It’s never an understatement to say that water is one of the most vital elements for life, both at macro and micro levels. There are many things we can relinquish but not water. However true, most of us, unless faced with its lack, do not appreciate its importance. International Water Day serves as a timely reminder of this crucial resource.
We all know that water covers 71% of the world's surface, making it the most abundant resource on the planet. However, plentiful water is not the most readily available resource for humans, as only 2.5% is suitable for consumption. Only 0.3% of this is easily accessible (e.g., lakes, rivers, or groundwater), making it clear how critical this resource is.
Weary of the rising importance and decreasing availability of water, the international community acted to ensure its protection via the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), which has evolved from a European pan-regional agreement to also encompass all UN members as from 2016. In 2018, Chad and Senegal became the first African Parties, and Panama was the first from Latin America in 2023. The aim of the Convention is to promote sustainable management, the implementation of SDGs, the prevention of conflicts and the promotion of peace and regional integration, all of which are of key importance at the current juncture, as we will see later.
Current situation
SDG Goal 6 aims to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. According to official data from the UN, in 2022, 2.2 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water, including 703 million without a basic water service; 3.5 billion people lacked safely managed sanitation, including 1.5 billion without basic sanitation services; and 2 billion lacked a basic handwashing facility, including 653 million with no handwashing facility at all (see also Blueprint for Acceleration: Sustainable Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2023). Achieving universal coverage by 2030 will require a substantial increase in current global rates of progress: sixfold for drinking water, fivefold for sanitation and threefold for hygiene.
Water is not something to consider in isolation: it has strong interlinkages with climate, natural disasters, territorial conflicts and environmental pollution. This year’s International Water Day’s motto is “water for peace” for a reason. Without giving in to doomsday scenarios, the Global Water Security 2023 Assessment conveys an alarming picture: most of the world’s population lives in water-insecure countries today. Out of 7.78 billion people living in 186 countries, over 0.61 billion people (8%) are critically water-insecure and 5.52 billion (72%) are water-insecure, including 4.31 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region, 1.34 billion in Africa, 415 million in the Americas, and almost 66 million in Europe. 0.65 billion people (8%) live in moderately water-secure countries, and over 1 billion (12%) live in water-secure countries, primarily in Europe (0.7 billion) and the Americas (0.6 billion). Furthermore, the UN World Water Development Report 2023 warned of the imminent risk of a global water crisis as the global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to double from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7–2.4 billion people in 2050.
In light of this, in September last year, UN member states adopted General Assembly Resolution 77/334, which requests the Secretary-General present a United Nations system-wide water and sanitation strategy (the first draft, dated 20/02/2024, is available here).
Main policy action
According to the UN, key strategies to get Goal 6 back on track include increasing sector-wide investment and capacity-building, promoting innovation and evidence-based action, enhancing cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders, and adopting a more integrated and holistic approach to water management.
Following this approach, and in line with the Water Action Agenda that ensued the UN 2023 Water Conference, DG INTPA has been implementing the commitments notably in investments (including with the private sector) and Team Europe initiatives (TEI).
Spotlight on the LATAWAMA regional project
One such example is the LATAWAMA regional project (Lake Tanganyika Water Management), which was one of the major contributors to the TEI on Transboundary Water Management in Africa during its first phase (2019-2024). This project brings together Burundi, Tanzania, the DRC, and Zambia and actors such as the Lake Tanganyika Authority, the EU and Enabel (the Belgian development agency).
A holistic approach. This is a paradigmatic project that showcases how a holistic approach to different but interconnected challenges (quality of water, urban pollution, erosion, deforestation) can have wide-ranging impacts on the ecosystem and lives of the riparian (i.e., the wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams). Without a proper diagnosis of the problem, it is difficult to tackle complex issues. Therefore, and given the complexity of this ecosystem akin to an ocean, one of its first challenges was the collection of relevant environmental data to be able to monitor the quality of the water.
A monitoring network. The above was achieved via a monitoring network with laboratories scattered in the four countries that border the lake, based on whose results the best course of action is determined. These laboratories all use harmonised protocols and methods with a centralised storage facility, which allows them to establish specific management programmes best suited to their specific circumstances.
Addressing challenges. Results showed that one of the project’s challenges was urban pollution. A number of pilot initiatives were set up to be further developed in the future to tackle waste and wastewater generated by human settlements around the lake. The objective was to demonstrate that targeted action impacts the quality of water, but not only.
Through investment in the only water treatment plant in the area, the population’s health and living conditions have substantially improved, and therefore, further investment has been channelled towards other towns around the lake in order to support them with solid waste management and put in place intervention plans, as well as awareness-raising campaigns and workshops.
Deforestation also has a major impact on the quality of water. Financial and technical support has been key in this respect to fight against erosion upstream1 by means of the construction of radical terraces by the community. This action has had major impacts, not only on the quality of the water but also on saving human lives by preventing floods.
Following the success of this project, the second phase, the Tanganyika and Kivu Water Management programme (TAKIWAMA), has now begun.
Concluding thoughts
As the world ushers into a possibly new era in geopolitics and economy, it is now more important than ever to remind ourselves that water is not a commodity but a right that belongs to everyone. Policy action should reflect this and ensure we weed out doomsday scenarios and work towards a brighter future for all.
1 The process by which soil, rock, or other materials are gradually worn away and transported from the areas close to the source of the stream, due to the force of flowing water.
Comments (2)
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Good Conference and ideology. Africa is really seriously grappling with lack of water and sanitation activities. So if there are deliberate policies to tackle these issues, that would be great because as the World is symbiotically inter-connected issues that negatively impact Africa obviously automatically affect the rest the World.
You are absolutely right! And I think the work of institutions like the European Commission and the United Nations, with the help and support of local governments, NGOs and civil society can really help make a difference!