Zimbabwe shares a total of five river basins with her riparian neighbours, namely the Buzi, Limpopo, Pungwe, Save and Zambezi Rivers and one international lake, i.e. Kariba dam. To foster closer cooperation for the sustainable, joint and co-ordinated management, protection and utilisation of shared water resources, Zimbabwe is party to a total of eleven (11) bilateral and multilateral water agreements.

This is in line with the two key global water conventions, namely; the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (the Watercourses Convention), the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses, and International Lakes (the global water conventions) as well as regional instruments like the 2 000 SADC’s Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses, which implores riparian States to cooperate and set up joint mechanisms to manage transboundary waters.

The global water conventions establish principles and rules that form the basis for countries working together to protect and sustainably use their shared water resources. The general principles that govern shared water resources are the principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation of shared water resources, the duty to cooperate, the obligation not to cause significant harm and preservation and protection of the environment.

The global water conventions bring a lot of prospects  for shared benefits which include but is not limited to; improved water resources governance at national and transboundary levels, prevention of significant harm to water bodies, protection of the environment and ecosystems, equitable and reasonable utilisation of transboundary water resources, climate change adaptation and decreased risk of disasters like droughts and floods, the establishment of joint mechanisms to manage the water resources, the regular exchange of data and information on shared watercourses, peace, stability, economic development and regional economic integration.

 Despite Zimbabwe having a long record of transboundary water cooperation, the country is currently not Party to the global water conventions. Now, however, the country has taken a giant step to join the global water conventions. The approach is to accede to both conventions because of their compatibility and complementary role. The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development approved the proposal to study or assess potential accession for Zimbabwe to join the global water conventions on 28 July 2023. A formal expression of interest letter was sent to the United Nations Water Convention Secretariat on 11 August 2023. “Zimbabwe is hereby expressing her interest to accede to the Convention” read part of the letter to the Water Convention Secretariat signed by the Secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. 

The Water Convention Secretariat responded to the same on 06 September 2023. “I would like to confirm that the Secretariat of the Water Convention stands ready to support Zimbabwe in the process of accession” reads part of the letter signed by the Water Convention Secretary; Sonja Koeppel. Subsequently, Zimbabwe nominated a focal point to the Water Convention. The main responsibility of the national focal point is to serve as a channel for all communications with the Secretariat and other countries on Convention related matters.

The accession roadmap has already been put in place. Key milestones of the include clearance by the Attorney General’s Office, the Public Agreements Advisory Committee, and Cabinet Committee on Legislation, approval by Cabinet and Parliament, holding of a national consultative workshop, signing of the instruments of accession by the President and depositing of same with the depository: Secretary General of the United Nations.

The Cabinet approved the accession to the global water conventions on 09 April 2024.  The approval by Cabinet paves way for the national stakeholder consultative workshop, which will be supported by the UN Water Convention Secretariat. The Permanent Secretary, Professor O. Jiri advised the Water Convention Secretary on 22 April 2024; “I am pleased to advise that the national workshop has been cleared for the 17th and 18th of June 2024.”

The goal is to complete the accession process before the 10th Session of the Meeting of Parties of the Water Convention to be held in Slovenia in October 2024. 

The government of Benin has announced its intention to ratify the treaty for the joint management of the Mono River bssin shared by Togo and Benin. The Mono River rises north east of Sokodé in Togo and flows through eastern Togo for some 400 km in a southerly direction, draining a basin of some 20,000 km² and whose waters impact on teh livelihoods of some 3 million people.  For the lower part of its course, the river forms the national border with Benin and as such is a transboundary river basin.

A process has been underway for almost a decade towards the creation of a legal framework as well as the establishment of River Basin Organisation assigned with responsibilities for the joint management of the waters of the basin. In the context of IUCN's Building River Dialogues and Governance (BRIDGE) programme, three regional workshops have been held to clarify the importance of transboudary hydrodiplomacy and the contents of River Basin Agreements. 

The process has been under discussion for some time. On December 31st, 2014, the treaty had been signed between (but not ratified by) the two countries to establish a joint management framework for the river as well as for the creation of a planning and management authority. The tasks of this organization is to ensure the sustainable management of the Mono basin through integrated, equitable and collabortive d management of the water resources and the environment to enable the reasonable and equitable use of water resources across different categories of demand: agro-pastoral activities and agriculture (irrigation for corn, cassava, rice and cocoa crops), access to domestic water supplies, industrial use, the production of hydropower, and the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.

Mr Adjama, a representative of the government of Benin, speaking at a meeting of the Mono Basin Authority, stated on the 26th of January 2024 that  this responds to a real need in the region and that: “According to the African Development Bank, only 10 to 19 billion dollars are invested in water security out of the 64 billion dollars of investment that should be put in place, every year in Africa. This trend, which could compromise peace and the sustainable development of our societies if not reversed, is one of the challenges facing the development of the people of the Mono basin. This is why, today, it is essential to put in place innovative instruments to not only master the challenges linked to financing and knowledge, but also to enhance the value of water resources in the Mono, in the context of climate change”.

On April 17, 2024, the final step in a 10-year process, a decree was adopted by the Beninese Council of Ministers authorizing ratification by the National Assembly of the official creation of the Mono River Basin Authority (ABM). The ratification of the agreement had already taken place by the parliament of Togo on May 8th, 2023.

Although the official raitification of the agreement is only taking place now, cooperation has been underway for some time, with the establishment of the executive board of the Mono Basin Authority in October 2019 and the adoption by a joint Ministerial Council of a new River Basin Management Strategy for the periond from 2023-2027. Currently the Authority’s  priorities for the coming years are to strengthen the organization's governance and operating framework, develop partnerships with national, regional and international players so that the ABM takes its rightful place in the landscape of basin management organizations, and finally, to establish the Mono Basin Observatory which will provide the evidence base for the decision making process.

 

The 10th World Water Forum was held in Bali, Indonesia, from 20 to 24 May 2024, in the presence of some 20,000 participants[1] from 160 countries, 107 international organizations, several ministerial delegations and some heads of state.

At this occasion, the States issued a Ministerial Declaration on 21 May 2024[2]. It is useful to look at this political document, against the background of the previous declaration, issued at the World Water Forum in Dakar, in 2022, as well as in the context of current challenges facing the water sector: including an open question on the global governance of the sector (the 2023 United Nations Water Conference will be followed by a Water Summit in 2026, which we would like to see institutionalised through regular meetings, but this has not been confirmed as yet)  as well as a general lack of decision and action to redress the huge gap between  global goals and real achievements, the chronic underfunding of the sector (particularly in humanitarian settings), and issues associated with the voice of civil society.

It is noteworthy that the alternative forum in Bali was subjected to severe and unacceptable pressure, and has been banned, for the first time in thirty years, and then reduced to half a day online instead of three days of face-to-face learning, a fact that was affirmed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur during a side event.[3]

We should also note the significant obstacles to participation for civil society (prohibitive registration fees, lack of financial support mechanisms, etc.) which reduce representation by  local communities, particularly in developing countries.

