Second round of Africa regional consultation on the Mid-Term review of the water action decade (WAD) and stakeholders engagement on the strategic groundwater programme and African water quality (AWaQ) programme
In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution “International Decade (2018–2028) for Action – Water for Sustainable Development” to help put a greater focus on water during the ten years ahead.
Emphasizing that water is critical for sustainable development and the eradication of poverty and hunger, UN Member States expressed deep concern over the lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene and over water related disasters, scarcity and pollution being exacerbated by urbanization, population growth, desertification, drought and climate change.
The Decade focuses on the sustainable development and integrated management of water resources for the achievement of social, economic and environmental objectives and on the implementation and promotion of related programmes and projects. It is also to scale up cooperation and partnership at all levels in order to help to achieve internationally agreed waterrelated goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is important as the water crisis is classified as one of the top 3 of global risks for the third consecutive year by the World Economic Forum. Failing to respond effectively to these challenges will have devastating global effects.
The United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 73/226, decided to convene, in New York, from 22 to 24 March 2023, the United Nations Conference on the “Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Sustainable Development’, 2018—2028" (United Nations 2023 Water Conference). This Conference in 2023 is to be preceded by Global and Regional Consultations to review progress and challenges faced at the midpoint of the Decade. The outcomes of the Regional Consultations will feed into the high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) held in July 2022.
The Africa Regional Consultations took place from 13th or 14th June 2022 and due to limited resource for physical meeting, the event was organized in a hybrid format to provide opportunity for participation virtually. Consultation were both in plenary sessions and parallel sessions focusing on the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social and environment. This event provided a platform for key continental water stakeholders including river/Lake basin organizations(L/RBOs), Regional Economic Commissions (RECs) and civil society organizations active in water and sanitation, to deliberate , take stock and reaffirm their commitment to solving Africa’s water crisis and to collectively implement the actions envisaged in the African Water Vision, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030) on water (SDG 6) and the AU Agenda 2063. The meeting also provided opportunity to harmonize a common approach to the Mid-Term Review Conference and set out a Road Map for effective preparations. The Meeting was convened by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission AUC, the African Ministers' Council on Water(AMCOW) and the African Development Bank(AfDB) as co-chairs.
