In her speech Letitia Obeng emphasized that, “Water impacts all aspects of life: health, nutrition, transport, energy, gender equality, industry, job creation, human security, ecosystem health. The list is endless.” She declared that “water has so many positive uses – domestic consumption, waste disposal, recreation, tourism, power generation, industry, etc. – all things that both rich and poor countries need to support their economic growth and social development.” And, she also acknowledged water’s “negative impact on life. Floods, hurricanes, and droughts cause havoc, and create shocks to economic growth.”
The whole speech is available on the GWP website: www.gwpforum.org. GWP co-sponsored six workshops and seminars during World Water Week, and several members of its wide international network were interviewed by the media. In addition, the GWP stand was very popular among participants and many publications in several languages were disseminated.
World Water Week, with about 2000 attendees coming from more than 100 countries, is an annual event held in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference provides a place for capacity-building, networking, and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development.