We recall that the World Water Forum is a space created thirty years ago as a response to a vacuum at UN level concerning the water sector as a whole (a vacuum that generally lasted until the 2023 United Nations Water Conference).

Without having UN legitimacy, the World Water Forum logically has less political scope than those of intergovernmental meetings at the United Nations and serves above allas an international multi-stakeholder platform for the exchange of good practices and experiences. It remains a useful arena for the actors present who can occasionally instil proposals in future UN conferences[4]. However, there is no mechanism for monitoring the commitments of the declarations successively produced by the Forums. The  World Water Forum suffers from its lack of articulation with UN processes and contributes without a guaranteed influence  on UN processes or the positions taken by the United Nations.

It should be remembered that the ministerial declaration is not the declaration of the participants in the Forum[5] but that of the Intergovernmental Ministerial Conference held on the occasion of the Forum (thus limiting its scope to the delegations present), its writing being done through a negotiation process prior to the event (two meetings at UNESCO under the impetus of the Indonesian government) and a finalization in parallel of the 279 public sessions of the Forum (side events and debates).[6]

As for the themes of the Bali Ministerial Declaration in 2024, they cover, without bringing spectacular progress, the broad, complex and cross-cutting spectrum of the sector through thirteen points that can be grouped into a few major axes presented below:

The declaration recalls  the pressing challenge of achieving the 2030 Agenda in the context of the growing challenge of climate change (reminding us of the UNFCCC COPs, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Disaster Risk Reduction Framework 2015-2030 and the expected impacts on biodiversity (Convention onf Biological Diversity and the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Action).

The declaration proposes to use the next United Nations Water Conference (2026) as a lever to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 dedicated to Water, referring in particular to the 2028 United Nations conference to assess the implementation of the goals of the International Decade for Action 2018-2028 "Water for Sustainable Development",[7]  ahead of the closing of the 2030 Agenda.

It recalls the importance of the human rights to water and sanitation, as the sector's contribution to the realization of other universal rights, a renewed affirmation of the legal basis of the indivisibility of these rights in international law. In this context, the Declaration adopts a "One Health" approach by insisting on the importance of jointly addressing climate, biodiversity, pollution and ecosystem protection issues. It also addresses universality, another of the basic principles of human rights, including gender, indigenous peoples and local communities, and young people.

In line with the above elements and the challenges of increasing demand related to population growth and increasing water stress, it proposes a strategy based on water security, promoting management, cooperation, sustainable finance and the improvement of knowledge and understanding of the sector. It also advocates strategies for sustainable development combining the environment, the economy and social issues.

The Bali Declaration also defends hydro-diplomacy, transboundary management and reaffirms the existence of the right to water and sanitation without asking for its legal anchoring, but also promotes controversial technical solutions, including the use of non-conventional water resources, such as desalination.

It recalls, beyond the priority of developing countries, the urgency of access to water and sanitation in humanitarian contexts (conflicts and natural disasters).[8]

The Declaration emphasizes the historic (and very real) role of the World Forums in terms of dialogue and exchange over the past thirty years (Marrakesh 1997). It concludes with the pious wish for leadership in the sector crowning a governance that it currently lacks.

It finally leads to a call to action broken down into sixteen points taking up in detail the major themes mentioned above.

Compared to the previous and more concise Ministerial Declaration (Dakar, 2022),[9] the emphasis in Bali was on the integrated approach to water (in the other sectors, and in the climate[10] and environment dimensions) as well as on the crisis and humanitarian response dimension.

The Bali Ministerial Declaration logically reflects the growing challenges of climate, environment, biodiversity, ecosystems and capacity building (Indonesian proposals to create a World Lake Day and a Center of Excellence in Asia[11]) and even the humanitarian crises that have escalated in recent years, bringing little novelty. It exhaustively lists the challenges of the sector, while remaining rather vague on the issues of governance (no mention of a Special Envoy) or financing (no mention of chronic underfunding) of the latter.

It can be criticized for being incantatory insofar as its call to action does not propose concrete commitments, a syndrome inherent in the weak political support of the World Water Forums.

Moreover, it does not expressly target a UN conference as a political outlet, as was the case in 2022 in Dakar, nor an international one (in this case it could have been the 2026 Conference).

Nor does it address current controversial issues, such as the reduction of water demand, lowering the water footprint and more broadly our environmental footprint, the underfunding and weak governance of the sector or the need to ban the use of water as a weapon and casualty of war, and does not convey the ambition that it would be desirable for 2026 to mark a real evolution in terms of governance.

While the next Global Forum will be held in Saudi Arabia, the Declaration also does not put its finger on the fundamental place of civil society voices in all processes of infringement of the law and, more generally, in decisions relating to water.

Beyond the scope of the Declaration, attention will have to be paid to the delicate transition that the World Water Council will have to make in the coming years vis-à-vis the United Nations Water Conference, if it becomes institutionalized and becomes a regular meeting every 3 years after the 2026 Conference. It will be necessary to maintain the openness and the possibility of multi-stakeholder exchanges that constitute the DNA of the Forum, while complementing them with the political legitimacy of a UN conference, by ensuring that the two processes can at least coexist, enrich each other and at best associate each other.

We can also salute the energy put into the Indonesians to infuse the "spirit of Bandung" into the coming international debate, that of the famous 1955 conference of newly decolonized countries which saw the birth of a brand new alliance of non-aligned countries that will integrate the United Nations. In the name of the forum "water for shared prosperity", the important word is "shared", marking the desire not to leave the socio-economic benefits of water uses to dominant actors alone. Although it is not formally reflected in the declaration, the multiplicity of high-level meetings that have been held shows Indonesia's strong desire to carry a strong influence in the upcoming negotiations.

 

Notes: 

[1] The 3rd Forum, in Kyoto, 2003, also had around 20,000 (including visits by school groups, etc.).

[2] https://kemlu.go.id/portal/id/read/5934/halaman_list_lainnya/ministerial-declaration-on-water-for-shared-prosperity-the-10th-world-water-forum#

[3] Several NGOs and collectives have drafted statements on the cancellation of the Alternative World Water Forum by the authorities in Bali, also denouncing the intimidation of its organizers, participants, and even the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to water, by the police and paramilitary groups:

Water Integrity Network: https://www.waterintegritynetwork.net/post/peoples-water-forum-shutdown

End Water Poverty: https://endwaterpoverty.org/statement-in-solidarity-with-the-peoples-water-forum/

[4] Some debates and exchanges have led to interesting and concrete progress in the sector: for example, the OECD Water Governance Initiative in Marseille in 2012, which gave rise to a real process at the OECD level, or the proposal to submit the declaration of the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar (2022) as a contribution to the 2023 United Nations Water Conference.

[5] It should be noted that the only declaration specific to the participants in a Forum and elaborated in a participatory way was that of Brasilia (8th Forum of 2018) which in a way masked a poor ministerial declaration and launched the call "Current water policies will not be sufficient to reach the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)".

