Despite progress on the Millennium Development Goals, water scarcity affects 2.8 billion people worldwide, on every continent. Globally, water crises have been listed as a top global risk by the World Economic Forum for 4 years running. Thus, it is crucially important that water be reflected as a priority in this Post-2015 Development Agenda, as a dedicated water goal in the SDGs will focus global efforts around this water crisis. Without such a dedicated emphasis, water issues risk being forgotten by the global community, threatening the planet’s economic and social progress.
The GWP's vision is for a water secure world and its mission is to advance water resources’ governance for sustainable and equitable development. By fostering the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM), the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, GWP strives to maximise economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems and the environment.
With water’s fundamental role in sustainable development, the financing of water related investments, services and management is crucial. On 13 April 2015, during a special high-level panel session at the 7th World Water Forum in Korea, co-chaired by GWP Chair Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss and Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Coorperation and Development (OECD) Mr. Angel Gurria, the two organisations presented a Policy Statement on “The Global Dialogue on Water Security and Sustainable Growth”.
This was based on the Report "Securing Water, Sustaining Growth" prepared by a Task Force jointly commissioned by GWP and OECD, in parallel with, and taking into account outputs from the Country Consultations organised by GWP in 40 countries in 2013-14. The Country Consultations had a significant impact in the negotiations of the United Nations Open Working Group and the decision for Goal 6 to be incorporated in the current proposal for the SDGs, as: ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’. As negotiations go on towards the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2015, where the SDGs are expected to be endorsed by World Leaders, targets under Goal 6 are subject to slight reformulations, however without substantial changes that would undermine the critical role of water in sustainable growth.
Seeing this decision as the beginning of a process, not the end, the GWP - OECD Policy Statement calls for investments in water on top of strengthened partnerships and improved coordination, to increase water security and cement the countries’ sustainable growth.
Among others, GWP advocates among governments for:
- Making sure that Water Financing receives the needed attention in the agenda of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development (13-16 July 2015, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) that will gather high-level political representatives from around the world, with the aim to provide an intergovernmentally negotiated and agreed outcome, to contribute to, and support the implementation of, the post-2015 development agenda;
- Keeping water objectives high and clearly articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals, to be soon agreed upon.