Room 10

The scarcity of water resources is a phenomenon that is intensifying under the effect of the strong pressure on water and climate change impacting mainly the most vulnerable rural communities. The latter are dependent on water resources for their socio-economic activities.
Moreover, the real needs of the vulnerable rural population are not really taken into account and sufficiently represented in the decision-making process concerning hydro-agricultural investment projects and territorial development.

The African Ministers responsible for water critically examining the global water situation and its implication for Africa in 2002 adopted the "Abuja Ministerial Declaration on Water – a key to Sustainable Development in Africa". This declaration established the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW). AMCOW is an intergovernmental institution of the African Union. The vision of AMCOW is an Africa where there is an equitable and sustainable use and management of water resources for poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, regional co-operation and the environment.

The Session intends to reflect on the role of international cooperation to the achievement of SDG6 taking into consideration concrete projects existing in Portuguese speaking countries. This session will try to identify the main successes achieved, but also the main challenges ahead. Shared experiences allow the diffusion of solutions to be adapted to each country’s reality.

Water, land and soil resources are the sources of life, without which there is no agriculture. With 98% of the food consumed produced on land/soil and the immediate and visible impact of drought on crop production, the good state of these crucial natural resources should be everyone's priority. In 2011, FAO published its first comprehensive report on the status of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture (SOLAW 2011). This new edition of SOLAW update the previous status of the resources, review the trends and explore the new emerging global processes.

The Session will focus on the political commitment to clearly include water in the COP27 negotiation and recognize its pivotal role and contribution to both adapt and mitigate to global climate change. A major goal of the Session is to bring water management scientific knowledge and advances closer to public policies formulation and decision-making.

This session focuses on the key role of endogenous knowledge for water management and governance, including current initiatives in terms of water education, ancestral knowledges, capacity development and water museums.

As the syntheses of various measures and recommendations, it is necessary to strengthen the following four pillars:
? Science and technology: to accelerate policy implementation and monitoring processes;

Key opportunities through innovative funding mechanisms to implement North-South, South-South and Triangular water cooperation to improve access to water and sanitation for all.

Capacity development is permanently necessary in all the institutions in charge of the management of water services or water resources. Cooperation between academic or training organizations can bring interesting experience sharing inputs and accelerate both the dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge as well as operational practices.

• The need for solutions in managing water resources is obvious and strong from local to global context, which is vital to tackle emerging water security challenges caused by population growth and climate change.