[6] The Ministerial Declaration is not assembled by the ministers present, since it is prepared in advance by the host country in the framework of intergovernmental negotiations hosted by UNESCO (so often it is the country delegations to UNESCO that negotiate). This raises the major limitation of the process: it is not known which countries are taking part in the negotiations and, above all, it is not formally adopted by the countries that support it as a UN resolution could be. It is therefore difficult to use the declaration as a tool for monitoring States' commitments, or advocating for them.

[7] International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028 (un.org)

[8]  Which in 2023 concerned an issue for 165 million people. UNOCHA, People In Need 2023.

[9] The Ministerial Declaration of the 9th Dakar Forum essentially included five themes: law, environment, financing, governance and bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

[10] The climate issue did not appear in the Dakar Declaration.

[11] Voir World Water Forum

After two weeks of heavy flooding which took place at the beginning of April this year, Kazakhstan requested assistance from the Dutch government. The Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support (DRRS) team called up water experts from various disciplines to help alleviate the emergency situation in the Central Asian country. IHE Delft Associate Professor Fredrik Huthoff was among them and flew to Astana to lead the emergency response.

When did the call come to drop everything and rush to Kazakhstan?

In mid-April, I was in Mozambique rounding off another disaster response mission following last year’s Cyclone Freddy. There I led the DRRS team that was mapping actions to form an integrated plan to increase flood preparedness and resilience in the Zambézia Province. From there, I was planning to travel to Kazakhstan anyway for a water conference in Almaty when the call came to lead the DRRS team on its latest mission.

Why did the Kazakh authorities need assistance from the Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support team?
The disaster in Kazakhstan was a perfect storm, as multiple mechanisms were at play. Extreme rain, a dam break, and meltwater from the Ural Mountains simultaneously contributed to the huge disaster. Excessive quantities of water came from all directions as the extreme weather events also affected multiple river basins.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called it the worst disaster the country has seen in over 80 years. Over 120,000 people had to be evacuated from the affected regions. When I arrived, I met with officials at the ministries and the Kazakh hydrometeorological service to help decide on the right course of action that match the scale and urgency of the problem, and the resources and capacities on the ground. It was commendable to see how Kazakh authorities were working around the clock and were open to collaboration with us to make sure the best possible actions were being taken.  And you have to see that in the context of the emergency that was, and still is, unfolding at that very time. It is simply overwhelming, these floods are taking place on a scale has hardly ever been seen before in the world.       

The flooding affected almost a third of the country — Kazakhstan is the size of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain altogether, and then times two! And flood waters had not even reached their highest point.

What could you do to help?
The authorities were under enormous pressure in an ongoing situation. Having the DRRS team on site with its technical backup in the Netherlands reassured the Kazakh officials as they took decisions on how to proceed.

One concrete example on the first day, the rising water levels were threatening to flood the city of Atyrau. The Kazakh authorities were already digging a channel along the path of a former tributary to alleviate the high-water situation before it reached the city. We sat down with their technical team in the Kazakh Space Agency, in their situation room in a high-security location. Our team had technical support back in the Netherlands, which was able to make the calculations that confirmed that this action would indeed alleviate the situation.

With the peak expected hit at the end of April, Huthoff’s team were asked to help map the water flows, collaborate on emergency actions and to draft a long-term plan to mitigate future flood disasters.

How can the work of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support team impact other disasters?

The plan we are drafting could act as a blueprint for extreme weather events in other parts of the world. Climate change will mean similar extreme events are more likely in the future and the lessons from Kazakhstan could help other countries develop their own future flood management procedures and methods.

Notes

The Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support team is managed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The team is made up of emergency response experts in various disciplines who can be deployed at short notice anywhere in the world at the request of foreign governments.

Contact block Fredrik Huthoff | IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (un-ihe.org)

The situation in the United Kingdom regarding the dumping of untreated sewage into the environment – first reported by The Water Diplomat in November 2022 - is not improving. Controversy over wastewater discharges over the past years had led to the adoption of a new environmental law in 2021 and a plan to reduce stormwater overflows. Amongst others, utilities were required to demonstrate a progressive reduction in raw sewage overflows of 40% by 2040 relative to current levels. In August 2022, sewage spills had led members of the European Parliament to lodge a complaint with the European Commission, warning that the UK was threatening health, marine life and fisheries by discharging raw sewage into the English Channel and North Sea. However, after stabilising between 2020 and 2022, the situation deteriorated again sharply in 2023, with a 54% increase in spillage as compared to the previous year, according to the Environment Agency. Since 2020, Thames Water alone has discharged 72 billion liters of contaminated water into the Thames.

In a study published earlier this year, the Environment Agency indicated that the average number of spills per weir had risen from 23 in 2022 to 33 in 2023, and the total number of discharges had risen from from 301,091 in 2022 to 464,056 in 2023. Another worrying fact is that the duration of spills has increased by a factor of 2 to reach a cumulative total of 3.6 million hours. Today, only 13.9% of weirs in Great Britain meet the 0 discharge standard; overflows have become the new norm.

This situation has multiple consequences. The first and foremost of these is the impact on public health : the U.K.'s Chief Medical Officer has referred to it as a “growing public health problem”. Thousands of people fell ill last year because of the quality of bathing water. In 2020, the UK had the worst bathing water in Europe, with only 17.2% of beaches judged “excellent” (for information, the second worst country on this issue is Poland, with a rate of 55.9% - Greece and Cyprus are at 97.1%). The same problem applies to river and lake water quality. Only 14%of British waters had waters with ‘good ecological status’.

The economic consequences are also numerous. Many beaches in seaside resorts such as Brighton and Hove and the Isle of Wight had to be closed. Sporting events such as the famous annual Thames swimming race, held every July since 1890, had to be cancelled due to the severely degraded quality of the water. Consumption of shellfish from local shellfish farms has become risky. Only 9% of shellfish farming sites complied with water quality standards, almost systematically requiring depollution treatment.

Storm overflows, designed to discharge water overflow during heavy storms, are now being diverted from their original purpose, due to the dilapidated state of water treatment infrastructure. Since the privatisation of water utilities in 1989, there has been underinvestment in wastewater treatment and safe disposal infrastructure.

One of the responses from British authorities has been to institute more monitoring. In 2023, weir monitors were installed to collect data. Both regulator Ofwat and the Environment Agency keep a close eye on more than 2,000 wastewater treatment plants to ensure that they comply with standards. Numerical targets have been set for operators up to 2050. Operators will have to invest £11 billion to reduce discharges by 2030. 60 billion pounds of investment has been announced by the public authorities over the next 25 years to stop illegal dumping. Other stakeholders are also calling for massive reforestation to channel runoff during major climatic events, as well as the creation of new wetlands throughout the country.

 

In 2017, the Women in Water Diplomacy Network was launched to improve gender equality in high-level decision-making in transboundary basins and regions, focusing the initiative on women's leadership in regional dialogues around shared waters. This international initiative has already borne fruit, with the first network launched in the Nile Basin that same year, followed by a regional network in Central Asia/Afghanistan established in 2021, another in North America in 2023, and in the Orange-Senqu basin aiming to launch later this year.

