The world and the Butterfly Effect members are now facing a global emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has exacerbated the vital importance of integrated and sustainable water management, as well as of water security, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized populations. 

COVID-19 has imposed restrictive measures all over the world and especially in developing countries where curfews and states of emergency have been very common and aggravating inequalities. In this context, contributing to SDGs - in particular SDG 6 dedicated to Water - is more than ever a priority. In that regard, the mobilization of civil society - in particular women and the new generation - will be all critical to face the complexity of the challenges.

Thus, the role of the Butterfly effect is more relevant than ever and the network will remain committed to a more inclusive water sector, allowing full expression and participation of civil society and NGOs / CSOs in the processes of change of today and tomorrow.

World Water Forum Dakar 2021

General Information

As recently confirmed by the Republic of Senegal and the World Water Council, the 9th World Water Forum will take place in Dakar from 21 to 26 March 2022. The ambition of Senegal and the World Water Council is to organize a different Forum, at the social, political, and economic levels, a Forum that is a catalyst for action to accelerate universal access to water and sanitation. 

The Forum will focus on four priorities, namely:

1. Water Security and Sanitation

2. Water for rural development

3. Cooperation

4. Means and Tools including the crucial issues of financing, governance, knowledge management, and innovation;

The process will be led by specialized working groups structured around the 4 priorities. 

Heads of States summit

Moreover a Summit of Heads of States and international organizations will be organized during the Forum. It is an initiative from the Senegalese president Macky Sall, and it aims to boost political mobilisation and reduce the gap in the implementation of the MDGs.

Nevertheless, little information has yet been provided on this Summit and we are waiting for more details, especially to coordinate a CSO’s presence in the water sector.

Initiative Dakar 2021

The Organizing committee of WWForum has put in place the “Initiative Dakar 2021” that aims at collecting, supporting and showcasing projects from around the world that create real economic, social and environmental impact on the lives of populations.

Individuals, governments or non-government organizations, local authorities or institutions that carry a project deemed qualified, can submit their application in order to benefit from the “Initiative Dakar 2021” label.

More information about the initiative “Dakar 2021”;

Submit a project and get labelled 

The Butterfly Effect in the World Water Forum

Through this major water sector event, the BE aims to stand as a catalyst and ensure an active participation of international CSO’s organizations in the whole WWForum process.

Several meetings of the Steering Committee have been held these last months and have resulted in the proposal of an action plan to operationalise the Butterfly Effect's participation in the World Water Forum.

As for past editions, the Butterfly Effect’ participation will focus both on ensuring CSO's participation in the Forum and on making the CSOs voices heard, especially during the Head of States Summit.

Water and COVID-19

Water consumption increment due to COVID-19 : At a glance

ISW-SWE drafted a discussion paper providing a global overview of Covid19’s impact on water consumption in several countries Indeed, water consumption has increased in most of the developing world, as well as in the industrialized world, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reasons for this increase are many, people are washing their hands, clothes, cleaning the house more often as well as their cars.

Other arguments also explain that water consumption has increased due to the fact that people are staying more time at home to comply with confinement measures. In some European cities, water consumption has decreased, due to the emigration of residents or the absence of tourists, which accounted for an important amount of drinking water consumption.

The paper is available here : 

Water and climate agenda

Marrakech Partnership's ''Race to Zero'' Water Campaign

Campagne « Race to Zero » november 9-13th 2020.

“Race to Zero” is a global campaign organised from november 9-13 2020 to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.The objective is to build momentum around the shift to a decarbonized economy ahead of COP26, where governments must strengthen their contributions to the Paris Agreement.

Water Day is held on 12 November and will be placed under the banner “Vision of a zero-carbon, resilient future through Water”. 

The lead partners for Water Day are the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA). 

For full details and registration, please visit the event website.

World Toilet Day, November 19th 2020

Next november 19th will be the “World Toilet Day”, a United Nations Observance that celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. It is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation.

UN Water is providing a series of tools in open access for your event. See more on the official page here.  

23rd International Riversymposium

The Riversymposium is a global forum organised annually by the International RiverFoundation for river managers, policy developers, scientists, consultants, students, NGOs, indigenous and community organisations and business and industry representatives to collaborate to improve the sustainable management of river basins all over the world.

The 2020 edition is being held virtually for the first time on 9-13 November.

Women, Water, Climate : Tackling the Challenges

Women for Water Partnership (WfWP), and its partners NetWwater (NWW) and Soroptimist International of the Southwest Pacific (SISWP) organise a series of webinars on the topic of women, water and climate on 2-3 November 2020.

The event, which is free and open to everyone, is the culmination of a full series of webinars, all available on youtube here.

Climate-resilient water management approaches : adaptation in an age of incertainty.

UNESCO's Division of Water Sciences, in collaboration with AGWA and the International Centre for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM), organised a series of webinars presenting the technical and practical components of climate resilient water management.

1. WEBINAR 1 - An Introduction to Bottom-Up Approaches
2. WEBINAR 2 - Incorporating Climate Risks into Decision Making Through CRIDA: Perspectives from Zambia and Chile
3. WEBINAR 3 - Addressing Water Management Challenges through Decision Scaling and Adaptation Pathways  

The webinars are available here.

Agenda

November 2-3 : Women, Water, Climate: Tackling the Challenges  

November 9-13 : 23rd International Riversymposium

November 12 :“Race to Zero Water Day”  - Marrakech Partnership's 

November 12 :  Finance in Common: First Ever Global Summit of Public Development Banks

November 9-13 : Global WASH Cluster Annual meeting (The Netherlands)

November 11-13 : Paris Peace Forum (Paris) 

November 15-18  : IWA DIGITAL WATER SUMMIT 

November 8–13  : 18th "Europe-INBO 2020" International Conference for the Implementation of the European Water Directives

Novembrer 19 : World Toilet Day

December 1–4  : 2nd  International Conference « Water, Megacities and Global Change »

December 10 : Human Rights Day