The African Development Bank Group is delighted to share its draft Water Strategy for your kind review and comments.
The Bank's Board of Directors recently approved a new Policy on Water to provide a general framework for enhanced Bank engagement in Africa's water sector. The policy benefited from significant stakeholder feedback, which enriched its content and scope.
The Bank has now drafted a Water Strategy to guide the implementation of the Policy on Water for the 2021-2025 period. The draft Water Strategy rests on four strategic pillars: integrated and sustainable water resource management; inclusive, sustainable and climate resilient water supply, sanitation and hygiene; water for food; and water for energy.
Consulting with diverse key external stakeholders on the proposed strategy will allow a range of perspectives to shape a framework that is relevant to the Bank's regional member countries. We are inviting input on the rationale, objectives, strategic pillars and implementation of the strategy. In particular, the aim of the consultation is to:
Ensure that the Bank Group's Water Strategy reflects the views of relevant actors.
Increase stakeholder buy-in and ownership.
Identify opportunities to enhance collaboration with other development partners.
Ensure that the Bank Group's Water Strategy reflects international best practice.
The stakeholder feedback will enable the Bank to finalize the Water Strategy and facilitate its effective implementation, once it is approved by the Bank's Board of Directors.
Key stakeholders targeted for the consultations include government experts from the water, agriculture and energy sectors, and other relevant regulatory authorities or utility companies; water users' associations and civil society organizations; youth groups involved in the water sector; regional economic communities; and corporations, academic institutions and multilateral and bilateral development partners active on the continent.
We would be honoured by your participation in this online consultation. Please send your feedback to AFDB-WaterStrategy@AFDB.ORG by 25 July 2021.