World Water Forum in Dakar: meeting the water and sanitation challenges of the 21st century (from 21 to 26 Mar. 2022)
From 21 to 26 March 2022, Senegal is organizing the 9th World Water Forum, with the theme of “Water security for peace and development”. France is convinced that water is the key to achieving the balance of all our ecosystems and societies, and is taking part in this major meeting for the 21st century.
As the world’s largest international event on freshwater issues, the World Water Forum has been organized every three years since 1997 by the World Water Council, based in Marseille. It brings together governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector and civil society, which all collaborate to achieve long-term progress on water-related global challenges.
With one year remaining until the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, this 9th Forum is a key step in order to make concrete political and financial commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and SDG 6 in particular, which aims to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.
For the first time, the World Water Forum is taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, in Dakar.
This 9th Forum will focus on four priorities, which are valid for Africa and the rest of the world:
• the security of water supply and its treatment,
• good management to ensure rural development,
• cooperation,
• tools and methods, and in particular, financing and governance issues.
Water: a major challenge for the 21st century
Shortages, poor water quality and a lack of water treatment equipment have a negative impact on food security, health, gender equality and the living conditions of disadvantaged people. According to the latest UN estimates, 2 billion people were still living without drinking water in their homes in 2020. 771 million people have to travel at least 30 minutes from their home to access safe water, and over 100 million people around the world drink untreated, poor-quality water.
Water is an essential resource which must be protected. It is essential to food security, biodiversity, health and even peace. It is this vision which prevails in the many sustainable management and water access projects supported by France around the world, particularly in Africa, a priority area of France’s International Strategy for Water and Sanitation (2020-2030).
So we look forward to seeing you in Dakar to address current water and sanitation challenges and contribute to the concrete implementation of the global water agenda.
For further information:
World Water Forum
French policy on water and sanitation
AFD website: “Water and sanitation”