The consultation comes in the backdrop of world consultations that are contributing towards developing the future development agenda – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN CSD agreed to establish an intergovernmental process on SDGs to be taken to the General Assembly in 2015. The initial SDG consultations cover 11 themes including one on water. In 2013, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa were selected (along with 21 other countries across the world) to determine priorities for a future post-2015 development agenda. This work was submitted to the UNDP, the UN Task Team and UN Open Working Group (OWG) in May 2013. It contributed towards developing the future development agenda. The output was well received by the UN, which is keen to have the perspective from country stakeholders.
Working through UN Water, GWP will facilitate 26 National consultations in 2014. Zambia, in addition to Tanzania and Zimbabwe has been selected in Southern Africa. The Zambian Consultation will provide a forum for a cross section of approximately 40 organizations among whom will include government institutions, cooperating partners, parastatals, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, community based organisations, the media and UNDP Country Office Representation. The consultation meeting will be opened by the Minister for Mines Energy and Water Development.
UN-Water (with GWP as a partner) has developed a recommendations paper which will form part of the negotiations of the Open Working Group (OWG) during 2014. The purpose of the National Consultations in 2014 is to obtain views from countries on the post-2015 development agenda for water and sustainable development. To build awareness and examine the country relevance and applicability of the options and recommendation presented in the UN-Water paper on a dedicated goal for water.
The key presentations that will be made to provide the context for the discussions will include:
- A presentation on the background and context to the SDG consultations made so far. This will be given by GWP SA’s Executive Secretary, Ms Ruth Beukman
- A presentation on Water Resources Management by the Department of Water Affairs
- A presentation on Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing
- A presentation on Managing Water Quality by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA)
- A presentation on Waste Water Treatment by the National Water and Sanitation Council (NWASCO)
- A reflection on how the sectors are linked up & providing an IWRM perspective.
The outcome of the consultations will inform the official UN processes so that water is adequately reflected in the post-2015 agenda. Thus is expected that the national consultation will help to ensure water is properly reflected in any post-2015 agenda. Moreover water is tied to most development themes – e.g. food, health, energy, etc so it will be essential to recognize the obvious linkages with these other thematic consultations. The consultations thus aim to mobilize the voice of stakeholders in the broader national development consultations. The country level feedback will thus influence the global policy dialogue and contribute to shaping potential sustainable development goals after 2015.
Most countries will have already considered many of these issues in recent years and the aim is not to re-invent the wheel, but rather to bring together and synthesise this local knowledge for submission to the global level to influence UN processes and global goal setting. The consultation should also motivate national stakeholder‘s participation in the other, water-relevant, thematic dialogues such as food, energy, health etc.
The outputs from the national consultations will be consolidated into a Global Consultation Report for submission to the UN and Member States as an input into the discussions and forthcoming negotiations on the SDGs and the post-2015 development agenda. This will be a report of the GWP as a partner of UN-Water.
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For additional information, please contact:
Ms. Ruth Beukman, Executive Secretary, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA), r.beukman@cgiar.org
Mrs Patricia Lumba, Knowledge Management and Communications Officer, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA), p.lumba@cgiar.org
Ms Monica Chundama, Interim Chairperson, GWP SA Zambia Country Water Partnership, ameyawalia@gmail.com, tel: +260 977 688 621
+260 977 688 621
Visit the GWP SA Website on:
http://www.gwp.org/en/GWP-SouthernAfrica/