In Dakar, Senegal, thousands of delegates worked on the issues of transboundary waters, water security, and access to water and sanitation services.
A lasting blue peace. In times of war, working to build cooperation on the management of resources is an imperative. That is why the World Water Forum, the largest gathering on water, comes as a breath of fresh air. During the week of proceedings held in Dakar, Senegal, the discussions centred on blue peace, water diplomacy, the management of transboundary aquifer basins, and cooperation for sustainable development.
The event, organised by the World Water Council, an international think tank founded in France in 1996, brought together diplomats, cooperation agencies (including Italy's Aics), NGOs, United Nations bodies and the private sector to focus on how to avoid water-related tensions and conflicts and work together to achieve the water Sustainable Development Goal, SDG number 6.
"The ninth edition of the World Water Forum offers us the opportunity to sound the alarm about the gravity of the water security situation, so that water-related issues remain at the centre of the international community's attention," declared Senegalese president Macky Sall at the opening of proceedings. "We are talking about the lives and health of billions of people. But also about the maintenance of global peace and security."
Numerous participants, from African ministers to European cooperation envoys, reiterated that a greater international effort is needed to protect the right to water and to strengthen the convention on transboundary waters, two international instruments for resolving disputes linked to access to water resources.
The establishment of a Global Water Observatory for peace, development and nature was relaunched, declared Water Council founder Loic Fauchon. "This is the consecration of hydro-diplomacy at a planetary level." Meanwhile, at the close of proceedings, President Sall announced the creation of a high-level African panel on water to promote water diplomacy.
And then there was a great deal of science and careful management: sharing of data and information on water sources, agencies for the cooperative management of river basins, reduction of water abstraction through sustainable agricultural practices. There were far too many events to even think about following a tenth of them. But there is no doubt that the issue always comes back to environmental cooperation. "There is a request within the multilateral process to resume water diplomacy," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Marina Sereni told LifeGate. "We took advantage of the forum to resume contact with the international bodies working on water and to try to focus on how Italy can better contribute to the international initiative, for example through Unesco, which plays a central role on the water issue."
In addition to Deputy Minister Sereni, a large Italian delegation was present at the World Water Forum. Italy had in fact put itself forward to host the biennial event in 2024 in the cities of Florence and Assisi, but the World Water Council ultimately preferred the Indonesian proposal of Bali. Disappointment was felt by those who had hoped to host an inclusive event, open to civil society, that would have brought media attention to a subject that never receives enough coverage.
"We believe that many of the projects and ideas that underpinned the candidacy are still important, and water remains a key issue in our diplomacy," said Deputy Minister Sereni. There was no confirmation, but Italy could make a second attempt to secure the candidacy for 2026, under the banner of the combination of water and culture.
One of the most frequently cited examples of cooperative management of transboundary basins during the event was the Senegal river, which flows through — in addition to the nation of the same name — Mauritania, Mali and Guinea. Managed by the Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River (Omvs), the Senegal basin supplies water for agriculture to the riparian countries and is home to several dams along its course.
The results achieved through peaceful and cooperative management earned Omvs the Hassan II World Water Grand Prize, awarded on the first day of the forum. This was also an Italian success, given that Omvs, through the Wefe-Senegal project, is supported by the Agenzia italiana per la cooperazione allo sviluppo (Aics), in particular on the nexus — that is, the relationship between water, agriculture and energy. "This is a successful example of water diplomacy," explains Aics Dakar director Marco Falcone. "We carry out research to provide Omvs with the scientific and technical information needed for sustainable water management, and we also work on agriculture, on seeds that require little water and reduce water abstraction."
There was no shortage of criticism of the summit which, given its hybrid nature, also hosts numerous multinationals, most notably the French giant Veolia-Suez. For Senegalese civil society, the forum "gives more space to private companies that buy exhibition space and pay the costly entry fee for plenary sessions than to the communities affected by water issues," reads the website of the Forum alternatif mondial de l'eau, a product of the social forums of the early 2000s. A small group of activists denounced the phenomena of privatisation of water resources. The government did not obstruct the counter-summit, but neither did it support its organisation.
"The World Water Forum must increasingly take on a public character and provide greater access to civil society," said Marirosa Iannelli, president of the Water Grabbing Observatory. "Private actors often pursue interests that do not align with those of citizens and communities. It is therefore desirable that the third sector have a greater presence at the World Water Forum in future." The forum is certainly not the only context for discussion. The upcoming UN summit on groundwater, to be held next December in New York in an effort to strengthen knowledge and management of invisible waters, will be of great significance, as will COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, already dubbed the African climate COP, where water is certain to be on the agenda.
