The Indian government is participating in a big way at the 9th World Water Forum. The Prime Minister is being represented by a high-level delegation under the minister of Jalshakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, including officials from the ministry, Wapcos Ltd, Government of India undertaking. Under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, state governments like Meghalaya sent a high-level delegation, with more than 100 delegates attending from India like members of the World Water Council, other states, and agencies. The Jalshakti Ministry shall showcase its successful initiatives via a country pavilion.
Modi government should be applauded for taking the initiative to leave India’s mark on all international platforms. Agencies like UNESCO, UN Nature, IUCN, UN Global Compact, OECD, INBO, etc., would be there sharing and participating. Members of the World Water Council, water industries, civil societies, governments all come together. The mission is to catalyze collective action for water and achieve concrete progress by bringing together the international community to convince decision-makers that water is a vital political priority for the sustainable and equitable development of the planet.
India Water Foundation is traveling to Dakar, Senegal, to attend the 9th World Water Forum. As Governor on the board of the World Water Council, Dr. Arvind Kumar would be organizing and contributing to various high-level panels and sessions. The World Water Forum is organized by the World Water Council (WWC), which co-organizes the Forum every three years. The Council has been co-organizing the Forum in partnership with a host country since 1997 and is known as the ‘Mecca For Water Community’ and is the world’s largest event on the water. The 9th World Water Forum is being organized on the theme of ‘Water For Peace And Development’ and Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is hosting the 9th World Water Forum from 21-26 March 2022. The Forum was postponed by a year due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The World Water Council and Government of Senegal’s intent for this year’s Forum are to organize a Forum that is a catalyst for action to accelerate universal access to water and sanitation, a Forum that is connected and linked to global agendas and commitments relating to SDGs.
The Dakar 2022 Forum will focus on four priorities, namely:
- Water Security and Sanitation
- Water for Rural Development
- Cooperation
- Means and Tools including the crucial issues of financing, governance, knowledge management
It is one of the most important international events that take place and will have participants from every horizon, inter-alia, including political and economic decision-makers, multilateral institutions, UN Agencies, academia, civil society, and the private sector. It will help bring together Heads of State and Government, and major international institutions from around the world to send a historic political message to catalyze action and create partnerships, in particular, to put water at the heart of the international political agenda in the context of building a resilient post-Covid-19 economy and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs. There are great expectations from the outcomes of the Forum.
