Central Asia Civil Society Forum on Water for Sustainable Development

In preparation of the World Water Forum 8, some 100 representatives from Academia, Local Communities, Young Water Professionals  and the Women  Major Group met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan  on 14 and 15 February, 2018 to discuss the implementation of SDG6 in their region. The vibrant discussions resulted in a  declaration that will be presented at the upcoming World Water Forum in Brasilia, but also serves as the basis for civil society engagement in the Water for Sustainable Development Action Decade that will be kicked off  with a High-Level International Conference in Dushanbe in June 2018.

I supported the main organiser, the UNESCO Chair for IWRM at Kazakh-German University as resource person and also had the pleasure to deliver the keynote address on Achieving Water Security through an ‘all-of-Society Engagement and Partnership’ in my capacity as Member of the World Water Forum 8 Citizens Commission.

I was impressive how the organisers have managed to organise in-depth discussions within the four stakeholder groups and to subsequently integrate the outcomes through an interactive multi-stakeholder process. Including a gender dimension into the predominantly technical discussions remains a challenge.