"Initiative Dakar 2021" designed to label community projects focusing on access to drinking water and sanitation was launched on Thursday 16 January 2020 in Diamniadio. The results of these projects will be presented at the 9th World Water Forum.
"Initiative Dakar 2021" was officially launched on behalf of Senegal and the World Water Council by the Co-Chairs of the 9th World Water Forum, Abdoulaye Sène and Patrick Lavarde, in preparation for the 9th World Water Forum scheduled to take place in Dakar from 22 to 27 March 2021. The ceremony took place in the presence of many guests, including members of the World Water Council, co-chairmen of the Forum working groups, representatives of civil society, the water sector of Senegal, etc. The ceremony was also attended by a large number of guests.
This initiative aims to "place the Forum on a dynamic of practical commitments concerning labelled projects that aim to achieve tangible results to be presented at the Forum in 2021 and to provide concrete responses with positive impacts", said Abdoulaye Sène.
Mr. Sène stressed that "the general principle is to proceed by a call for projects for the labeling. Such an approach aims at responding to the challenges of the Forum and to general criteria, namely transparency, operationality, replicability, efficiency and multi-partner commitments according to the types of projects".
He added that "Initiative Dakar 2021" offers an opportunity to promote projects, develop partnerships, funding, networking and sharing of good practices.
According to him this shows a new desire for global solidarity through mobilization of synergies that are critical for achieving the goals of universal access by making the commitments of the Forum coincide with the various concerns of the world agenda.
Mr Sène added that the 2030 agenda is a great opportunity for the "Initiative Dakar 2021", as this program could, through its results, serve as a catalyst for the achievement of the goal of universal access to water and sanitation.
Mr. Sene recalled "the major challenges that remain to be met on the ground due to the magnitude of the water crisis and especially the lack of actions aiming at curbing almost generalized water poverty and insufficient decent sanitation".
For the Co-Chairman of the 9th World Water Forum "Dakar 2021", Mr Patrick Lavarde, "Initiative Dakar 2021" is an operation generating commitments and actions to accelerate progress, in particular towards the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs)".
"While the African dimension is critical, the process is widely open at the international level for the labeling of three types of projects, namely flagship projects, maturing and incubation projects," he explained.
He concluded that the best labelled projects would be presented in the sessions to serve as an action framework of reference for the global water community.
