WaterSan Perspective Reporter
January 12, 2015
More than 300 people converge in Zaragoza, Spain this week for this year’s International Annual UN–Water Zaragoza Conference.
The participants from United Nations Agencies and programmes, experts, representatives of the business community, governmental and non-governmental organizations will meet from 15 to 17 January 2015.
They aim to draw conclusions based on existing practice and the exchange of views between governments and stakeholders. 2015 is the last year of the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ so it is especially important for taking stock of and learning from achievements as well as planning the next steps.
The conference runs under the theme “Water and Sustainable Development” and will focus on how to bring the post-2015 international agenda on water and sanitation into action. It is part of the road map for World Water Day 2015, which will also focus on “water and sustainable development”.
The post-2015 international agenda for water will be decided this year. The UN-Water International Zaragoza Conference will therefore start the year focusing on how to bring the agenda into action; a practical event on tools for implementation (financing, technology, capacity development) and governance frameworks, for initiating the post-2015 agenda in water and sanitation.
In one of its posts, the UN Water says, “the Zaragoza Conference will provide a space for dialogue around some selected topics relevant to the implementation of the international agenda on water.
The Conference will focus on a practical examination of what the necessary transformations are and how institutional change, technology, capacity development and financing can help develop appropriate joint responses.”
Mai-Lan Ha, an official with Pacific Institute/CEO Water Mandate, who is one of the participants, says, “the Zaragoza conference provides a unique platform for the different sectors, public, private, civil society, and academia to share concrete practices that they are undertaking to help meet water related SDGs. The conference’s focus on tools and guidance will help give all actors a more concrete idea of how we can move the agenda forward.”
