Stockholm (Sweden), Hybrid Event, 25/08/2024 - 29/08/2024
From 25 to 29 August, FAO statisticians and data experts will gather in Stockholm for the global annual conference on water.
The 2024 edition of the World Water Week will focus on water cooperation, for peace and security in its broadest sense. The theme “Bridging Borders: Water for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future” challenges us to recognize the regional and global interconnectivity of communities and nations, and highlights the collaborative efforts needed to achieve a peaceful and sustainable future.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is convening technical sessions in collaboration with global and country partners, focusing on water management, agriculture and food security, as catalysts for lasting peace and stability.
Earth observation technology can be used for building global water-resilient food value chains and mitigating (local) water withdrawals impacting water-stressed basins, fields and commodities. These shared watersheds are crucial for water quantity, quality and access and underline the need to break silo's of water authorities, businesses & local communities.
To follow-up on and review progress towards SDG 6 it is important to know the status of water and sanitation at multiple points in time. To support countries in monitoring water- and sanitation-related issues, and to report on global progress towards SDG 6, in 2014 UN-Water launched the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6, which includes the eight UN agencies who are the custodians of the eleven SDG 6 indicators. During 2023, the focus of the Initiative was on working with Member States to generate, compile and analyze data for SDG 6 and all its global indicators, and in this session, the 2023 results will be presented. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss these results with UN custodian agencies, to share lessons from the process, and to consider how these data can be used for policymaking and to accelerate progress toward achieving SDG 6 as well as toward other SDGs.
While the abundance and potential of transboundary aquifers has motivated growing cooperative investment, transboundary aquifer management remains in its infancy. In Africa, there are more than 70 shared aquifers. However, less than 15 are believed to have received focus of a transboundary development project and less than 5 have been included in a transboundary water agreement. The reality that progress in cooperative aquifer management is its initial stages nonetheless implies vast potential to upscale. Plans to upscale can in turn be shaped and informed by lessons emerging from initial efforts.
This session will contextualize the significance and potential of shared aquifers in advancing climate resilience, facilitating cooperation and conflict resolution, and assuring water security for all in Africa. The session will also showcase the role of the new GEF funded Groundwater for Advancing Resilience in Africa (G4DR) project in realizing groundwater’s potential in Africa. Using case studies of implementation of past transboundary aquifer projects, the session will then mine lessons to inform the roll-out of efforts to enhance transboundary cooperation in the context. The G4DR project uses WaPOR data to achieve its aims.