WORLD WATER WEEK | Water Operators’ Partnerships Europe: Leveraging utilities, governments & investments for SDGs
Aqua Publica Europea is co-organising, with the European Commission's Directorate General for Development and International Cooperation (DG DEVCO) and with the Global Water Operator Partnership Alliance (GWOPA) a session to discuss the potential of not-for-profit water operator partnerships in the achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goal 6: clean water and sanitation.
To achieve SDG 6, partnerships are critical. Not-for-profit partnerships between peer water and sanitation utilities have shown their effectiveness and are catching on as a way of helping public water utilities in developing countries. In Europe, a growing number of utilities are engaging in these Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs) to help their counterparts in the South to improve their capacity and performance sustainably. Increasingly, WOPs are also helping utilities access and effectively utilise needed infrastructure investments.
European Union DEVCO and GWOPA UN-Habitat are preparing a European WOP programme to begin in 2020, aimed at bolstering this decentralised, peer-to-peer partnership practice. The EU Programme will enable European utilities to provide greater support in developing countries to reach SDG 6. Amongst its objectives, the EU WOP programme also aims to augment the capacity and connections between European institutions - mentor utilities, governments and financial institutions – to implement these partnerships.
In this Showcase Session, we will learn about the EU WOP programme under preparation, and hear from the stakeholders it aims to involve.
This interactive session is meant for utilities, local governments, donors and others who would like to find out more about getting involved in the upcoming programme.
More information on the website of the World Water Week: here.