World Water Week 2018 Theme: Water, ecosystems and human development
H. R. H Crown Princess Victoria visits SIWI ahead of World Water Week
Experts endorse the African Water Revolution
Stockholm( 23 August 2018) – On Thursday 23 August, H. R. H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden paid a visit to SIWI to learn more about current water challenges. The visit was organized in the lead-up to World Water Week, starting this Sunday, where the Crown Princess will play an important role.
Ahead of World Water Week, the leading annual event on global water issues, the Crown Princess Victoria visited SIWI’ s headquarters in Stockholm on Thursday to learn more about current water-related trends from around the globe. She was welcomed by Peter Forssman, Chair of the Board of SIWI, together with the organization’ s Executive Director Torgny Holmgren.
Crown Princess Victoria is dedicated to water issues and has been a keynote speaker at World Water Week as UN Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, she is the Patron of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, which is awarded every year during World Water Week. This year, she will also present Stockholm Water Prize on behalf of the Patron of the Prize, H. M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
“ We really appreciate the Royal Family’ s commitment to water issues and the strong collaboration that have continued to deepen over the years. Today’ s meeting was very interesting and fruitful,” said SIWI’ s Executive Director, Torgny Holmgren.
In response to a“ Call for an African Water Revolution”, over 80 experts participated in a workshop on the 27th- 28th June 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda to identify what it takes to scale up green water investments across Africa and made significant commitments to seeing the process through.
The African Water Revolution is an emerging initiative to scale up green water and enhance rainfed agricultural solutions across Africa through financial investments and political leadership. The idea emerged from the 2016 Malin Falkenmark Symposium at World Water Week, where experts called for a revolution to alleviate the world water and hunger crisis.
Green water is infiltrated rainfall water which is stored in the upper layers of the soil and available to plant roots. Proven and cost-effective solutions can maximize the capture, storage and utilization of green water which enhance food production and reduce vulnerability to climate variability and climate change.
The workshop in Kigali was hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute( SIWI), Stockholm Resilience Centre( SRC) and the Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa( SDGC / A). During the event,
12 Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • August 2018