At the end of April, an inception workshop was held to co-create a branch of the Women in Water Diplomacy Network in the South Caucasus region. The workshop held on April 26 and 27, 2024 in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, brought together 36 participants (including 8 online participants)) from the 3 countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The workshop was organized by the Environmental Law Institute and Utrecht University, with support from the Netherlands Research Council (NWO) and the South Caucasus Regional Water Management Program (SCRWM) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The workshop provided the occasion to officially launch the development process for the ‘Women in Water Diplomacy Network South Caucasus’.

The main objective of the workshop was “to examine the interconnections between women, water, peace and security in the South Caucasus, and to consider ways of supporting and enhancing women's participation in transboundary water-related decision-making processes at different levels”. This involved identifying barriers and levers, as well as decision-making modalities to improve women's presence and weight in transboundary water management exchanges, as well as opportunities for networking and sharing views.

This workshop was organized in a very particular context of peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and was therefore more than appropriate to take place at this time. Some of the participants stressed the importance of this initiative, adding that this kind of space for dialogue was very rare and therefore much appreciated, given the context.

Among the various speakers, Annie Steel from USAID declared that “the network has the potential to make a real difference in the region”. For his part, Eric Viala, USAID coordinator of the South Caucasus Regional Water Management Program (SCRWM), expressed his satisfaction that “this is a fantastic entry point for bringing people together” and that stakeholders understand the benefits of cooperation. He believes that “women are the most capable of putting their egos aside to find a solution”.

Presentations and discussions drew heavily on feedback from other networks. Professor Susanne Schmeier from IHE Delft highlighted the role played by regional water management bodies in mitigating conflicts and creating de-escalation. In her closing remarks on the first day, Lilit Baghdasaryan of the Armenian Water Partnership encouraged participants to “embark on this important mission together, despite the challenges, remembering that water knows no borders and that there is strength in numbers”. She encouraged women experts to “rise above the region's political divisions and invest in peacebuilding through water”. The participants also stressed the need to involve women experts in water diplomacy, in order to strengthen cross-border cooperation in the water sector, and the need, finally, to foster diverse, respectful and cooperative inclusion, to build a sustainable community, aware of the region's complexity and capable of adapting to a dynamic region.

On this occasion, USAID announced the creation, through the SCRWM program, of a new small grant instrument for regional organizations working towards these commitments.

 

In his 2023 annual report  on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres notes that during the year in review, « Conflict ... […]  .. triggered and aggravated water scarcity. The destruction, damage and disruption – sometimes deliberate – of water services, combined with the impact of climate change and years of disrepair, left millions without safe water, causing contamination, the outbreak of deadly infectious diseases and the risk of malnutrition »

On May 23, 2024, at UN headquarters in New York, as part of the week dedicated to the topic of protection of civilians in armed conflict (an event which has been organised for the past 25 years), a round table was held on the topic of sparing water from armed conflict for the enhanced protection of civilians. 

During the event,, speakers repeatedly referred to and stressed the importance of UN Security Council resolutions 2417 (2018) and 2573 (2021), which focus on strengthening the protection of essential civilian infrastructure (particularly water) and facilitating humanitarian aid during armed conflicts.

Ambassador Božena Forštnarič Boroje, Director General for Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia - and co-organizer of the event - underlined the centrality of international humanitarian law and human rights in this process :  “Attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population are never justified and constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Water and sanitation should never be targets of war”, she stated.

Caroline Pellaton, from the Geneva Water Hub, stated in her speech that “sparing water from conflict is not just about ensuring that water is delivered (...), it goes hand in hand with food security, living conditions and human dignity”.

During his presentation, Pax for Peace delegate Wim Zwijnenburg recounted the flagrant water-related violations of international and humanitarian law that have been taking place around the world in recent years. These include the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine in 2023,  drinking water plant in 2023, an attack on the Khartoum water treatment plant in 2023, and the destruction of the drinking water network and water desalination plant in Gaza in 2023-2024.

During the event, Slovenia, Switzerland and the Geneva Water Hub, joined by Costa Rica, Jordan, Indonesia, Mozambique, Panama, Senegal, Vietnam, UNICEF, Pax and Geneva Call, officially ,  launched the Global Alliance to Save Water from Armed Conflict. The Philippines also announced it would join the Alliance during the event. Furthermore, the representative from Panama added that 26 countries have requested the UN Secretary-General to consider instituting a special envoy on water.

According to the Geneva Water Hub, the aims of the Alliance are to gather  fact-based information on water and sanitation in armed conflicts, to facilitate knowledge development and dialogue, to formulate policy proposals and promote the furtherance of international law related to water including through the provision of elements for the strengthening of international law.

According to a UNICEF flash update published in mid-May, there are currently some 180,000 refugees present in the Hodh Ech Chargui region of eastern Mauritania, and this number is expected to reach 240,000 by the end of the year. Amid upheaval in the Sahel region, Mauritania has remained stable and continues to host a growing refugee population which has grown from 74,000 in 2016 to the present 180,000. Part of the recent influx is related to the closure of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), after  which a spike was observed in the influx of refugees with an additional 55,000 individuals crossing the border, followed by 20,000 more in January and February.

Almost 100,000 refugees are currently being hosted in Mbera refugee camp, which was originally designed to accommodate 70,000 individuals, and a further 82,000 people are being hosted in local communities in the villages of Fassala and Megve. In these villages, the number of refugees outnumbers the host population. In terms of composition, 83% of the refugees in Mbera camp are women and children, while in the villages 75% of the refugees are women and children.

A needs assessment carried out by UNICEF together with Action Against Hunger (ACF) for the development of a multisectoral response plan found that access to drinking water is the first need expressed by refugees, followed by food and health/nutrition. In addition, where refugees are hosted in local villages, the water and sanitation related needs of the villages in question also rise, as systems were not designed to cope with such rapid changes in population. From the joint assessment, the costs of water and sanitation provision for the refugees have been estimated at just below U.S. $ 1,5 million as compared with the costs of nutrition and health at approximately U.S. $ 750,000 each. However, there is currently a funding gap of $ 800, 000 for WASH provision, and a total funding gap of $ 3.3 million out of the $ 4,5 million required.

In the process of service provision, local companies are selected through a competitive bidding process, and after selection and contracting of the partner, construction commences to enhance access to clean drinking water for both refugees and host communities. Similarly, other companies are enlisted to build (or restore) blocks of latrines and showers. Also, technicians are are hired to ensure the quality control of all construction works, while engaging the community in the process.

As part of its more generalized task of preventing malnutrition, ACF works to improve water and sanitation coverage and seeks to consolidate the Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) package within broader programmes focused on malnutrition, while also working to strengthen the capacity of local actors and structures to promote a healthy environment.

In the Mbera camp, Action Against Hunger focuses on the provision of regular water, hygiene and sanitation services to refugee and host populations to ensure that they have access to safe drinking water, quality sanitation services and an increase in good hygiene and behaviour change practices. The activities to date have focused on the production/treatment and distribution of drinking water for human use as well as facilitating access to water for economic activities (such as market gardening and stock watering). Currently, on average 1550m3/day are produced, of which 1455 m3 of treated water (93% of the total) is made available for a population of 102,266 people, amounting to 15 l/c/day. The remaining 7% of the water produced is intended for economic activities such as stock watering and irrigation of gardens.

