In the run-up to and during World Water Day, the World Water Council engaged in multiple outreach activities to ensure that the Council’s main messages were broadly heard throughout the annual celebrations with a solid media presence and strong visibility.
On April 4, President Loïc Fauchon and Honorary President Benedito Braga were received by Mrs. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. They discussed the need to approach water financing inter-sectorally, ensuring that investment provides multiple benefits not only for water and sanitation delivery, but also for nutrition, electricity, health and education. They also discussed the important role of good governance and pricing reform in the water sector.
President Loic Fauchon delivered a speech at the 81st African Water Association’s Scientific and Technical Council Meeting on 1 April in Rabat.
The meeting organized under the theme "Financing, Cooperation and Capacity Building, Levers for Improving Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation Services in Africa" was the opportunity for the President of the World Water Council to present strategic objectives for the mobilization of African stakeholders and resources on the way to the 9th Forum.
What better place to hold the 1st WASAG International Forum on Water Scarcity in Agriculture than on a small island developing state that receives only about 260mm of rain per year? Cabo Verde, its prime minister, members of cabinet and national parliament welcomed 200 participants from around the world in Praia from 19 to 22 March. The event, including a celebration of World Water Day, was also supported by FAO, IFAD, and the Governments of Italy and Switzerland.
22 March 2019, World Water Day, OECD Headquarters, Paris, France - The World Water Council (WWC) announced a new programme with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to produce new data, evidence and policy guidance on water security in Africa.
Today water is high on the global agenda as an issue of the utmost importance to national security, economic and social development, peace and environmental sustainability.
World leaders and business met in Davos this week just as the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report revealed environmental factors as the most devastating risks to business and society and the most likely. Another major risk identified in the report are water crises, which are listed among the 5 most damaging risks, confirming a trend that started 8 years ago.
The World Water Council, together with key partners, many of whom are members of #ClimateIsWater, was actively engaged in enhancing and recognizing the essential role of water as a crucial resource to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (CoP24), taking place in Katowice, Poland from 3 to 14 December.
On 1 December, the World Water Council announced its new Board of Governors, which will oversee and guide the Council’s work for the coming three years. The elections took place during the triennial General Assembly on 30 November and 1 December for which upwards of 250 participants from 35 countries gathered in Marseille, France.
Today, World Toilet Day, is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Around the world 4.5 billion people live without a safe toilet, and 892 million practice open defecation. The consequences of exposure to human feces on this scale are devastating for public health, living and working conditions, nutrition, education and economic productivity across the world. Basic sanitation is widely recognized to have positive impacts on health and the economy, so why don’t cities do more to improve their sanitation systems?
