27th September 2015: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) in collaboration with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP-SA) will convene a Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on the role of water in driving industrialization from the 29 to 30 September 2015, at Safari Court Hotel, in Windhoek, Namibia.
The event will be held as part of the SADC Multi Stakeholder Water Dialogue, a biennial activity which provides a platform for regional stakeholders to discuss and share experiences on different aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
The Dialogue to be held under the theme: Watering Development in SADC: The central role of water in driving industrialization”, comes at an opportune time as the region recently approved the SADC Industrialisation Roadmap and Strategy 2015 – 2063.
Mindful of water’s critical role in driving industrialization, the Dialogue will bring together about 150 stakeholders from the water, energy, agriculture, industry, civil society, private, and the academic sectors in the region to strategize on the role that water will play in driving industrialisation.
Almost every industrial process requires water, and water demand grows in parallel with increases in the industrial base, hence the need to plan and ensure that water does not become a constraint, both in quality and quantity, in order to achieve the aspirations set out in the SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap.
The 7th SADC Multi-stakeholder Water Dialogue will also serve as a platform to validate the fourth Regional Strategic Action Plan which details the five-year programme for the water sector (2016 – 2020) and supports the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and the Industrialisation Roadmap and Strategy.
The Dialogue is sponsored by the Government of Denmark through the Royal Danish Embassy, the Governments of Germany in delegated cooperation with the Governments of Australia (AUSaid) and the United Kingdom (UKaid) managed by Deutsche Gesellschaft für ineternationale zusammenarbeit (GIZ); and the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF).
For more information, contact:
Barbara Lopi, Communications and Awareness Expert – Water Sector, SADC Secretariat, Infrastructure and Services Directorate, Email: blopi@sadc.int
or Patricia Lumba, Network Operations and Communications Officer, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) Secretariat, Email: p.lumba@cgiar.org
