By Mamadou DIA, President of AquaFed
For AquaFed and its members, the 9th World Water Forum represents a continuation of our commitment to all stakeholders, through the Fora, and through cooperation with the host countries. We are proud of the journey we have made collectively with so many stakeholders, under the strategic guidance of the World Water Council and its President Loïc Fauchon.
AquaFed for its part, with its members, has been deeply involved in the preparatory and organisational processes of the different Forums, since the Mexico Forum in 2006 (and of course, some of our members have been present since Marrakech). We believe that the Forums can testify to cooperation, dialogue between stakeholders, and advance the exchange of expertise, in the respect that really exists, even if not all of us share the same opinion.
For Dakar 2021, we wish above all to highlight the implementation of the solutions that all the actors, and in particular our members, can provide. And we also want to make this first African-Sub-Saharan Forum, a Forum that brings a real political priority in different countries for water challenges, the protection of biodiversity, and solutions that public-private partnerships can bring to address the major issues of the 2030 Calendar.
The Covid-19 crisis forces us even more to master the challenges with the appropriate responses in many countries to guarantee equitable access to water services, in accordance with the criteria of the Human Rights to water and sanitation.
AquaFed, through its secretariat, is already very involved in the preparatory process. We continue to push our members to follow the work of the Action Groups and we welcome the efforts of the different coordination teams, in complex teleworking conditions.
At the Board of Governor of the World Water Council, we have recently studied the organizational conditions and we are convinced that Senegal will make every effort to make Dakar2021 a Forum that will mark the beginning of a different period of cooperation. We thank all our friends in the International Steering Committee.
* Mamadou DIA is also Governor of the World Water Council, Member of the International Steering Committee of the 9th World Water Forum and International Director for Eranove.
