United States Launch 2022-2027 Global Water Strategy

By Diogo Augusto

11 Nov 2022 by The Water Diplomat

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the country’s Department of State have launched the 2022-2027 US Global Water Strategy.

According to USAID’s press release, the document “envisions a water-secure world that advances health, prosperity, stability, and resilience through sustainable and equitable water resources management and access to safe drinking water, sanitation services, and hygiene.”

Indeed, this sets the guidelines for the role the country is going to play in the world for the next five years when it comes to water-related issues. 14 government agencies contributed to create what’s going to be the main instrument of implementation of the White House Global Water Security Action Plan announced by Vice-President Kamala Harris in June.

The document was structured around four main goals: to strengthen sector governance, financing, institutions, and markets; to increase equitable access to safe, sustainable, and climate-resilient water and sanitation services, and the adoption of key hygiene behaviours, to improve climate-resilient conservation and management of freshwater resources and associated ecosystems; to anticipate and reduce conflict and fragility related to water.

During the previous five years, USAID programmes exceeded objectives to provide 15 million people with access to safe drinking water and eight million people with access to sanitation services.Now, for the 2022-2027 period, the agency aims to provide an additional 22 million people with safe drinking water and also 22 million people with access to sanitation.

In addition, the programme will aim to mobilise, over the next five years, US$ 1bn for water security, sanitation and hygiene.