Promoting the One Water–One Health approach: a global call from the 2025 IWRA World Congress

    At the 19th World Water Congress in Marrakech, the World Water Council reaffirmed a message that has become unavoidable: water and health must be addressed together, not in parallel.

    During the high-level panel dedicated to interconnectivity and systems thinking in water management, the Council emphasized that the future of water security—and more broadly of global stability—depends on adopting horizontal, integrated approaches that move beyond traditional sector-based thinking and place health at the heart of water governance.

    The Congress’s conclusion was clear: the era of siloed strategies is over.

    Vertical approaches such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) have played a vital role for more than 40 years, but today’s challenges demand more. We must now integrate water with energy, food, nature, and—decisively—public health.

    The World Water Council is now strongly championing this transition.

    The Five Fingers Alliance: A Framework for Interconnection

    The high-level panel highlighted a powerful image: the Five Fingers Alliance.

    The five fingers represent water, energy, food, health, and nature; the hand that unites them symbolizes education. Conceived more than a decade ago in Rajasthan, India, this approach reflects a simple but fundamental truth:

    Ignoring any one of these elements weakens all the others.

    This interconnected vision aligns with the founding mission of the World Water Council: securing water for people and ecosystems. Today, the Council is calling for an evolution of traditional management tools, prioritizing complementarity over isolation.

    The Five Fingers Alliance paves the way for policies that:

    • address multiple development priorities simultaneously,

    • strengthen education and youth engagement,

    • build long-term, systemic resilience.

    The IWRA Congress provided an ideal platform to promote this framework and encourage its global adoption.

    Integrating Health into the Nexus: A Long-Awaited Breakthrough

    One of the most significant advances presented in Marrakech was the international recognition that health must finally be fully integrated into the water–energy–food–nature nexus.

    The COVID-19 pandemic unequivocally demonstrated the strategic value of wastewater surveillance for the early detection of health threats.

    Thanks to the pioneering work of Turkish experts—notably Professors Bilge Kocacemi and Ahmet Saatçi—environmental surveillance has moved from an experimental concept to a global tool. From wastewater treatment plants in Istanbul to hospitals, train stations, and airports around the world, this approach has proven its ability to:

    • detect pathogens and emerging contaminants,

    • monitor antimicrobial resistance,

    • guide the safe reuse of treated wastewater,

    • support emergency management (wars, floods, earthquakes, droughts),

    • provide real-time public health intelligence.

    The global consortium GLOWACOM, supported from its inception by the European Commission through HERA, played a decisive role in this progress. The World Water Council is proud to have been among the early supporters of this momentum.

    Toward a Global One Water–One Health Center

    Building on this momentum, the World Water Council is now working with several partners to establish a Global One Water–One Health Center, which would host a dedicated international forum integrated into the Five Fingers Alliance.

    Its objectives would be to:

    • strengthen international cooperation,

    • share scalable, smart, and low-cost solutions,

    • promote hydro-health diplomacy,

    • encourage decision-maker engagement,

    • disseminate proven models that can be easily adapted by countries.

    This Center could become a cornerstone of future global efforts to achieve the SDGs related to water, health, climate, and sustainable development.

    Engaging Decision-Makers: Turning Vision into Action

    A recurring message in Marrakech was the urgency of translating this interconnection into public policy.

    Knowledge without action is no longer enough.

    To ensure coherence between water and health policies, the World Water Council calls on governments and institutions to promote:

    1. Shared knowledge
      Accessible, cross-sector science that enables informed decision-making.

    2. Shared governance
      Institutional mechanisms linking ministries, local authorities, and stakeholders around common goals.

    3. Shared financing
      Investments that accelerate innovation, crisis preparedness, and the scaling up of proven solutions.

    These three pillars—knowledge, governance, and finance—form the backbone of an effective and lasting transformation.

    Accelerating Global Action

    Following the Marrakech Congress, the World Water Council reaffirms its determination to place the One Water–One Health approach at the heart of global water policies.

    The next World Water Forum in Riyadh will provide another major platform, with increased attention to health under the theme “Water for People and Nature.” The Council invites all partners to present concrete and ambitious commitments.

    From Marrakech to Riyadh, one message stands out:

    The future of water security depends on our ability to integrate health at the highest levels of governance.

    The World Water Council will continue to carry this message forward, promote smart and affordable solutions, and bring decision-makers together around a shared vision of a healthier, more resilient, and more equitable world.

    👉 Read the HLP1 speech on our website.