In the realm of sanitation and public health, ACF works to construct or rehabilitate community latrines as well as gender-separated latrines in health and education facilities.  In total, 2686 community latrines, 15 latrines in health facilities, and 100 latrines in schools are currently functional. The latrine emptying technique is an approach that promotes the sustainability of sanitation facilities (increasing the lifespan of existing latrines). Beyond physical infrastructure, capacity building takes place of an association in the camp called the Refugee Volunteers for Camp Cleanliness (VRPC) on the themes of promoting knowledge, skills and practices in sanitation and hygiene contributes to behavioural change.

Outside the camp, ACF supports the villages which are hosts to refugees, in particular on the rehabilitation of water supply, the rehabilitation of sanitation facilities in a school which welcomes refugee children, and the rehabilitation of 3 pastoral wells for animals in the municipality of Féréni.

As needs continue to grow, projects under discussion include the construction of a borehole and a 300m3 water tower in Mbera Camp to be financed by the castle by the World Bank in the Mbera camp. Additionally, a social cohesion project is underway funded by the FPI (Service for Foreign Policy Instruments- of the European Commission). In this project, ACF intends to set up points in villages that host refugees to improve social cohesion.

In an article published in the journal Water International, practitioners from the International Network of Basin Organisations and the International Office for Water  have reviewed experiences with the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management  over the past 30 years, drawing some conclusions for the future of river basin management.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is an approach to water management that developed since the first United Nations conference on water issues at Mar del Plata in Argentina in 1977, but especially since the Dublin Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992. This key conference, which provided input on water to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, provided much of the basis for our current thinking on IWRM and provided us with four ‘Dublin Principles’ which still serve as a reference point for water management in national and international law.

The Dublin principles state, firstly, that water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment. Secondly, they state that water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policymakers, at all levels. Thirdly, they state that women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water, and fourthly, water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognised as an economic good.

In parallel, in 1992, a cornerstone was laid for international water law in the form of the adoption of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes, often referred to as the ‘Helsinki Convention’. This convention was a regional convention developed initially for the European region, but since 2013 it has been opened for accession by other countries and as the authors of the paper point out, it in has gradually established itself as the main international legal instrument for cooperation on transboundary watercourses. It has a secretariat provided by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which actively works to implement it, contributing directly to the development of agreements in transboundary basins, the creation of transboundary basin organisations and the strengthening of cooperation in key areas.

However, despite a rapid endorsement of IWRM principles since 1992, there was criticism that the concept was vague and open to multiple interpretations. Despite high levels of ambition in integrating economic, social and environmental aspects of development within a single framework, there was little guidance in practice on practical issues such as the structures to be put in place, the measures to be implemented, or the tools and the methods to be used.

Work was needed to move from theory to practice, and a number of key institutions emerged to make IWRM operational. The International Network of Basin Organisations (INBO) to which most of the authors of the paper are affiliated was established in 1994 and together with the UNECE, the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Global Water Partnership (GWP), the effort to set in place building blocks for IWRM was set in motion.

The Global Water Partnership produced a commonly adopted definition of IWRM as a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems. INBO added to this a set of six actions on which its success depends.

The first of these actions is decision making around the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater within the framework of the river basin as a hydrological unit with a view to upstream-downstream solidarity. Secondly, the quantity and quality of available water resources should be diagnosed, monitored and documented in water information systems. Thirdly, strategic multiannual plans should be developed with long term objectives which take account of available water resources, the needs of the environment, demand and current and future pressures. Firth, these plans need to be translated into a series of activities with tangible benefits such as flood and drought protection infrastructure, the prevention of pollution, the protection of the environment and the provision of services such as hydropower, irrigation and domestic and industrial water supplies. Fifth, these plans and actions need to be backed up by financing mechanisms based on fees, taxes, tariffs and fees, and incentives for ‘virtuous’ water behaviour.  Lastly, the involvement of water users and other stakeholders is key to obtain agreement on the diagnosis of existing issues, buy-in for adherence to collectively agreed objectives, and to ensure accountability.   

All of these elements should be integrated into an iterative, cyclical process. They are drawn from the French water management model which has established river basin management agencies since 1964, and which has been shown to be applicable to a wide range of different settings. They can be linked to both procedural and substantive indicators which can be used to monitor progress.

More broadly, it is not just the French example but the whole European region which turns out to have adopted IWRM at basin level as well as significantly influenced IWRM globally. Landmarks in this process include the Dublin Principles from 1992, the Helsinki Water Convention of 1992, the creation of the INBO in 1994, and the establishment of the Global Water Partnership in 1996. The establishment of water agencies and basin committees in France, local water management offices in the Netherlands, or hydrographic confederations in Spain had already taken place before the European Commission developed the Water Framework Directive in 2000, a common policy framework for water management across the European region that broadly follows the principles outlined above, focused on the achievement of ‘good ecological status’ of Europe’s rivers. These experiences have provided the tools and methodologies which have later been adopted in other countries and regions.

At the transboundary level, the Helsinki Convention has played a major role in promoting the implementation of IWRM , firstly in the Pan European region and after 2013 when the convention was opened for accession by other countries, around the world. This reinforced the application of customary principles of international law specific to IWRM, i.e. the obligation to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impacts, the principle of equitable and reasonable use, and the principle that parties sharing the same transboundary waters should enter into specific agreements and establish joint bodies for cooperation.  Although it is not the first international water convention, the Helsinki Water Convention has gradually established itself as the main international legal instrument for cooperation on transboundary watercourses. The process has been further bolstered by financial and technical support from multitaleral banks such as the World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank and the Global Environmental Facility, as well as from bilateral support from France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and others.

In 2015, indicators monitoring progress on both national and transboundary IWRM were incorporated into Sustainable Development Goal 6. It is therefore now possible to monitor IWRM implementation at the global level. The underlying questions that guide responses to surveys on these indicators has been inspired by the operational integrated water resources management model developed by INBO and its partners. Specifically, for instance for indicator 6.5.1, they track the enabling legal and policy environment for IWRM, the supporting institutions and participation, the existence of management tools such as data sharing at basin level, and the financing of IWRM through both capital investments and operation and maintenance expenditures.

Currently it is evident from global data that the average percentage of IWRM implementation is 54% nationally and 58% for transboundary cooperation. It is clear that high income countries are achieving higher scores on these indicators, and therefore in the future efforts need to be focused on where the needs remain in middle- and lower-income countries.   In the context of increasing pressure on water resources, it is important, state the authors, to maintain and strengthen political and financial support for integrated water resources management at basin level, including through the mobilization of local resources.

A new paper published in May in the journal Nature by EAWAG scientist Dr Linda Strande unpacks a promising area of research into non-sewered sanitation, underlining the urgent need to provide scientific evidence in an area which has long suffered relative neglect in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector.

In the professional and scientific debates about sanitation there has regularly been a call over the past twenty years for a paradigm shift, in which attention is turned away from an exclusive focus on sewer networks to embrace the great variety of options for non-sewered sanitation. As the author argues, the reality provided to us through global monitoring by UNICEF and the WHO is that nearly half (46%) of the world’s population is not connected to a sewer system. Furthermore, this number is currently increasing at twice the rate of the number of connections to a sewer system.

