Landmark plans to reach over 1 billion more people with sustainable access to safe water by 2030 have been announced recently (Wed 15 April, Washington) by the World Bank Group and partners. This new initiative puts water security at the centre of this year’s global agenda, with international NGO WaterAid supporting efforts to turn the ambition into reality.
In a turbulent world, access to clean water is the universal foundation for stability, health and economic opportunity, underpinning 1.7 billion jobs worldwide – yet 700 million people still live without clean water.
Water Forward is a major new global initiative from the World Bank and partners (including Netherlands, UAE, WaterAid and CIFF) that brings together governments, businesses, philanthropists and finance institutions to dramatically scale up investment in water security. Around 400 million people are expected to benefit directly through programmes supported by the World Bank Group, which will catalyse investment from multilateral development banks, private capital, and philanthropy to reach the remaining 600 million.
WaterAid will play a leading role in turning this ambition into reality – backing government-led and locally driven action with expertise and supporting partnerships on-the-ground to ensure investments deliver lasting change for the hardest to reach communities worldwide.
“What has been missing, time and again, is political will and finance, at the right scale and quality. Water Forward brings exactly those two ingredients for change, WaterAid UK’s chief executive Tim Wainwright said as one of the invited partners to address the Spring Meetings launch event in Washington, followed by UN Secretary General António Guterres.
With world leaders set to gather for the UN Water Conference at the end of the year, Water Forward marks the start of a crucial window to secure the momentum, finance and political will required to tackle the global water crisis at scale.
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive of WaterAid UK, said:
“In this turbulent world, access to clean water is something we can all unite behind, underpinning 1.7 billion jobs worldwide – everything starts with water, from our food, health and prosperity.
“That’s why WaterAid is so pleased to be working with the World Bank and its partners to support the Water Forward goal to reach over 1 billion with water security – something that will galvanise public, private and philanthropic actors at an unprecedented scale.
“And our ambition won’t stop there. We will be working hard to drive global momentum and cross-sector collaboration right through to the UN Water Conference and beyond, so together we confront the global water crisis and unlock jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for generations to come.”
Water Forward builds on the World Bank’s successful Mission300 model for the energy sector – backing country-led national water strategies through frameworks known as Compacts ) to drive reform and investment in the water sector. The World Bank will be focusing on three pillars: Water for people, Water for food and Water for planet.
With more than 40 years of expertise and programmes across 22 countries, WaterAid will be supporting low- and middle-income countries to develop and implement their Water Compacts, drawing on proven approaches from our work with government partners and communities around the world .
