The Executive Secretariat of the 9th World Water Forum carried out a large number of actions to mobilize, both nationally and internationally, for the involvement of all stakeholders. These actions aim at ensuring the success of the Forum thanks to an important preparatory work, centered on an inclusive approach, a good identification and involvement of the stakeholders, the mobilization of adequate means and the timely implementation of activities.
It is within this framework that a Partnership Protocol was signed on Friday 21 August 2020 by Mr. Abdoulaye Séne, Executive Secretary of the 9th World Water Forum and Professor Abdoulaye Dia, Executive Secretary of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW), during a webinar on the Forum with the national agencies and partners of the PAGGW. The Pan-African Agency which brings together 11 African countries (Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan) is an important instrument of integration of high economic, social and environmental significance for the benefit of communities in member countries.
Water is of vital importance for the development of arid and semi-arid territories faced with the challenges of mobilizing this resource necessary for various human activities, political instability, migration, etc. However, this gloomy picture in some areas is not irreversible. Today, the projects implemented by PAGGW and its national branches constitute relevant responses to address climate change and revitalize the economy of the Sahelo-Saharan strip, which is facing security, environmental and poverty alleviation challenges. The Agency will mobilize the national agencies and its partners for the success of the Forum.
Another Partnership Protocol was signed on 19 August 2020 by the Executive Secretary of the Forum and Mr. Adama Diouf, President of the Union of Associations of Local Elected Officials (UAEL) which brings together the Association of Mayors of Senegal and the Association of Senegalese Departments. The local elected officials will thus be at the heart of the preparation and organization process of the Forum. They will also help to mobilize local elected officials from Africa and other regions of the world by relying on international networks.
The global event that Senegal will host has the ambition to be the Forum of concrete responses that will improve access to water and sanitation for populations, especially those in disadvantaged areas. Local elected officials are in the best position to speak on behalf of these populations so that their expectations are taken into account in the various activities structuring the preparation and organization of the Forum, the largest multi-stakeholder event bringing together the water community every three years.
The main actors of the hydraulic sector of Senegal will also be strongly involved in the organization of the Forum. Partnership Protocols have thus been signed by the Executive Secretariat of the Forum with the following companies: ONAS, SONES, OFOR, SEN'EAU, SDE and OLAC. They specify the areas of collaboration and the actions to be carried out during the coming months.
