The 2022 Asia-Pacific Water Policy Report was launched during the 2nd High Level International Conference on International Decade for Action, “Water For Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The Report highlights Asia-Pacific water issues for high level political leadership and policy makers’ attention. It aims to support countries in their efforts to achieve better water outcomes, and reflects the opinions, perspectives and experience of Ministers, agency heads, senior officials, and others whose job it is to make difficult decisions on water management in their respective countries.

The Asia-Pacific Water Policy Report is based on the experiences and perspectives of national water leaders from 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. Among them, they have responsibility for achieving ‘sustainable water for all’ for over 3.8 billion million people.

In summary, this is what they are saying:

• National water leaders in the Asia-Pacific region consider the highest water-related risks their countries face are climate change and associated pressures on water supplies and worsening floods and
  droughts.
• The greatest challenges they face are inadequate infrastructure, data and public awareness coupled with the problem of administrative fragmentation.
• Many consider the Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets to be ‘challenging’ or ‘impossible’ to achieve, with governance problems and lack of financing the main reasons for this.
• While groundwater is considered by many national water leaders in the Asia-Pacific region to be essential to their country’s future water supply, far fewer consider their groundwater is being used sustainably.
• The results from the national water leaders of the Asia-Pacific region largely mirror the concerns and issues of their counterparts across the world, as revealed in the 2021 Global Water Policy Report.

The 2022 Asia-Pacific Water Policy Report was prepared by the Water Policy Group in partnership with the University of New South Wales Sydney Global Water Institute.

Download the full report here.

On Wednesday 23 March, Water Policy Group held a High-Level Panel at the 9^th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal. The panel was chaired by Water Policy Group member and Professor at Arizona State University, Dr Olcay Ünver, and included interventions by Ministers and high-level officials from five different countries.

During the session, Dr Ünver presented the findings of the Global Water Policy Report 2021: Listening to National Water Leaders, and the panel discussed the report’s outcomes and its relevance to their work. Funding issues were discussed in depth, including the difficulties many countries face in reaching Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets due to lack of financing—one of the key findings presented in the Global Water Policy Report. They also discussed the occurrence of mismatched expectations between donors and recipients regarding outcomes from overseas development assistance, as well as how excessive costs may prevent developing countries from benefitting from recent technological advances and innovations.

Another common topic was the significance of capacity, and how capacity issues have many flow-on effects. It was discussed that not only is lack of capacity often a constraint to adopting technological advances, but countries with limited capacities become further disadvantaged in accessing funds as they are unable to meet the selection criteria.

The panel agreed that a ‘business as usual’ approach and gradual change would not be enough to achieve water goals, and that it was disheartening that COVID-19 pandemic had not led to a change of course to fund water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). But despite the current challenges and those that lie ahead, there are many current and future initiatives underway with the potential to affect real progress. Among these, Water Policy Group and AMCOW are working together to produce and disseminate science-based policy advice; Liberia is making progress in enabling legislators to play a key role in mainstreaming WASH into national programs and budget allocations; and The Netherlands—as the co-sponsor of the 2023 UN Water Conference in partnership with Tajikistan—intends to influence a major change of course by mobilising the leaders of the other sectors.

Above all, panelists agreed that activities must prioritise the following: engagement across sectors nationally; higher overseas development assistance and more focussed interventions; effective incorporation of technology and innovation; a common vision and collaboration between state and non-state actors; removal of barriers to integrated solutions; and science-based policy and decision making.

During the session, Dr Ünver also formally launched the 2022 Africa Water Policy Report, prepared by Water Policy Group in collaboration with the African Union’s African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW). Based on the experiences and perspectives of national water leaders from 26 countries of Africa, the Report highlights Africa water issues for political leadership and policy makers’ attention, aiming to support countries in their efforts to achieve better water outcomes.

