World Water Council and OECD announce new programme to advance water security in Africa

    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.

    This new programme is conceived as a follow-up to the OECD Secretary-General’s receipt of the King Hassan II Great World Water Prize on 21 March 2018 at the 8th World Water Forum under the theme “Working towards greater solidarity and inclusion in order to ensure water security and climate justice”. This tribute paid every three years to strategic leaders recognised OECD’s leadership, guidance and convening power to raise the profile of water in national policy agendas. 
    Loic Fauchon, President of the World Water Council, joined Jose Angel Gurria Trevino, Secretary General of the OECD, for World Water Day to reveal the new collaboration. 

    The Secretary-General of the OECD explained that: “With 250 million Africans expected to live in water stressed areas by 2030, and 60% of the population expected to live in cities by 2050, now is the time to get water policies right for sustainable development in Africa. We are using the Prize Award as seed money to advance this cause and we need other institutions to join us in this collective effort!”

    World Water Council President Loïc Fauchon indicated that: "No country can ignore that water security is essential for sustainable and equitable development. No government can ignore that water is a fundamental human right. No international organization can ignore that water and climate are intimately linked. For this purpose, we must reach out to all sectors while involving all levels of government."

    The WWC and OECD have worked closely on water for over a decade, notably within the OECD Water Governance Initiative and the Roundtable on Water Financing. The new programme announced today will build on this partnership to produce data in the fields of water governance, basin infrastructure financing and irrigation in Africa, as well as several country reports and awareness-raising tools. Findings will be released at the 9th World Water Forum, to be held in Dakar, Senegal in 2021.

    Read more