Capacity development key to Water Action Agenda progress
Capacity development is key to taking action to fulfil the more than 800 commitments that form the Water Action Agenda, IHE Delft Rector Eddy Moors told participants in the Water Action Agenda Symposium, held 24 April. The hybrid event attracted more than 130 participants interested in the voluntary commitments made as part of the Water Action Agenda, which was launched during the 2023 UN Water Conference. Participants at the Symposium reflected on the progress of the implementation of the commitments, shared experiences and perspectives and underlined the need for further action.
Capacity development
“For IHE Delft, capacity development has a central place in the Water Action Agenda. We connect this to different topics and disciplinary fields, from Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) to Water and Finance,” Moors said. Several of the 15 agenda commitments IHE Delft is part of relate to capacity development, including the Capacity Development Initiative and the Global Water Education Network.
René van Hell, Director of the Inclusive Green Growth Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands, emphasized the urgent need for action and acknowledged the interconnection between water and the broader climate crisis, as well as the consequences of biodiversity loss.
“Slowly there is an increasing understanding about the trinity between development, fighting climate change, and preserving biodiversity,” van Hell said. “Please treat water as a relatively scarce resource in your financial and economic planning.”
Van Hell is proud of the commitments that have been made. Now the focus has turned to how to move forward and hand over to Senegal and UAE, which will co-host the next Water Conference in 2026. “There is a lot of impetus to not stay in our little water bubble, so help us to be creative, help us to be comprehensive and help us to make sure we leave an ambitious action plan for the two new co-hosts of the Water Conference,” he said.
“Slowly there is an increasing understanding about the trinity between development, fighting climate change, and preserving biodiversity”
Moving from commitment to action
The results of a survey conducted among 840 owners of the Water Action Agenda commitments were presented by Madhushree Chatterjee, Chief of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. She noted that most commitments are related to Sustainable Development Goal 6, target 1, which calls for ensuring safe and affordable drinking water. The survey also highlighted the significant involvement of non-governmental organizations and local authorities in the Water Action Agenda voluntary commitments.
IHE Delft Researcher Angelo Imperiale emphasized the need to enhance the resilience of societies and implementation of new policies. Through his research, Angelo identified two crucial policy recommendations:
- Enhance the knowledge and governance processes at UN, national, provincial, regional, and community level. We need connectors who are responsible for this development.
- We need transdisciplinary and inclusive platforms at all governance levels.
In her contribution, Sareen Malik, Executive Secretary, African Civil Society Network for Water and Sanitation, discussed the challenges in local implementations and how to move from commitment to actualization.
“We love making commitments we’re so good at it,” Malik remarked. “The problem is generally the follow-up.” Malik emphasized the pressing need for sustained follow-up actions. She outlined three distinct pathways to drive implementation: through policy adjustments, administrative recommendations, and legislative enactment. “And I am willing to die on this hill of these three,” she added.
The final presenter, Kala Vairavamoorthy, Executive Director, International Water Association (IWA) former professor at IHE Delft, talked about learning from other sectors. “Involving the private sector could help bridge the gap faced by the water and sanitation sector,” Vairavamoorthy told the audience. “These can be tailored to the context of the community they are serving - systems for informal settlements may be different from high-income homes while both deliver safe sanitation.”
“Involving the private sector could help bridge the gap faced by the water and sanitation sector”
Recommendations for next steps
In the breakout sessions, participants agreed on various recommendations including:
- The involvement of youth: Participants stressed the importance of engaging youth more actively in water initiatives and decisions, and inspiring them to act on water-related issues.
- The monitoring and reporting on progress: Participants argued that an entity should be tasked with monitoring progress of all the commitments and reporting on this.
- The creation of a Water Action Agenda community: All involved in the Water Action Agenda commitments should be part of a community in which people can interact with each other.
- Collaboration among stakeholders: Participants highlighted the need for stakeholders to collaborate effectively.
The symposium brought together many water sector experts, some who were involved in making the commitments at last year’s UN Water Conference. Their participation showed the willingness to engage in the conversation, learn lessons from one another and take the next steps towards turning Water Action Agenda commitments into impactful programmes.
Gaetano Casale
Manager Liaison Office
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