2024 OneWater Summit in Riyadh provides new points of entry for humanitarian WASH

The WASH RoadMap: a collective platform for humanitarian WASH responses
According to the WHO, ensuring to safe water, sanitation and hygiene are among the top three priorities in global humanitarian Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) responses. Safe access to WASH is a cornerstone of effective local support: it helps to prevent waterborne diseases, it supports the maintenance of personal hygiene and dignity, it is implicated in the personal security and in the access to education of women and girls, it is vital for preparing food and maintaining nutritional health, it reduces healthcare burdens and enhances community resilience.

Nevertheless, despite the centrality of WASH services, the WASH  sector is still far from being able to provide the requisite services to respect the fundamental human rights to access to safe-drinking water and sanitation, especially because of the funding gap: the currently available funds for humanitarian purposes merely allow 38% of the required response to be satisfied, as shown in this report by Action Contre la Faim (ACF).

In response to this situation, in 2020, fifteen humanitarian organizations took the decision to pool their expertise and establish the WASH RoadMap  (WRM). The WRM is a platform (2020-2025) dedicated to tackling four identified gaps which are seen to prevent the sector from delivering qualitative, rapid and at-scale humanitarian responses everywhere. These are:  delivering capacity in humanitarian leadership, coordination and response, the ability to maintain or expand core global and local surge capacity, the understanding and integration of the humanitarian-development nexus, and the funding shortages. Members of the WRM have therefore agreed that the prerequisite pillars for functional capacity in the humanitarian WASH sector should (i) be driven by public and environmental health outcomes, (ii) meet agreed accountability and highest quality standards, and (iii) be rooted in preparedness and resilience and depend on capacity, coordination and partnership and financing. Since 2020, the alliance has grown and now brings together over forty members dedicated to eight initiatives that function in complementarity to tackle the abovementioned challenges.

The eighth initiative, which focuses on sector advocacy and funding, devotes special attention to global water governance and the identification of existing spaces to discuss water related issues. Through its Call To Action, it stresses the importance of taking into consideration Fragile, Conflict, and Violent (FCV) settings and prioritising the people most in need. It is in this context that the One Water Summit provided a point of entry to push for the recognition of WASH needs in FCV contexts. 

Focus on fragile settings at the One Water Summit 
On December 3rd 2024, State representatives, private companies, NGO’s and INGOs met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the One Water Summit (OWS). This half-day event, co-organized by France, Kazakhstan,  and the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which was hosting COP16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), was intended to emphasise the critical importance of water security and its sustainable management. The OWS aimed to raise the status of water on the multilateral and international cooperation agenda by improving global water governance and by accelerating action on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) on water and sanitation. The event was strategically planned on the sidelines of COP16 of the UNCCD, which was greatly relevant for humanitarian settings, considering the severe humanitarian impacts of desertification and droughts, particularly in regions in which the population still reliesnpredominantly on agriculture and livestock for survival. Food insecurity, water scarcity, extreme climatic events, displacement and conflicts over resources are only some of its many consequences on people. Considering climate change and many human activities (such as deforestation and unsustainable forms of agriculture) exacerbates desertification, humanitarian organizations already address the effects of desertification through disaster preparedness and early warning systems, WASH interventions, drought-resilient agriculture, policy advocacy and climate adaptation funding.  

The One Water Summit was opened by H.E. Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He highlighted the Summit's role in addressing water-related challenges such as desertification and drinking water shortages, which pose threats to human lives and societies. H.E. Mohammed bin Salman outlined Saudi Arabia's commitment to sustainable water resource management, including a USD 6 billion investment fund supporting over 200 sustainable water projects across more than 60 developing countries. He also mentioned Saudi Arabia's upcoming hosting of the 11th World Water Forum in 2027, and the recent establishment of the Global Water Organisation to tackle water challenges through inclusive solutions.

His words were followed by those of the President of France, H.E. Emmanuel Macron. He pointed out that water has often been considered a secondary challenge, despite its central role in climate adaptation, noting that nine out of ten adaptation measures rely on water. He reminded that “water is a fundamental right and that access to and management of water must be treated as a common good”. H.E. Macron welcomed the Water Finance Coalition (comprising over 60 development banks) and anticipated the formation of a new coalition of countries, donors, and companies to provide solutions, new fundings, and technologies. He also highlighted France's science-based national plan to reduce water consumption by 10% by 2030 and identified key areas for global water action, including (i) science and knowledge sharing for data-driven decision-making, (ii) development and transfer of technology to minimize freshwater use, (iii) addressing plastic pollution, and (iv) the WASH RoadMap and its Resilient and Survival WASH Call To Action (CTA) which France signed in 2023. The latter appears as quite a significant point of entry for the sector, considering the five CTA claims are more than ever relevant and that several country representatives were in the room, meaning potentially new advocacy levers of action. 