This is an exciting area of research because these systems are not linked to large scale and long-term infrastructure development and maintenance plans in the way that is true of sewer networks. These systems could be more resilient to extreme weather events, reduce energy consumption and transport distances to treatment, be quicker to deploy in humanitarian settings, and increase the capacity of existing infrastructure. Therefore, scientific research is needed to support choices on a longer and more diverse menu of urban sanitation solutions.

However, there is currently a lack of systematic study of non-sewered sanitation systems that cuts across different technological designs or service delivery models. The reality is that such evidence as there is tends to focus on the analysis of a single solution. Therefore, there is an urgent need for research that is holistic and links together the insights that have already been made in different areas such as the nature of the wastewater collected, what happens to it during storage, the ways in which it is transported and treated, and the monitoring of the process as a whole.  The findings of this research are important first of all to enable acceleration of access to safely managed sanitation (SDG 6.2.) but also more broadly to enable more sustainable solutions which have reduced impact on areas such as (ground)water quality and global emissions of greenhouse gases.

The wastewater stored in on site systems is highly variable compared to sewer-based systems, and again more evidence for decision making is needed. There is information available on urine and its contents such as nitrates and phosphorus, but surprisingly little information on excreta, and some universal lessons need to be drawn about its safe management. For one thing, what is referred to as ‘containment’ in pit latrines and septic tanks is actually a misnomer because, the author states, in urban areas these are “ a chaotic mixture of inappropriately and haphazardly constructed containments, with no level of standardization”.

During storage, it is widely assumed that degradation or natural digestion will occur, but downstream treatment systems to which this sludge is transported  need accurate information on the matter that is being delivered. In fact some decomposition takes place in the fist few weeks, but this rapidly tails off after some time. Microbial activity also declines with time, but more information is needed to determine safe parameters for on site systems.

Within the sewage, water is an important component. The separation of urine, faeces and greywater can result in smaller volumes of less contaminated water, which is an important factor in determining design of systems as this reduces the treatment burden on wastewater. For the remaining solids, there is a general lack of guidelines on how they should be treated safely prior to possible use as a soil conditioner or for other applications.

At the level of monitoring, there is a common misconception that pathogens are made inactive during storage. In reality storage is not the same as treatment, and close monitoring of waste streams is important to enable the production of evidence for ‘safely managed’ sanitation. Similarly greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater in dense urban areas is directly related to the degree to which storage of the waste has enabled its decomposition. However, little evidence has been collected in this important area of work.

In short, the author argues, the global goals for sanitation will not be met with one technology solution alone. A knowledge base of different technological solutions need to be built up, following processes along their respective treatment chains. We need standards methods of analysis so that we can compare different systems with each other and monitor their performance. It is important to be able to collect information on both quantity and quality of the waste collected as well as its degradation or treatment over time. This is important also in the light of efforts to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases as ell as to ensure that sanitation systems are climate resilient. Already, the rate of failure of existing systems appears to be high, and this is not just due to technology but also to a complex range of governance related issues which themselves also need to be looked at in detail. Ther have been rapid increases in scientific knowledge that is relevant to decision making in the subsector, but the involvement of researchers from across the world in the development of impartial and relevant solutions is essential for a fundamental shift from discourse to reality.

 

At the World Water Summit 2024  in London, held from the 15th to the 17th of April,  a round table discussion was held on the topic of  the “gold standard for sewer safety”. This topic was also the subject of a white paper published in May by Global Water Intelligence in partnership with Grundfos.  

Every year, according to C40 Cities – a global network of cities working on climate resilience -  water system failures cost public authorities more than U.S. $ 200 billion. Included among the water system issues frequently encounterd by cities are sewer overflows, a problem that is currently increasing with the increased intensity of rainfall events caused by climate change, and exacerbated by the gradual deterioration of urban wastewater infrastructure that takes place over time except in situations where fairly substantial amounts of capital are invested in upgrading and climate proofing the network.

As the white paper points out, public frustration with sewer overflows has been expressed in some very well known urban locations such as the Thames River, Sydney Harbour, and Lake Michigan. The (double) goal of the white paper is to provide a perspective on the scale of the challenge as well as to offer innovative and cost-effective solutions for more resilient water infrastructure. In fact, the ambition of the paper is not only to benchmark resilient sewer infrastructure but to set a ‘gold standard’ for industry practices.

In this context, Ralph Exton, Vice President of Grundfos, who announced the launch of the white paper, stated that the document is intended to become a reference for professionals and a source of actionable information on best practices and tools for building resilient networks and liveable cities.

The authors present the urgency of sewer security from the triple perspective of climate, social issues and economics. In the realm of climate change, sewers are both a cause and effect of climate change, as they contribute to emissions and are also regularly put to the test with high intensity precipitation events, which threaten to increase sewerage releases into the environment. Furthermore, as a result of increasing water scarcity, wastewater is being seen more and more as a resource to be treated and reused.

Socially, the authors point to public frustrations with pollution caused by sewerage overflows and leakages, with utilities running the risk of being perceived as more concerned with profitability than with service to customers. Public interest in swimmable rivers and the benefits of ecosystem services for liveability are inducing local leaders to seek lasting solutions.

In economic terms, the cost of completely replacing existing infrastructure induces the sector to seek economically sustainable solutions, while recongising that responding to sewerage spills also comes at a cost.

The aim of a ‘gold standard’ for sewer security refers to at least three dimensions of aspiration : firstly, the aim to achieve zero spills as an ultimate target, even if this is very difficult to achieve in practice, with a focus on the impact of pollution on water quality (SDG target 6.3). Secondly, the gold standard requires that utilities are involved in public engagement, such that public perceptions of utilities are shifted from that of polluters to one of protector. Finally, the gols standard needs to embrace broader social and environmental goals, incorporating the co-benefits for society and the environment within the overall vision for sewer management. 

To achieve this gold standard, sewer security needs to dispose over a range of tools in its toolkit. For example, this includes prediction and prevention tools : making use of sensors and software analytics to detect blockages and pump failures in advance. Similarly, automation and optimisation can be engaged by integrating weather forecasting and real-time optimisation of the storage capacity control to minimise negative impacts, while exploring options to increase existign wastewater treatment capacity.

A new World Bank report released on the 6th of May presents a global overview of spending in the water sector, noting that there is a significant gap between spending needs and actual spending. According to the World Bank, this study represents the first attempt to create a 360° overview of spending in the entire water sector the sector, with the objective of understanding existing funding gaps in comparison to the goals that have been set, and to provide guidance on the ways in which these gaps can be closed.  Nine years into the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the data shows us that budgetary spending on water supply and sanitation (which is one element of broader water sector spending) as well as on sanitation and hygiene is too low for countries to achieve the 2030 goals. In fact, as UNICEF and the WHO have pointed out, achieving universal coverage for safely managed drinking water and sanitation by 2030 would require a quadrupling of current rates of progress. Similarly, investments in irrigation and other complementary agricultural support activities have not kept pace with population growth, and therefore achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) is also proving difficult. Unfortunately, food availability per capita has declined, and vulnerability to food insecurity has increased in many developing countries.