The panel was attended by:

• Suleiman Hussein Adamu, Federal Minister for Water Resources, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Vice President of AMCOW for West Africa,
•           Representative Vicent S.T. Willie, II., Co. Chairman, WASH Legislative Caucus, Republic of Liberia, and
•           Mr. Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Kingdom of The Netherlands.

The reports are available here.

The 2022 Africa Water Policy Report was launched during a High Level Panel at the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal on Wednesday 23 March.

Produced in response to a request from the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the Report highlights Africa water issues for high level political leadership and policy makers’ attention. It aims to support countries in their efforts to achieve better water outcomes, and reflects the opinions, perspectives and experience of Ministers, agency heads, senior officials, and others whose job it is to make difficult decisions on water management in their respective countries.

The Africa Water Policy Report  is based on the experiences and perspectives of national water leaders from 26 countries of Africa. Among them, they have responsibility for achieving ‘sustainable water for all’ for over 900 million people.

In summary, this is what they are saying:

• The highest water-related risks their countries face are increased demand for water, climate change and associated pressures on water supplies and worsening floods and droughts.
• The greatest challenge many face is with the prioritisation of water issues within governments.
• Administrative problems of fragmented water institutions and inadequate data are of as much, if not greater, concern than factors such as public resistance to reforms.
• COVID-19 has raised the priority and urgency of water and sanitation services.
• Most Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets are ‘challenging’ or ‘impossible’, with lack of financing and governance problems the main reasons for this. With development assistance, there are concerns about the adequacy of current arrangements.
• While groundwater is considered by most national water leaders of Africa to be essential to their country’s future water supply, far fewer consider their groundwater is being used sustainably.
• When compared to the Global Water Survey, national water leaders of Africa are more confident than their counterparts across the world as a whole that their countries are increasing attention to water as the result of COVID-19 and more conscious of the importance of groundwater. They are also more challenged by achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets overall and more concerned about risks of increasing demand for water, inadequate data and information, and lack of finance for key SDG 6 targets.

The 2022 Africa Water Policy Report was prepared by the Water Policy Group in partnership with the University of New South Wales Sydney Global Water Institute.

Download the full report here.

UN-Water welcomes the launch of the Water Policy Report 2021.

Download your copy here.

A new report reveals the key issues to improving water outcomes globally, as perceived through the eyes of people with national water leadership responsibility.

Launched on Monday 29 November at the XVII World Water Congress of the International Water Resources Association in Daegu, Republic of Korea, the inaugural Global Water Policy Report 2021: Listening to National Water Leaders is the result of a comprehensive survey of Ministers, top officials and other national water leaders in 88 countries.

Among their many messages, they are saying:

• The highest water-related risks their countries face are from climate change and associated pressures on water supplies and worsening floods and droughts.
• The greatest challenges many face are with integration and prioritisation of water issues within governments. Administrative problems of fragmented water institutions are of as much, if not greater, concern than factors such as public resistance to reforms.
• COVID-19 has not much affected the priority of water and sanitation services.
• Sustainable Development Goals on water are ‘challenging’ or ‘impossible’ for many, with governance problems and lack of financing the main reasons for this.
• While groundwater is considered by many national water leaders to be essential to their country’s future water supply, far fewer consider their groundwater is being used sustainably.

The Global Water Policy Report 2021 is based on the experiences and perspectives of people who have responsibility for achieving ‘sustainable water for all’ in their countries across all regions, with a combined population of over 6 billion people – 75 percent of the world’s population.

At the report’s launch, project team chair Mr Tom Soo thanked Ministers, top officials and other national water leaders for sharing their experiences and perspectives.

“Water Policy Group deeply appreciates the time you have contributed to this project, and through that your commitment to better water outcomes everywhere,” Mr Soo said.

The Global Water Policy Report 2021 was prepared by the Water Policy Group in partnership with the University of New South Wales Sydney Global Water Institute.

Download the full report.

Media enquiries: Trish Dalby |  p.dalby@unsw.edu.au

National water leaders from 88 countries across all global regions collectively view climate change as the greatest risk to maintaining or achieving good water management in their countries