Every three years since 1997, the World Water Forum mobilises creativity, innovation, competence and know-how in favour of water. It gathers all stakeholders around today’s local, regional and global issues that cannot be tackled without all stakeholders agreeing on a common framework of goals and concrete targets to be reached.
The goal of the 6th World Water Forum, which got underway on March 12, 2012 in Marseille, France, is tackling the challenges the world faces in making water accessible to all, and putting water high on all political agenda.
The theme of this year’s forum is ‘Time for Solutions’. A recurring message throughout the forum is that there will be no sustainable development as long as water issues remain unsolved. Therefore, since the recognition of water as a human right a year ago, access to water must be guaranteed and implemented.
AMREF is represented at the forum by Koronel Kema (AMREF Tanzania), Paola Magni (AMREF Italy), Austin Abebe and Victoria Kimotho (AMREF HQ), and Silvia Tolve (AMREF France).
Day 1: They committed, they came and they spoke passionately
The opening ceremony set the stage for the discussions of the week. The forum was first held in Marakesh, Morocco, with a participation of 500 people, and has grown to the current 28,000 participants in the Sixth Water Forum.
The forum has over 400 hours of discussions and debates; Over 250 sessions and panels and about 100 grassroots and citizenship events; regional trialogues organised among ministers, parliamentarians and local/ regional authorities.
Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin of Marseille welcomed participants to the city of Marseille, a city that often has to contend with flooding but where progress has been made to address the problem over the years. French Prime Minister François Fillon urged for accelerated progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on water and sanitation.
The sentiments of the key speakers of the day included;
- Progress has been made in achieving the MDG related to water access but as the world celebrates, but there are regions where a lot more work still needs to be done.
- The forum must focus on political and social issues. Good governance is key to access to water.
- There is interdependency between water and food security – therefore agriculture must form part of the forum’s discussions.
There was not a whisper in the room when two young people from Mali recited: “You claim you have solutions? Then so much the better. Bring them, but listen also to ours. And promise that you are going to commit yourself to implement them. Promise that tomorrow, not 100 years from now, not even in ten years, but tomorrow, there will be no schools without drinking water taps and latrines in my country.” This is the sentiment of many African children who are among the 300 million who still do not have access to water sources.
A new approach for reflecting on global water reality and future
The AMREF team attended the launch of the World Water Development Report 4 by the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) and UNESCO. The report brought together 28 UN water agencies and was described by UNESCO director general Irina Bokova as historic and ‘a roadmap to move forward’.
The key message of the report is that water is a factor in many global crises and underlines strengthened cooperation in water initiatives. It notes that 40% of the world’s population depends on transboundary water, and that projected population growth (70% by 2050) will lead to increases in global food demand (70% by 2050) and energy consumption (49% by 2035), hence the need for a socioeconomic approach in water management.
Day 2: Discussions warm up as the weather warms up
On the second day of the Forum, a Ministerial Conference presided by Henri de Raincourt, French Minister in charge of Cooperation, made a declaration committing all ministers present to ensuring water is high on every agenda. The declaration provides a road map in moving forward the water and sanitation agenda.
AMREF welcomed the declaration as it reinforces earlier commitments made. It however falls short of an action plan to compel all countries to adhere particularly to the UN’s adoption of water as a human right. Without an action plan and a clear agenda, the declaration is merely a statement that has no value. Read AMREF's Statement here
It was noted that close to 790 million people still lack access to safe drinking water, while 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation. People continue to die from cholera. Integration and coordination between the water and the health sectors was emphasised, as well as provision of long- and short-term measures to prevent and control cholera, beyond emergency responses to outbreaks.
Reinforcing AMREF’s call for evidence, the Forum called for concerted efforts by stakeholders to establish a knowledge base in WASH (water, sanitation and health) to address the challenges of access to water and sanitation.
Water, sanitation and agriculture: 3,000 litters of water are used to produce one meal!
The world cannot talk of improved nutrition and food security without addressing the challenges of water access. Nutrition remains a core issue in the health of women and children in Africa and without addressing food security, it will be impossible to address nutrition.
These two elements are intertwined and will be the ultimate challenge as the global population continues to increase. During the World Water Forum, Alexander Muller, Assistant Director-General for Natural Resources della FAO, said that there will be need for a 70% increase food production by 2050 in order to feed a world population of 9 billion people. The main increase in population is expected to happen in Africa.
Mr Muller called for increased support for the small-scale farmer, who provides two-fifths of the world’s food. In Africa the small-scale farmer produces 70% of the food required. AMREF will continue to support communities to find lasting solutions to their health and work on access to water and sanitation in order to ensure that food production is maintained and augmented at the household level in Africa’s communities. This means integrating food security, nutrition and small household gardens as part of WASH programming. Integrated approaches to improved nutrition remain the core of Africa’s health. Water and sanitation are the denominators that cut across all development interventions leading to better health. Without water, there can be no improvement in nutrition, child or maternal health, no success in managing HIV and AIDs and no improvement in outcomes of malaria and diagnostic interventions.
Day 3: Commitments are made!
High Level Meeting on the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative and the African Water Facility
The African Development Bank, in collaboration with the African Union, the African Ministers’ Council on Water, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Government of France held a high level conference on March 14 to discuss solutions and financing for strengthening water security in Africa.
The conference brought together African finance and water ministers as well as development partners to discuss ways to enhance support for the development of the water and sanitation sector to ensure water security in Africa. Special attention was given to the Rural Water Supply Initiative and the African Water Facility, two Africa-led initiatives that have made a significant contribution to the sector by promoting the attainment of the 2015 MDGs and the African Water Vision 2025. Their success in mobilising additional financing has stirred water project development in Africa, which has positively impacted the lives of millions of people across the continent. There is currently a call for research proposals on WASH to which AMREF is responding under the African Water Facility.
The conference also provided an opportunity for African governments and development partners to reiterate their support for the two initiatives by reconfirming their commitments to building water infrastructure and prioritising the provision of basic water and sanitation services for the neediest people, particularly in the rural areas. Ministers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa and Zambia were represented at the meeting.
AMREF is a transparent organisation distributing funds of up to $85 million per year.