The report provides a clear global overview of existing investments, as compared to the needs. Across the board, annual spending on water is U.S. $164.6 billion, of which 85.5% is public spending, 6,9% is Official Development Assistance (ODA), 5,9% is through state-owned enterprises and the remaining 1,7% is private investment.  At 6,9%, ODA is a significant contributor in the water sector. This is an average statistic and the picture differs from region to region, as for instance, for Sub-Saharan Africa, ODA represents 25% of spending. However, within ODA itself, the picture is entirely different, as water only represents 5% of all official development assistance: ODA expenditure on water is U.S. $ 12,6 billion within a total average ODA expenditure of U.S. $ 234 billion.

Public spending on water amounts to some U.S. $ 140,7 billion globally, amounting to 0,5% of Gross Domestic Product on average but varying significantly between regions. An important point made in the report is that low investments in the sector do not appear to be for lack of public funds: in fact, public spending in water is dwarfed by spending in other sectors: spending on transport and energy for instance is four to five times greater, and overall, only 1,2 % of public spending is devoted to the water sector. Spending on human development sectors such as education and health care is a full fifty times higher than spending in the water sector.

The choices made within public sector spending are equally interesting: globally, 76% of public spending is allocated to water supply and sanitation services. Water transport accounts for a further 16% of spending, and irrigation – which is central to food security – comes in at third place at only 8%.  Finally, hydropower accounts for only 2% of global public spending.  

Of course, the statistics mentioned above cover the overall volumes of investment and do not illustrate the quality of the spending itself. There are major improvements to be made in the effectiveness of spending in the sector.  For one thing, the existence of a budget for the water sector does not mean that this money is actually channeled into effective uses: sector’s budget execution rates average about 72 percent, meaning that 28% of public resources allocated to the sector go unspent. This points to a lack of ‘absorptive capacity’ : questions of institutional strength, staff capacity, project management skills all need to be optimized to ensure a smooth flow of capital to areas where it is needed.

Finally, as important as it is to attract capital into the sector, it is also vital to spend these funds equitably. Ensuring that investments are designed to target and benefit disadvantaged communities, including those who live in difficult-to-reach areas such as dense urban districts and remote rural regions, is a fundamental factor in the effectiveness public spending in the sector.  

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is supporting a project in Jordan aimed at increasing agricultural water use efficiency as a means to increase climate resilience in vulnerable regions of the country. The U.S. $ 33.2 million project financed by the GCF – for which an additional U.S. $ 8 million has been provided by the government of Jordan - aims to reduce the demand for scarce groundwater among rural farming communities in four governorates in the Dead Sea Valley. These areas - Karak, Madaba, Talifah and Maan – are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Together, these governorates have a population of 840,900 people, who are vulnerable to the effects of climate change as a result of their high degree of dependency on rainfed agriculture, and the high poverty rates that are prevalent in the region. Jordan is the second most water scarce country in the world, with an annual per capita water availability below 100³m (and countries are placed in the category of ‘absolute water scarcity’ when the annual per capita water availability drops below 500m³). Groundwater sources have been overexploited for decades, and there is an urgent need to implement water harvesting and conservation techniques. The country’s vulnerability to climate risks has been aggravated over the last decade by more erratic rainfall patterns, increased temperatures and a population increase that is in part also the result of the influx of refugees from conflicts in neighbouring countries.

Rural living conditions have become more difficult: although most of the country had an average annual rainfall of only 135 mm, meteorological stations have showed a gradual decrease in this precipitation over time. In the farming sector, the evapotranspiration rates (evaporation from plants) are increasing, the dry season has increased by about 30 days, and both agricultural yields and the quality of produce are declining. 

The project, first identified in 2021, and to be fully implemented by 2029, consists of a mix of investments in infrastructure, innovative technologies, climate-smart agricultural practices and knowledge sharing. It involves the installation of rooftop rainwater harvesting systems on 7,850 rural homes as well as on 400 public buildings. This will over time reduce the need for expensive tankered water supplies in the region and ensure a supply to each household of 20,000 litres of water a year to be used both for household purposes as well as a water source for home gardens, boosting local food security. The project will also build reservoirs to store reclaimed water from wastewater treatment plants during the winter months. This water will then be distributed to farmers during the summer months when demand is at its highest.

There is also an institutional dimension to the project, which is investing in the boosting of the climate resilience of farming households through capacity building on climate change risks and the kinds of practices and technologies that can help them introduce adaptive practices. It is intended to benefit 212,000 people in the Dead Sea Basin, with a strong gender component (47% of the intended beneficiaries are women). The partner organisations for the GCF are the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme.

On the 3rd of June, The President of South Sudan, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, signed the country’s Heads of State Initiative Compact on Water and Sanitation to ensure universal access to water and sanitation in the country.

According to UNICEF. the signing of the Compact on Water and Sanitation marks a significant step forward in improving the water and sanitation situation in South Sudan which faces many climate-related, social and economic challenges. According to the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, Sudan’s statistics show that access to ‘basic’ levels of water supply has fallen over time from 41% 𝑖𝑛 2010 to 39% 𝑖𝑛 2020. During the same period, access to adequate sanitation rose from 7% to 14% and the rate of open defecation dropped from 71% to 63%.

The WASH Compact is a tool to encourage accelerated progress on SDG 6.1 and 6.2: sustainable access to climate resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for all. The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) alliance in partnership with the government of the Netherlands, UNICEF and IRC WASH encourage high level commitment and leadership, together with with multi-stakeholder sector collaboration and allocation of national resources towards this aim. In the case of Sudan, this achievement is a follow on from the UN Water Conference in March 2023, held in New York. It is built upon clear commitments that encompass increased budget allocations, innovative sources of financing, and comprehensive plans for the construction of vital water and sanitation infrastructure. These have been supported by the Dutch, German and Japanese governments together with the World Bank and the Ministry of Water Resources of South Sudan.  

Anita Kiki Gbeho, the UN Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator, stated that the signature of the compact by South Sudan shows commitment to the achievement of SDG 6.

The state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil experienced very challenging times in the early days of May 2024, subjected to rainfall of unprecedented duration and intensity. In the space of a week, more than 300 mm of water fell in the region, and in some places the rainfall recorded was 150 mm in less than 24 hours. The region's main river, the Guaiba, recorded a once-in-100-year flood, reaching a maximum height of 5.33 meters, thereby surpassing the previous record from 1941 which measured 4.76 meters, according to the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology. Some experts compared the phenomenon to that experienced by New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Numerous landslides occurred in the region, and the “14 de Julho” hydroelectric dam partially gave way, according to  authorities. The dam break generated a two-metre high wave which flooded large parts of the city of Porto Alegre, a city with 1.4 million inhabitants, as well as more than 350 municipalities in the region.  According to several sources, the death toll was close to 150, with around a hundred people still missing. In tota, 400,000 people were displaced, 75,000 of whom took refuge in shelters. The road network was paralysed and partly destroyed, bridges collapsed and the airport was closed indefinitely. Electricity was cut off and over 800,000 people had no access to drinking water, according to local utility CORSAN. These events followed several extreme events last year when, after more than 2 years of severe drought, the region was amongst others struck by a cyclone in September 2023 which killed around 50 people. According to specialists, this recent episode was mainly due to the El Niño phenomenon.

