The international civil society coalition – the Butterfly Effect – co-organized a series of regional advocacy workshops for NGOs and CSOs active in the water sector between November and December 2021.
These workshops are part of a broader influencing process carried by the coalition and aiming to enable civil society to speak with a strong voice and influence decision-makers for positive, ambitious and concrete changes in favor of better water resources management and sanitation and a concrete implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, in particular the MDG6 dedicated to water.
These workshops allowed to deepen the messages identified during an online consultation conducted by the Butterfly Effect during the summer 21 and to bring out concrete political demands are the main objectives of these workshops. They were also an opportunity to bring together many NGOs and CSOs working to improve access to water and sanitation for all in their respective regions and to highlight region-specific issues that can be used by the different actors later on.
- The Europe workshop was coordinated by the European Pact for Water.
- The North American workshop was coordinated by the North American Youth Parliament for Water and brought together 15 NGOs.
- The English-speaking Africa workshop was coordinated by the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) and involved several breakout sessions, some of which took place during Africa Water Week.
- The French-speaking Africa workshop was coordinated by the Platform of Civil Society Organizations on Water and Sanitation of Senegal (POSCEAS) and brought together 25 civil society organizations.
- The Asia workshop was coordinated by the Freshwater Action Network South Asia (FANSA) and brought together 70 participants from 7 different countries.
- The Latin American workshop was coordinated by the Red de Acción por el Agua en México (FANMEX) and brought together 28 CSO representatives.
The Butterfly Effect is currently working on a synthesis of the workshops compiling all the demands and policy priorities expressed by civil society. This synthesis will then be published and opened for consultation and feedback. Follow us on the networks so that you don’t miss the next steps of our influence process.
For its influence work, the Butterfly Effect has identified two main targets:
-The Heads of State Declaration (Dakar, March 2022): the organizers of the World Water Forum that will take place in Senegal in March 2022 want to give a very strong political scope to this forum and connect it to UN processes.
-The 2023 UN Water Decade Conference (New York, March 2023): the first global intergovernmental conference on water since 1977 and a most strategic platform for states’ commitment to achieving the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
If you are an NGO or CSO active in the water sector or interested in water issues, join us and help shape the political demands of civil society!
The organization of these workshops is made possible thanks to the support of the NGO coalition Butterfly Effect, coordinated by the International Secretariat for Water
Thanks to our partners Swiss Development & Cooperation, France Diplomatie and the European Union for making this global effort possible.
