Resilience

Sustainable groundwater management to increase community climate resilience represents an opportunity for innovative investments and management choices that can also contribute to improved household livelihoods and poverty reduction among dryland communities. Since 2018, the World Food Program has been implementing an integrated resilience package across the 5 G5 sahel countries + Senegal under BMZ funding.

The objective of the session is to showcase possibilities of conflict-sensitive decision-making that is based on thorough analysis of the ground-level conditions – from political level to small communities. This session is complementary to another session organised by the FREXUS partners, the Water Peace and Security Partnership (WPS), that will tackle the complex interconnections between Water, Conflicts and Peace at a broader level.

The Sahel is characterized by drastic climatic conditions, recurrent droughts, land degradation, poverty, malnutrition, forced migrations. The Great Green Wall Initiative was created in response to this contact with the vision of restoring the viability of the natural capital and productive systems of the Sahelian lands and transforming them into areas of economic prosperity that are perfectly integrated into the economic fabric of the countries. The Initiative integrates the three paradigms of Restoration / Development / Security.

Les zones humides jouent un rôle important dans la sécurité de l’eau, la résilience des communautés, la réduction des risques climatiques et la sécurité humaine. Les gouvernements Africains s’engagent pour leur sauvegarde à travers des plans et politiques nationaux et internationaux comme la Grande Muraille Verte et la Convention des Nations Unies sur la Lutte Contre la Désertification.

Floods and droughts are some of the most tangible and devastating consequences of the climate crisis. The World Bank, Deltares, and the World Meteorological Organization’s Associated Program for Flood Management (APFM) and Integrated Drought Management Program (IDMP) have teamed up to further explore and operationalize the potential of leveraging synergies in the management of floods and drought.

The objective of this session is to discuss SfN adapted to the Senegalese context and allowing to support the concepts of green growth or green economy in order to reduce the impacts of climate change on the sustainable use of water resources. The panel will present and deepen :
- Challenges and issues related to climate change on water resources in Senegal - Water security and the concept of circular water economy
- Natural solutions to increase resilience to the impacts of climate change

What are the new perspectives on drought in a time of climate change ? Drought is often compared with other natural hazards such as floods, storms, and wildfires. However, unlike these hazards, drought is often a so-called hidden risk, meaning that its onset is not perceived until drought conditions are already having an impact. In many countries worldwide and as a result of climate change, droughts are becoming more severe with higher negative and large-scale impacts. Also, incidences of severe heat waves and short-term dryness (flash droughts) seem to increase.

The High-Level Panel (HLP) is intended to be a follow up event after the plenary session of the celebration of the UN-World Water Day 2022 organized by UNESCO and UN-WATER about the topic of the UNWWDay Groundwater: Making the invisible visible. The HLP panel will allow to organize a larger and in-depth debate about the UN Development Report 2022 that is presented the 21st of March at the opening with the participation of high-level countries representatives and high-level experts. The HLP is meant to discuss how groundwater can be a response to water security challenges.

Addressing the policy, institutional and regulatory aspects of water and sanitation service delivery is more crucial than ever before. The reason? PIR is a key enabler of other levers – such as financing, infrastructure, and technical solutions - for meeting SDG6. By focusing on an integrated approach, PIR can help address systemic challenges to sustainability – such as climate change and short-term crises and shocks. This session will zoom in on how PIR can be an enabler of financial and technical solutions and enhance their impact for better services.