Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene May -June 2017 | Page 11

NEWS in brief
Stakeholder Meeting where
hundreds of participants
are expected to gather
from 26-27 April 2017
to help shape the next
Forum’s program. All 16
Implementation Roadmaps
have been integrated into
the Forum’s Thematic Process Framework.
“A majority of Implementation Roadmaps have made
significant headway”, says Benedito Braga, President of
the World Water Council. Of the 98 objectives currently
registered in the Action Monitoring System, more than
74% of them have progressed. This represents a total
of 334 actions of which 86% are either ongoing or
completed. “Such achievements would not have been
possible without the dedication of DGIC Champions
and the strong involvement of Core Groups members”.
President Braga added that over 90 internationally
renowned organizations are coordinating their efforts
to ensure the implementation of 16 Roadmaps, which
embrace social, economic and environmental aspects of
water.
Designed as bridges to ensure continuity from one
Forum to the next, Implementation Roadmaps are an
innovative mechanism to monitor progress on some of
the most visible solutions identified at the 7th World Water
Forum. The information is provided by the Champions,
made available on the Action Monitoring System (AMS)
website and then extracted into the progress reports. As
progress is well under way, this third report also displays
new features highlighting concrete achievements for
each Implementation Roadmap, such as printed reports,
initiatives, publications and case studies to better reflect the
extent of the work achieved so far.
Collective action is essential for effective, strong outcomes
that individual organizations are unable to deliver. This
action-oriented collective effort has sustained progress on
vital water-related issues. The Implementation Roadmaps
also seek to provide substantive contribution to global
processes such as the implementation of water-related
Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that water
remain high on the political agenda.
Jordan and Saudi join forces for atomic-fuelled
desalination
Saudi Arabia and Jordan have signed a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) for a feasibility study on two
nuclear reactors in Jordan, to generate electricity and for
desalination, reports Zawya.
The MoU was one of 15 pacts, including draft agreements
and other contracts, signed between the two countries
following talks between King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and
Global Highlights
King Abdullah of Jordan, on Monday 27 March 2017.
The total amount of Saudi investment covered by the
agreements reportedly totals $3.5 billion.
Jordan is believed to have uranium reserves, and wants to
build a nuclear reactor to
power the proposed Red
Sea-Dead Sea project, for
which five consortia were
shortlisted in November
2016. The scheme
proposes to pump
seawater 230 meters
The hyper-saline Dead Sea would receive
uphill, from the Red Sea’s
brine from the proposed Red Sea – Dead Sea
Gulf of Aqaba and the
desalination scheme
through the Arava Valley to
the Dead Sea.
According to the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR), Jordan has received 657,000
registered refugees from the conflict in Syria as of 15
March 2017. The influx has put severe stress on the
country’s already scarce water resources.
Source: Desalination.biz
Ministers Are Urged to Finance WASH at SWA
2017 HLH
Over 50 countries joined
the SWA partnership’s
High-level Meetings
in Washington on
April 19th and 20th,
including India, China,
Brazil and Indonesia.
Forty ministers plus
SWA Chair, the Hon.Kevin Rudd joined by
representatives from
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim,
United Nations Deputy Secretary General and
civil society, research
former WSSCC Chair Amina J. Mohammed
and learning, donors,
and Academy Award winning actor, screenwriter,
and the private sector
producer and humanitarian, Matt Damon.
were among over 200
Credit: SWA
delegates gathering to
share practical ideas and experiences.
“Sustainable Development Goal 6, to ensure availability
and sustainable management of water and sanitation for
all, is probably the most challenging to achieve,” said the
SWA Chair the Hon. Kevin Rudd in his opening address.
“We’re here today to get this one right – to support each
other to build a sustainable movement, and bring water
and sanitation for all from fantasyland to reality.”
“Investing in water and sanitation has a profound
multiplier effect for a whole host of other development
issues,” he said, stressing the need for all partners to make
water and sanitation a priority.
The Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and
Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2017 report (WHO/UN-Water)
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May - June 2017
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