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Organization : The International Federation of Private Water Operators
Acronym: : AquaFed
Nationality of the organisation of establishment : Belgium Year of establishment : 2005
college to which your organisation belongs to :
College 3:Commercial organisations
Scope of your organisation : Regional: multi-national
International
 Are you organiation's activities focused primarily on water and sanitation ? : Yes No
Please indicate your organisation's field(s) of expertise and activities :
  • Water resources management
  • Basic Human needs or health
  • Development or infrastructure
  • Climate or natural hazards
  • Environment or ecosystems
  • Water supply or sanitation
  • Agriculture or food production
  • Human rights or social issues
  • Education or capacity building
  • Human settlements or habitats
  • Regulation and governance
  • Economics or finance
  • Research or development
  • Energy or industry
  • Media awareness
  • International cooperation or humanitarian relief
You may specify your activities by providing a list of more precise keywords:
private sector participation, public-private partnerships, multi-stakeholder approach, dialogue, capacity building, transparency, governance, integrity, efficient utilities
Description of your Organisation's activities : Created in 2005, AquaFed is the International Federation of Private Water Operators. AquaFed represents more than 400 private operator providing water and sanitation services in more than 40 countries worldwide. According to GWI (2013), over 1 Billion people count on private operators to serve them on a daily basis. AquaFed’s main action aims at: 1/ Connecting private water operators with all stakeholders engaged at the international level on water services and challenges: We work with International organisations (UN, OECD, etc.); Public authorities and their networks (ICLEI, UCLG), Civil society (researchers, academics, experts, NGOs, journalists, etc.) AquaFed is the recognized voice of the private water industry. We work with a very wide range of partners and our Friends of UN-Water and have contributed to the organisation of various high-level meetings, including to all the last five World Water Forums (since Mexico) 2/ Advocating for the benefits of public-private partnerships as an option in managing water and sanitation services for public authorities and consumers, depending on the local context. Promoting the role of water and sanitation in 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the realisation of human rights. Improving the water industry and solving issues: AquaFed is sharing the expertise of the private operators and is working with the international community to identify solutions to address world’s water issues. Providing information and counsel: AquaFed aims at being a reliable source of information on private operators’ contributions for all stakeholders interested in water and sanitation services. 3/ Accreditations: AquaFed is one of the few representatives of the water business community to have UN-level accreditations as organisation in Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC, since July 2011. AquaFed is registered in the joint voluntary transparency register of the European Commission and the European Parliament

Governor representative :
First Name : Mamadou Last Name : DIA
Title : Mr. Position : President
Nationality : Senegal Gender : Male Female
Email : Mamadou.Dia@aquafed.org
background : Mamadou Dia, a Senegalese national and water engineer has worked throughout his professional career in both, public and private sector. At AquaFed, Mamadou Dia formed part of the Executive Committee until he became its president in 2014 and was re-elected in 2017 for a second 3-year term. Mr Dia started off his professional career in 1977 at the Senegalese national water supply company SONEES where he held various positions including serving as Director of Operations until mid-1990s. In the following he served as Managing Director to the Sénégalaise Des Eaux (SDE), the private operator in charge of production and distribution of drinking water in the main urban centers of Senegal. Today, Mr Dia holds the positions of acting Vice-President of SDE and Director for Water and Sanitation of ERANOVE. His engagement in the international water sector brought Mamadou Dia to serve as president of the African Water Association (AfWA), member of the executive committee of the International Water Association (IWA) and of the board of governors of the World Water Council. Mr Dia further worked as expert-consultant for the African Development Bank and the World Bank, and is president of the Senegalese Association for Standardization (ASN) and president of the Departmental Council of Podor in Senegal. With Mamadou Dia, AquaFed has a President who is a practitioner with first-hand experience from developing countries, from the public and the private sector.

Alternate representative :
First Name : Alejandra Last Name : SUAREZ
Title : Mrs. Postion : Senior Adviser Institutional Affairs
Nationality : Spain Gender :
Email : alejandra.suarez@suez.com
background : Ms Alejandra SUAREZ ALLER is an economist with more than 15 years of experience in international economics and development, particularly in African countries. She holds a BA degree in Economics from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, a MA in International economy and development from Université Paris I- Panthéon-Sorbonne and a post graduate diploma in Finance from University of London. She has a good knowledge on financial topics and a strong professional interest in innovative finance for development. She served the administration (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade) , the Spanish Embassy in Morocco and the European Commission in Brussels, the latter at the department of centralized operations in ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries, in the sector of natural resources and food security. Since 2012, she works for the SUEZ group, where she managed and supervised good governance, public finance and water projects in developing countries ( e.g Evaluation of the ACP-EU Water Facility). Currently she is in charge of international affairs at SUEZ HQ for water and waste sectors, and works closely with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and international federations/associations.

