Each Forum can be seen as an essential springboard on the road to a secure future for water, but it also represents new and different challenges. In particular, the 9th World Water Forum organized by Sénégal and World Water Council will focus the debates in sub-Saharan Africa, where the challenges are the greatest and the populations most deprived. Indeed, Senegal is one of the African countries which have achieved the MDG objectives in terms of water. The Senegal Emerging Plan (PSE) aims to improve access to quality services at affordable and acceptable prices for populations living in urban and rural areas and to promote good governance in the sector.
In addition, at the midpoint of the progress made within the framework of the SDGs, the actions undertaken with a view to the 9th Forum will aim to directly feed the 2030 Agenda and contribute to the SDGs objectives relating to water, to make take stock of progress and identify areas where additional efforts are needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It will also contribute to the achievement of the African Water Vision 2025 and the African Union Agenda 2063.
Each forum building on the conclusions of the previous one, the three intermediate years serve to advance the debate and the understanding of crucial subjects. Between the 7th and 8th Forums, the World Water Council produced more than 50 publications on issues such as water security, finance, climate change, sanitation and human settlements. The organization has been represented at major events, including the United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the conferences of the parties to the UNFCCC.
From the 500 participants in Marrakech to the tens of thousands of participants in Brasilia, it is obvious that interest in the Forum is constantly growing and that it has become the most recognized world event in the field of water. Despite the progress made, we are far from achieving a world in which water is guaranteed for all, and that is why the task of the World Water Council and the Forum must continue.
About the World Water Council
The World Water Council is an international multistakeholder platform organization whose mission is to mobilize action on critical water issues at all levels, including the highest decision-making level, by engaging people in debate and challenging conventional thinking. Created in 1996, the Council is the founder of the World Water Forum and catalyzes collective action during and in between each Forum.
The World Water Council focuses on the political dimensions of water security, adaptation and sustainability and works towards increasing the awareness of high-level decision makers on water issues. It seeks to position water at the top of the global political agenda and to produce worldwide policies to help authorities develop and manage water resources and encourage efficient water use. The Council endeavors to reach the whole political sphere: national governments, parliamentarians and local authorities, as well as United Nations bodies.
