In his capacity as President-in-Office of the African Union, the Senegalese Head of State also called for “urgent action for political and institutional reforms in the water sector, increased public and private investments as well as increased citizen participation”.
It was at the opening of the World Water Forum which ended its work on March 26, 2022 in Diamniadio, near Dakar.
Two out of five people in the world live in areas where water is scarce. President Sall informed that women and girls spend 200 million hours a day searching for this scarce resource. 2.1 billion people are forced to consume polluted water. 80% of wastewater is discharged into nature without treatment, endangering the health and lives of 4.5 billion people. 90% of the 1000 most devastating natural disasters since 1990 are water-related.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of the population does not have access to drinking water. By 2030, between 75 and 250 million Africans will live in areas of high water stress; which could lead to the displacement of several hundred million people.
The Forum closed with the adoption of a Dakar Declaration or Blue Deal “for water and sanitation security for peace and development”.
The Dakar Declaration calls in particular for “the need to renew and strengthen commitments for the implementation of immediate actions to address the challenges of water and sanitation for development, the improvement of livelihoods and the eradication of poverty”.
The ambition is to mobilize adequate public financial resources, including those from development partnerships, to invest in water and sanitation infrastructure, and develop “blue” and “green” jobs.
“Implement integrated management plans for the rational, equitable and sustainable use of water resources, with a view to ensuring the right balance between socio-economic development, preservation of the quality of the resource, protection and conservation of ecosystems.
“Strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and partnership in the management of transboundary basins, including aquifer basins, in particular by promoting the exchange of information, experiences and good practices;
The Dakar Declaration also recommends the Senegalese government and the World Water Council, in their capacity as co-organizers of the Forum, to submit the conclusions of this 9th World Water Forum to the United Nations Conference on water in 2023.