Capacity development and education make a difference to development by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of societies, organizations, and individuals. Assessing capacity development needs can help them to identify their strengths and weaknesses and develop strategies to improve their performance that ultimately will result in better water security by improving water resources management, water and sanitation services delivery, and water-related disaster risk reduction.
The improved governance of water is critical to water security because of its crucial role in economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Water security is seen as the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods, and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks. Consequently, improved capacities to perform a range of water governance functions, such as regulation of services, allocation of water, financing, and coordination and cooperation across sectors and stakeholders will be even more critical to build social inclusion, economic development, and environmental resilience.
This report forms part of SIWI’s work to offer a range of capacity development tools, services, and opportunities to low and middle-income countries around the world. It is also contributing to international agendas of accelerating SDG6 implementation, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk reduction, through capacity development. The importance of capacity development for governance and improved water security was reaffirmed in the closing session of the UN Water Conference on 24 March 2023, by highlighting the Global Water Education Network to build capacity of institutions and people, especially to support developing countries, as a key game-changer. SIWI is a partner to this Global Water Education Network (GWEN), as a founding partner of the Capacity Development Alliance with UNESCO, IHE-Delft, and UNDP Cap-Net.
SIWI aims to strengthen water governance capacities among key water organizations by targeting key middle- and higher-level public and private sector water officials and decision-makers at international, national, and sub-national levels, including river basin organizations. It also leverages capacities from civil society, academia, media, and the private sector. A multi-stakeholder perspective and strong local ownership of capacity development strategies are critical, as effective policy implementation is about building trust and stakeholder coalitions for joint actions.
Stockholm, 2023. , p. 48