Brazil's President Lula visited the site twice to assess the damage and take emergency measures. He told the press that Brazil should develop a genuine culture of prevention and risk management in the face of the growing effects of climate change.

The Rio Grande do Sul region is one of the most prosperous in Brazil. Local authorities, faced with the scale of the devastation, have declared that it would take a veritable “Marshall Plan” to rebuild everything. Some local councillors even said they were considering moving their town to “rebuild at higher altitudes”. At this stage, the Brazilian government has already announced the release of the equivalent of 9 billion euros for reconstruction, while former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has also declared that she will make 1 billion euros of BRICS Development Bank funds available to disaster victims and the authorities to “rebuild urban and rural infrastructures”. For the time being, the Brazilian army has been mobilized to bring food, water and essential supplies to areas made inaccessible by the floods, while the UN Refugee Agency has sent emergency shelters, cooking utensils, blankets, solar lamps and hygiene kits from its stocks in northern Brazil and other parts of the region.

 

In the 20th Century, Bangalore was known as the "Garden City"» of India, or the city of 1000 lakes. The city had a long history of construction of artificial tanks for irrigation, fishing, and as a source of drinking water. These lakes served to replenish the groundwater on which the city largely relies.

Today, however, only a handful of these lakes still exist, and they are endangered both by a lack of water and by an unsustainable level of pollution. This is in part driven by urban expansion : the surface area of lakes has declined over time from from 2,324 hectares in 1973 to 696 hectares in 2023, which has impacted on the water table.

Bangalore is India's 3rd largest city, with a population of nearly 14 million, and it is currently suffering one of the worst water crises of the past 500 years. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board stated in a recently published report that 90% of Bangalore's (remaining) lakes are in a state bordering on extinction. Currently, amid an intense drought, the Karnataka state government has stated that the city is facing a daily water deficit of 500 million liters, or 20% of demand. This situation reflects what India could become on a national scale by 2030.

There is no river running through the city. It relies for 50% on a feeder canal from the Krishna Raja dam on the Kaveri River. However, the previous rainy season provided significantly less moisture (with a 40% rainfall deficit in South India) and did not allow the water reserve to be properly replenished.

The remainder of the city's needs are met by groundwater, which is unfortunately being rapidly depleted.  Experts estimate that there are over 400,000 private wells in the Bangalore region. Controlling the use of these wells remains a crucial issue in a city where urbanisation has been rapid and relatively unplanned over the past few decades.

On March 12th, driven by the shortfall in rain, authorities have imposed a 20% cutback on water consumption by large scale users such as businesses, hospitals and the airport. Already, 257 neighborhoods in four zones of the city had been affected by drastic water restrictions. Inhabitants of these neighbourhoods have to rely on tankered water, for which the prices have soared over the past three months from $ 10 to $ 30, and the government has had to intervene to cap water prices.  In other neighborhoods, water is cut off from 10 a.m. into the evening. Some neighbourhoods are supplied every other day. The city of Bangalore had to introduce a system of penalties to limit abuse and wastage.

Access to water has become a social issue, with the poorest districts being the worst affected, and access to water became a political issue during the second round of the last general elections in India on the 26th of April.  Many of those involved point out that the problem is not really really a problem of quantity, but more of planning and resource management (which could be improved with effective systems for rainwater harvesting and maintaining sufficient, appropriate water reservoirs for groundwater recharge. For this purpose, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has indicated that it has completed 986 recharge wells at vaious locations since April 2024 to enable recharge to take place.

Stakeholders agree that the solution to Bangalore’s water crisis crisis will need to come from a number of actions, including raising public awareness of the need to conserve water, the installation of smart water meters to understand consumption and losses better, and measures to increase the infiltration of water into the ground.

During this year’s long rainy season, which usually lasts from March to May, Kenya has been severely affected by torrential rains which took place during the month of April. According to a situation assessment by the United Nations Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), as of the end of April, the combination of heavy rain and flash floods had left 103 people dead, 29 injured, 21 people missing, 150,365 people (30,073 families) displaced and nearly 191,000 affected across the country. The rainfall was not unexpected : Kenya’s National Meteorological Service had alerted the Kenyan government at the end of 2023 that it was expecting heavy, even possibly very heavy rains over the period from March to June 2024.

The Government of Kenya has mounted a multisectoral emergency response, led by the Kenya Disaster Emergency Operations Centre in the country’s capital, Nairobi and supported amongst others by the Kenya Red Cross.

Intense rainfall has been experienced across the whole of East Africa in this period : Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia have also been affected. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the rainfall is associated with an El Niño event coupled with the so-called ‘Indian Ocean Dipole’ phenomenon which induce high temperatures of the waters of the western parts of the Indian Ocean. The excess energy in the ocean and atmosphere are probably due to the effects of man-made greenhouse gases, and this is an important factor in explaining the duration and intensity of the peak rainfall events.

 According to NASA, the “Indian Ocean Dipole is a climatic phenomenon affecting the Indian Ocean. During a positive phase, warm waters are pushed towards the western part of the Indian Ocean, while cold deep waters rise to the surface of the eastern Indian Ocean”. (...) This “influences local weather conditions (...) with high temperatures along the African coast causing heavy rains and droughts in Australia”. During this rainy season, the whole of East Africa was affected to varying degrees, i.e. Kenya.

Disaster risk reduction measures had been taken, but were apparently insufficient at the time. As the WMO points out, this type of phenomenon highlights the vulnerability of African societies to weather-related risks and climatic events, and the need to establiush early warning systems for all.

According to later updates of the situation (OCHA, IOM, UNICEF), a total of 637,000 people have been affected in the region, including a total number of displaced persons which has risen to 234,000. The country where the most extreme events took place was Kenya, where floods and landslides affected 38 of the 47 counties (representing 80% of the surface area of Kenya). The human toll was heavy: 219 have been confirmed dead, 72 people are still missing, and 234,000 displaced. The densely populated Nairobi County alone accounted for 72% of the victims, including 54% of the displaced. Cases of cholera have already appeared across the country. In material terms, 5,000 head of livestock were swept away, 11,216 hectares of crops were ravaged and 264 businesses were severely affected. A total of 1967 schools were destroyed, and many other schools were forced to take in refugees on a temporary basis until more permanent solutions could be found. A dam in the Mai Mahiu region burst, killing 48 people, forcing the government to call for the evacuation of people living near the country's 178 dams and reservoirs.

The Kenyan government has already earmarked US$30 million to respond to the humanitarian emergency. The United Kingdom has also donated the equivalent of US$1 million to help the victims. UN agencies have distributed temporary shelters and emergency kits to 39,000 people in Kenya.  Similar distributions were also made in Somalia (240,000 people) and Ethiopia (70,000 people).