As the 2023 Water and Development Congress began in Kigali on Sunday, December 10, officials said climate change was ''the biggest'' hindrance to universal access to water and sanitation in both developed and developing countries.
The congress organised by the International Water Association (IWA), the Rwandan government and the Water and Sanitation Corporation Group (WASAC) has attracted up to 1,000 delegates, including policymakers, water utilities corporations, academics and technologists and private sector and civil society players.
It takes place as 26 per cent of the world's population (two billion people) do not have access to safe drinking water, and 46 per cent (3.6 billion people) lack access to safely managed sanitation, according to the United Nations.
''This edition of the congress comes at the right time, when both developed and developing economies are facing the issues of inadequate water supply, inadequate sanitation services, issues of climate change, lack of proper governance among water bodies, and insufficient investment resources towards accelerating water and sanitation infrastructure,'' said Minister of Infrastructure Jimmy Gasore, as he opened the five-day conference.
''Looking at the current climate change situation, we are called to work together and define the solutions to protecting this noble resource that drives development at different scales.''
Today, Minister of @RwandaInfra @Dr_JimmyGasore opens the 7th #WaterDevelopmentCongress & Exhibition highlighting water's role in urban development, climate resilience, and the cities-basins link. pic.twitter.com/04aT2QaNaz-- Ministry of Infrastructure | Rwanda (@RwandaInfra) December 10, 2023
Gasore said water is ''humanity's most precious global common good'' that is needed in energy generation, agriculture, health and other key sectors and it should be at the centre of the global political agenda.
''Access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are human rights, just like the right to food and to a clean and healthy environment. It is our joint obligation to enforce these rights for everyone,'' he said.
IWA President Tom Mollenkopf said climate change is the leading issue facing water supply and sanitation.
''The big issues in water unfortunately have not changed in the last few years,'' Mollenkopf said, ''At the very top - and people are starting to get tired of hearing about it because it's a truly existential issue - that is the impacts of climate change. It's one of the biggest challenges that we have.''
The second one he said is slow progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which target universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030.
''We are nowhere near achieving these goals by 2030,'' Mollenkopf said.
Another big issue facing water and sanitation is the implications of population growth, that is growth in cities and urbanisation and densification and the increasing water demand coupled with issues in sewage systems.
Mollenkopf called for better planning and flexible approaches to building more resilient systems.
A 70 per cent increase in demand for water in cities is projected in the next three decades, said UN Habitat's Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif.
Estimates show that by 2050, 1.9 billion urban dwellers will live with seasonal water shortages, Sharif said.
''Climate change is making the water challenges even worse,'' she said.
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''The good news is that 75 percent of the cities and infrastructure expected to be in use by 2050 is yet to be built,'' Sharif noted, adding that that provides an opportunity to act now in providing new solutions that can be adopted soon enough to drive transformative change.
She urged the participants of the congress to place water access and management at the heart of the urban and territorial planning process.
The IWA Water and Development Congress is the second to be hosted in Africa after Kenya in 2013.
As 82 per cent of Rwandan households had access to clean drinking water in 2022, with the government targeting 100 per cent by 2024, the IWA says there are practices other countries can learn from Rwanda.
At the congress, which closes on December 14, up to 100 exhibitors are expected to showcase products and solutions to water and sanitation issues.
