The 1st IWA Non-Sewered Sanitation (NSS) specialist group conference is being hosted in Pretoria, South Africa in partnership with the Water Research Commission and the University of Pretoria. The event responds to the challenges and needs of around 4 billion people requiring sanitation. The aim of the conference is to provide stimulus for research and innovation for NSS and off-grid sanitation solutions including faecal sludge management, build the technical and scientific base for NSS and to contribute to scientific knowledge and good practice learnings.