges, including, for example, the search for toilets for women's hygiene in more remote areas as well as work clothes and shoes that are far too large and designed for men.

Note: Prior to this session, there was already an input from Mary-Rita Nyirongo from Zambia on the African Women Sanitation Professionals Network in the morning session on wastewater treatment.

In the next project phase of the Utility Platform from July 2024, further activities on the topic of skills shortages, young talent and women are planned due to the great interest among utilities and the relevance of the topic. The utility partnerships will be supported by GIZ in including work packages on these topics in their work plans.

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Further information and all presentations of the session can be found in the documentation of the 7th network meeting of the operator platform.