Improving water governance in Africa? WWC President Loïc Fauchon's 5 concrete proposals
Loïc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council, beside Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, is presenting the World Water Council's commitments and concrete proposals.
As part of the "OECD Water Days" organized on the occasion of World Water Day 2021, Loïc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council was invited to participate in the opening of the special session on "Water Governance in African Cities", beside Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD. This webinar which gathered the mayors of 6 major African cities, UCLG-A (United Local Governments of Africa) and the Minister of Water of Morocco, took place on Wednesday 24 March 2021 in Paris.
The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as an amplifier of urgent water and sanitation challenges in Africa, especially for 56% of the urban population living in informal settlements, without access to adequate sanitation.
Climate change, urbanization and population growth will only increase the pressure on water resources, with almost 166 million Africans facing water shortages by 2050 (source OECD).
In preparation for the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar in March 2022, this high-level webinar dedicated to Africa highlighted the commitment of mayors and municipal leaders to water security and water governance in Africa.
At the opening of the session, the President of the World Water Council, Loïc Fauchon, addressed all the participants, reaffirming the Council's position and the importance of good water management in a sustainable way:
Conserving water from one season to another, from one year to another, from one use to another is an absolute necessity", before adding "Water conservation for human development and ecosystem protection is not contradictory, it is complementary.
Loïc Fauchon presented concrete proposals to improve water management in African countries, including: putting decentralization and inter-municipality at the service of water, making governance as transparent as water, optimizing storage capacities and controlling the water cycle.
He proposed 5 priority actions to improve water governance in African cities: decentralize water and waste water management as close as possible to local authorities, have autonomous budgets, create training institutes for senior operating technicians, allocate financial and human resources to the maintenance of facilities, and avoid opposing cities against rural areas.
Loïc Fauchon also welcomed the efforts of the Mayor of Dakar and the new action plan of the Kingdom of Morocco implemented by the Minister for Water.
Watch the Loïc Fauchon's speech at the opening of this session :
> Read the speech of Mr Loïc Fauchon, for the session "Water governance in African Cities"
> More information about the 9th World Water Forum of Dakar 2022
> Read the press reviews :
. La Provence "Loïc Fauchon, more than ever a world ambassador for water "