Water, Sewage & Effluent September October 2018 | Page 32

World Water Week review
Annually, Stockholm Sweden hosts World Water Week, the leading event on
global water issues, organised by Stockholm International Water Institute
(SIWI). Held from 26 to 31 August, this year’s theme was “Water, Ecosystems
and Human Development”.
Words and images by Kim Kemp
T
he city of Stockholm is located in
a tracery of waterways, making
it ideally suited to host the World
Water Week event. The populace is
proud of its water heritage, and the
example is set by its royal family. On
Thursday, 23 August, HRH Crown
Princess Victoria of Sweden paid a
visit to SIWI to learn more about the
challenges facing the sector.
Crown Princess Victoria is devoted
to all issues water, having previously
graced the event as a keynote
speaker and as UN Advocate for the
Sustainable Development Goals. HRH
is also the Patron of the Stockholm
Junior Water Prize, which is awarded
every year during World Water Week.
With more than 3 000 participants
from more than 133 countries
representing governments, the private
sector, multilateral organisations, civil
society, and academia, the event is
aimed at shaping solutions to global
water challenges.
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SIWI’s executive director, Torgny
Holmgren, said, “We need to work
together, with each other and with
nature. We need to innovate but
also learn to make better use of
traditional knowledge,” and added:
“Scarcity of water has become the
new normal in so many parts of
the world.”
While Antonella Vagliente from
Young Water Solutions stressed
how young people from indigenous
backgrounds are turning traditional
knowledge into new businesses: “They
have adapted their lifestyles and their
communities to nature, and we have a
lot to learn from that,” she said. 
Climate change once again surfaced
as the greatest culprit of water
scarcity worldwide and, during the
opening plenary, human negligence
and overpopulation also took a
bashing, with the mayor of Stockholm,
Karin Wanngård, pointing out the
impact these had on the environment,
Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2018
leading to stressed ecosystems and
putting pressure on limited water
resources. “We hold the future of the
biosphere in our hands,” she pointed
out. Around water management she
added: “Anyone with knowledge has
an obligation to act.”
The ongoing plight of women in
a water-scarce environment was
addressed by Amino Magaji Bala of
Lake Chad Basin Commission and, as an
example of the dramatic consequences
of a collapsing ecosystem, she
explained how Lake Chad, which has
shrunk by 90%, “has impacted food
insecurity and is increasing the risk
of waterborne diseases”. She pointed
out that this is also causing poverty
by taking away farmers’ livelihoods,
“especially for women”.
While Åsa Regnér, assistant secretary
general and deputy executive director,
director for the Intergovernmental
Support and Strategic Partnerships
Bureau, at UN Women, described how