The World Water Forum proposes a "Blue Deal" that includes the regions

The IX World Water Forum, held in Dakar (Senegal) from March 21 to 26, noted the need for bilateral and multilateral cooperation to attend water policies at the subnational and regional level. In the final manifest titled "Dakar Declaration, a Blue Agreement for Water and Sanitation Safety, for Peace and Development" was claimed to accelerate the application of the "right to drinking water". Thus, the forum, which revolved around SGD 6, recommended to adopt "sustainable and integrated management plans to preserve water resources and ecosystems."

Furthermore, the Forum bet in favor of a " Financial Resources Mobiliza-tion " in favor of the populations access and a water "governance" that in-cludes agricultural, industrial, health, biodiversity and even energy sectors. Finally, the manifest affirms that water must be the subject of a "reinforced cooperation" between different entities, regional or international.

The Forum, which is organized every three years, was celebrated for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa, a territory where the problem of water ac-cess is particularly acute. In a report published on the Forum occasion, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), estimates that 19 African countries with a total population of around 500 million do not have safe access to the water. In the event opening speech, Senegalese President Macky Sall just stressed that the fo-rum met "while the water scarcity resources and the environment degrada-tion continue getting worse." And he cited the aforementioned UN report in which it is pointed out that "two out of five people live in areas where water is scarce."

In virtue of the maintained debate, during the closing ceremony, the water minister of Senegal, Serigne Mbaye Thiam, announced the "official crea-tion of a high-level international panel on investments in water in Africa." According to the minister, "The panel goal is to develop concrete ways to mobilize 30 billion dollars to 2030, to close the investment gap in Africa."

Taking advantage of the Forum, the International Francophone Regions Association (AIRF) organized two Economic Networking Days with French-speaking companies specialized in water access and sanitation ser-vices. Space, which was chaired by Philippe Meunier, vice president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Adama Diouf, president of the Senegal De-partment Association and Vice President of Oru Fogar, brought together 24 regions from 8 French-speaking countries with companies and economic actors, as well as a dozen NGO. The testimonies, the experiences exchange and the proposed solutions were subject to lively debates.

Dakar Statement:

https://www.worldwaterforum.org/fr/informations-pratiques/declaration-de-dakar