The 10th World Water Forum (WWF) event in Bali held by the World Water Council (WWC) was able to unite Indonesia with various delegations from other countries to formulate world water and sanitation governance policies. Indonesia as the host marked the 10th WWF event with a Gala Dinner which was part of a series of international events and also discussed a number of special missions for handling world water governance.
The government carries out three missions, including creating a centralized network in the Asia Pacific region that focuses on issues of water security, climate change and environmental research, as well as encouraging the establishment of World Lakes Day which will be held every August 27 at the 10th WWF to maintain the sustainability of resources. water.
Deputy Chair of the 10th WWF National Committee Secretariat, Endra S. Atmawidjaja, said this was important to discuss because lakes are a source of raw materials, energy and even flood control.
Endra explained that the 10th WWF was a golden opportunity for Indonesia to have a big influence on the direction of policy in the water sector. He believes there needs to be strong encouragement from policy makers. Since the beginning, at various forums, Indonesia has consistently encouraged water issues to be discussed at the highest level. There must be strong encouragement from policy makers
The reason for carrying out these four missions is to accompany one of WWF’s 2024 goals in Indonesia, which is a milestone in accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) target, namely access to clean water and adequate sanitation.
On the other hand, to equalize access to clean water throughout the world, the government is advocating for the establishment of a Global Water Fund. Coordinator of the Sustainable Water Financing Sub-theme of the 10th World Water Forum who also serves as Director General of Public Works and Housing Infrastructure Financing at the Ministry of PUPR, Herry Trisaputra Zuna, explained that the Global Water Fund is needed to overcome budget imbalances and accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely achieving access to clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
According to Herry, there are still 2.2 billion people in the world who do not have access to clean water, so the Global Water Fund is expected to allocate funds for water infrastructure, mitigation of water-related crises or disasters, climate change adaptation and monitoring. The Indonesian government has established the Indonesian Water Fund (IWF) as an effort to encourage investment and provide clean water throughout Indonesia, with operational funding estimates of up to 1 billion US dollars for clean water projects.
Chairman of the Secretariat of the National Committee Organizing the 10th World Water Forum, Muhammad Zainal Fatah, and Secretary General of the Ministry of PUPR, said that the results of discussions on sustainable water financing and the initiation of the Global Water Fund would be presented and elaborated on at the forum.
Director of the Center for Climate Funding and Multilateral Policy, Fiscal Policy Agency, Ministry of Finance, Boby Wahyu Hernawan, highlighted the importance of learning from the experiences of the Pandemic Fund and Green Climate Fund in considering the formation of a Global Water Fund. He emphasized that a global financing architecture such as the Global Water Fund is the right preventive step to overcome the threat of the water crisis.
The 10th WWF event in Bali will be attended by domestic government officials. Representatives of ministries and institutions present were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of National Development Planning, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), National Disaster Management Agency, Network of Asian River Basin Organization (Narbo) and Youth.
The 10th WWF has three main processes, namely political, regional and thematic processes, all three of which will involve various stakeholders. Starting from state leaders, ministers, regional leaders, academics, researchers, to the younger generation who will exchange ideas.
There are 230 thematic forum sessions, 55 side events, and 10 special sessions at this event. In addition, the Indonesian government also invited heads of state, heads of international institutions, and ministers or ministerial level officials responsible for water resources issues.
As host, Indonesia finalized various preparations, including presenting the beauty of the Island of the Gods to the participants. Apart from that, this forum does not just raise the theme ‘Water for Shared Prosperity’, it is also proof that Indonesia is ready to make a real contribution to efforts to maintain the sustainability of the world’s water resources.
It is also hoped that Bali’s election as host of WWF 2024 will encourage more innovation. Especially, innovation in sustainable water management technology. Bearing in mind, Bali is a model for water management, namely the Subak system as one of the world heritage treasures that has been recognized by UNESCO