Water: the strategic asset of the 21st century

Water was on the agenda to begin the year. The Water and Beyond conference from 18-21 January addressed the necessity of building broader partnerships, strengthening transboundary water cooperation and triggering greater water investments. Over four days of debate, around 350 participants from 70 countries joined the discussions on the crosscutting role of water across the EU’s international partnership priorities. There was a wide consensus across the sessions that water will be ‘the strategic asset of the 21st century’. 

Organised by DG INTPA and the Government of Slovenia, with the support of the Government of Portugal, the conference reaffirmed the EU's commitment to promote water cooperation as a mechanism for peace and security, and emphasised the role of the human right to water and sanitation for human development.

Opening the conference, Janez Lenarčič, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, spoke of the need ‘to translate human rights to water and sanitation obligations into meaningful actions’, while Marjeta Jager, INTPA Deputy Director General, stressed ‘the importance of water for people, for nature, for our economies and our stability’. The Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal, Serigne Mbaye Thiam, underlined the importance of cooperation on water with the EU in the context of implementing the UNECE Water Convention on transboundary water.

Niger river (photo: Julien Harneis)

Addressing the need to bridge the financial gap between ambition and reality, representatives from the French Development Agency, African Development Bank, World Bank, European Investment Bank, WaterAid and Veolia presented the great risks posed in countries with an under-prioritised and under-resourced water sector. Achieving SDG 6 target 1 and target 2 alone would cost EUR 94 billion a year between now and 2030.

To reach these objectives, the speakers pointed out the need to work in partnerships to build solutions combining diplomacy, policy and cooperation on the one hand, and governance, skills and finance on the other.

Reflecting upon the COVID-19 upheaval, Sanitation and Water for All CEO Catarina de Albuquerque summarised the way ahead: ‘If there's anything we've learned from 2020, it is that business as usual is not an option. Transformation is the only way forward – and water, sanitation and hygiene are at the heart of how we transform.’

Read more about the conference and watch the presentations on Capacity4Dev.