Kazakhstan’s President H.E. Kassym Jomart Tokayev spoke next, describing water security as fundamental to reach sustainable development, underpinning human well-being, economic progress, and environmental conservation. He called for a unified global response to water challenges, focusing on universal access to safe water and sanitation, resource protection, disaster resilience, and international cooperation. H.E. Tokayev emphasized the need to strengthen water storage capacity, enhance glacier preservation, and adopt innovative irrigation systems to stabilize water availability. He announced Kazakhstan's proposal to establish a partnership uniting global research centres to study and protect glaciers, supporting policy development and water management strategies. Additionally, he declared Kazakhstan's commitment to the One Water Vision coalition which aimsto address the water crisis through integrated water resource management. 

The President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, recognised the unprecedented ongoing pressures on water resources due to complex, interconnected crises affecting human well-being and the environment. A. Banga noted that despite the scale of water challenges, responses have often been fragmented, with misalignments across municipal, river basin, and national policies. He advocated for a comprehensive response to ensure (i) access to clean water and sanitation for all, (ii) sustainable water uses in agriculture, which accounts for 70% of global water consumption, and (iii) protection of water resources in the face of climate change

These opening speeches collectively underscored the urgent need for integrated, cooperative approaches to water governance and the implementation of sustainable solutions to address global water challenges.

Engaging with humanitarian WASH in 2025 and beyond
The mention of humanitarian settings and of urgent global WASH needs by President Macron and Ajay Banga illustrate the dire need to deliver on challenges. State representatives have shown how current situations that are still under control could rapidly crumble and become a fragile context in less than a decade. As fragility increases the risks of conflict and crisis, we cannot afford not to invest as of today in WASH responses.

H.E. Mohammed bin Salman al Saud’s statement regarding desertification and drinking water shortages and H.E. Kassym Jomart Tokayev’s on glacier preservation are significant. The recognised link between climate change and humanitarian response must lead to action: it is proven that the former exacerbates the frequency and severity of disasters, affecting vulnerable communities and increasing humanitarian needs. The “climate debt” has also been conceptualised, after observing that countries most affected by climate changes are the ones that are the least responsible for global warming. Directly tackling specific aspects of climate-induced processes is necessary to prevent future crises, to prepare the responses to those that will not be avoidable, and to tackle the climate debt. That is partly why the UNCCD COP16 also played a crucial role, after the One Water Summit, allowing for unprecedented discussions on drought management. 

The humanitarian WASH sector will gain from several commitments made at the COP16. Firstly, a historical decision has been taken by States regarding civil society participation in two working groups for indigenous populations, local communities and non-governmental actors. Secondly, the introduction of agricultural and food systems on a COP agenda and the multi-sectorial approach (including biodiversity loss, food security, forced migration and climate change). Thirdly, the $12 billion pledged for land restoration and drought preparedness initiatives and finally, the $70 million allocated to advance the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils to enhance agricultural resilience in arid regions. However, the lack of consensus on establishing a biding protocol to address drought and the significant underfinancing to effectively combat land degradation remain very disappointing. 

Additionally, the mention by France of the WASH RoadMap Call To Action as one of the most significant global water action was a success for the humanitarian WASH sector: States are at last recognizing that FCVs have been missing on the international agenda and that emergency responses are underfunded while absolutely necessary. France, as one of the four signatory States of the CTA (alongside Switzerland, Chad and Slovenia) is showing engagement towards this issue, illustrating a serious point of entry for the sector. Windows of opportunity to advocate for specific matters in the humanitarian WASH sector are rare, but this is undeniably one that should and will not be ignored. Signatory States are allies of the sector and will be supported to take significant action, such as inviting other States to grasp the significance of the challenges and to take responsibility by, amongst other, signing the CTA. The Water Finance Coalition the French President applauded could indeed become an interesting new partner in order to tackle the humanitarian funding crises. However, as stated above, there is a great risk of disengagement when creating multiple and possibly scattering response mechanisms. It is necessary that governments define the articulation of these new instruments with the existing ones.

It is also important that States recognize existing grass-root initiatives as complementary to top-down solutions; as France did with the WASH RoadMap and its Call To Action, which is still open for signature. One of them is the significant and much needed Global Alliance to Spare Water Infrastructures from Armed Conflict, co-led by the Geneva Water Hub, the Republic of Slovenia and the Confederation of Switzerland. It galvanizes efforts to protect the human dignity of the population affected by armed conflicts, disseminates existing legal and technical tools for the protection of freshwater and related installations and pushes for the application of the prohibition of water weaponization. 
Such opportunities of civil society-States collaboration around the WASH sector in FCV settings are inevitable; especially as the next UN Water Conference (co-hosted by Senegal and the United Arabic Emirates) will take place in December 2026 and will represent yet another international space to invest in order to impact the future of people living in FCV contexts.