Organisation statement:
Please describe the involvement of your organisation within the World Water Council and state how long it has been involved in World Water Council activities : AquaFed is a long-standing member of the World Water Council and has been deeply involved in the (preparatory) processes of all World Water Forums since Mexico 2006. Together with our members, AquaFed advocates for open dialogue and collaboration on the wide range of discussions that are facilitated by the Council and during the Forums. AquaFed has publicly committed to continue to support the Council in all areas of its work and to bring to voice of the private sector to the debates with other stakeholders inside and outside the Council. AquaFed's team has long-standing direct relations with the World Water Council secretariat and core team and we have collaborated on a wide range of issues such as the work done on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation, on financing, on the SDG agenda etc. We have a proven track record - for more information please see our page on the History of AquaFed http://www.aquafed.org/AboutUs/Achievements.sls Highlights include - direct involvement in all forum processes (political, thematical, regional) together with our members for more than 12 years. - lead organisation in thematic streams such as finance, people, urban from Mexico over Istanbul, Marseille, Daegu and Brasilia. - strong commitment to the political mobilisation around the Forums and on the SDG6 agenda in general - AquaFed works with allies and a wide range of stakeholders in order to bring openness, transparency to debates. - AquaFed also collaborates with other business and industry organisations to ensure that the broad spectrum of the private is heard - For the last three years, AquaFed's President Mamadou DIA has served on the board of governors of the Council and is committed to continuing to serve the Council and its members. Forward looking, AquaFed is very proud to have strong Senegalese members that are already committed to the success of the Dakar 9th World Water Forum of 2021. Together with our members we will continue to support the World Water Council to making Dakar 2021 a very successfull African forum.
For what reasons do you wish your organisation to have a seat on the Board of Governors ? As a long‐standing active member of the World Water Council, AquaFed – on behalf of and with the support of its 400 Members worldwide ‐ wishes to continue to serve on the Board of Governors to represent water operators. Along with other water stakeholders we wish to share the wide expertise of private operators and to continue to promote the Post‐2015 vision on water as contained in the SDGs. The Federation is committed to the implementation of the human right to water and sanitation. These objectives fully fit the WWC strategy. Present on all continents and supported by all its members, AquaFed will bring a comprehensive vision of the profession and will promote sustainable management of water and sanitation services as key components of sustainable development for all, and the universalization of substantial access to water and sanitation worldwide . The Federation can count on the large expertise, know‐how and experience of its members (of all sizes and from a very diverse geographical background). AquaFed can bring substantial contributions to the WWC “Pact for water security” and to its statement mission to "Make water a global priority" in the following fields: better understanding of the challenges of implementing the right to water and sanitation; water‐food‐energy nexus; highlighting the urban urgency and impact of worldwide demographic evolution; a focus on learning from each other to stimulate best practices and sharing capacity‐building and technological innovations. In Particular, with numerous members in Africa, and having been involved in all recent Water Forums the Federation will be an active player of the next World Water Forum in Dakar. AquaFed’s Seengale and African members are already fully committed to the success of the Senegalese edition. AquaFed wants to raise the bar for all utilities and share best practices that lead to efficient management of water services for all. By illustrating the significant contribution of private sector operators to public health and the three dimensions of sustainable development, AquaFed and its members bring insights that benefit to all water operators and stakeholders. AquaFed is uniquely positioned as a recognized partner and solution‐provider for public authorities; and for others stakeholders. Membership and recognition in UN‐Water and IWA are testimony to this. The Federation is already active in networks such as GWOPa, BIAC and WIN and hopes to continue to do this intensively at WWC Board level. Together with other stakeholders, AquaFed aims to raise political awareness of water. The Federation has an established track‐record for open dialogue and works very closely with a wide range of international water organisations. AquaFed wishes to bridge the gap between politicians and practitioners. The Federation believes that membership of the Board can be an important platform to achieve the common goals of the WWC and its members.