An Expert Task Force of the joint GWP/OECD project “Global Dialogue on Water Security and Sustainable Growth” has presented provisional results of research into the economics of water security. Although still a work in progress, some striking patterns stand out, and the experts believe this could be a game changer in the quest for a dedicated water goal in the post-2015 development agenda, as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be decided upon.

AMCOW Executive Secretary Bai Mass Taal delivered a statement from Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia and Patron of Global Water Partnership, at the opening ceremony of World Water Week 2014:

A National Consultation on the inclusion of a water specific Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in the post 2015 Development Agenda of the United Nations was held on April 24^th 2014, in Tunis. It was organized by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med), under the auspices of the Water Resources Department of the Tunisian Ministry for Agriculture, and the Sustainable Development Department of the State Secretariat for Sustainable Development at the Ministry for Infrastructure, Land Planning and Sustainable Development.

The national Report entitled “Water Governance in Jordan: Overcoming the Challenges to Private Sector Participation” was launched during the Third Workshop of the Water Policy Dialogue in Jordan and in the presence of H.E. Basem Telfah, Secretary General of the Ministry for Water and Irrigation, as well as a wide range of stakeholders, including authorities, utilities, donors, civil society and private sector, in Amman, on 4 June 2014.

The national Water Policy Dialogue, having engaged more than 100 Tunisian stakeholders within the past year (2013-2014), concluded with the launch of the National Report “Water Governance in Tunisia: Overcoming the Challenges to Private Sector Participation” held on 9 June 2014, in Tunis. The Report is the outcome of the multi-stakeholder Policy Dialogue and includes a diagnostic analysis of the key governance bottlenecks to private sector participation (PSP) in water supply and sanitation services as well as concrete policy recommendations for overcoming them.

“Water security is at the heart of our global development challenge”, said GWP’s new Patron, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as she spoke at Africa Water Week 2014 (AWW5) in Dakar, Senegal.

The conclusions of a second round of national stakeholder consultations on water urge the global community to include a dedicated water goal within the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

The round table  "Role of water for sustainable development of Kazakhstan" was held on 4 April 2014 in Astana within the national consultations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the National Program on Water Resources Development to Post-2015 in Kazakhstan.

GWP Chair Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss gave the introductory keynote to the Second Mekong River Commission Summit and International Conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 2 April. She presented some key elements related to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, stressing the need for a dedicated water goal in an ever-changing world.

The Policy Dialogue in the framework of the joint GWP-Med and OECD Project on Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector held its second consultation workshop in Tunis on March 5, 2014.