Access to sufficient drinking water, water for personal and domestic hygiene and sanitation were recognised as human rights in 2010 by the UN General Assembly and officially declared as human rights in 2015. At this year’s World Water Week in Stockholm (20 to 24 August 2023) it became clear that, despite the progress made in the past few years, billions of people around the world still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH = Water, Sanitation, Hygiene). At the halfway mark of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations, what is lacking, above all, is comprehensive data, technical innovation and education initiatives and, first and foremost, target-oriented cooperation and multi-actor partnerships, emphasised Joakim Harlin, Chief Manager at the United Nations heading the Centre on Water & Environment.

This year, the Wilo-Foundation took part in the World Water Week for the first time, with Evi Hoch (member of the Executive Board) and David Höltgen (Communications & Funding Projects Manager) attending the conference. Evi Hoch enjoyed the opportunity to engage in personal discussions: “The meeting with our project partner Antonella Vagliente, Director General of the NGO Young Water Solutions from Brussels, for example, was a real highlight. We are currently working together in a WASH funding project and have mainly had joint online events over the past weeks, so having a personal meeting was important for our good and successful cooperation”, Evi Hoch said. In her view, the conference confirmed the relevance of the Wilo-Foundation’s funding areas: “The agenda of the World Water Week highlights the relevance of our funding motto, ‘empowering young people’, and motivates us to continue on our path: working with ambitious partner organisations and supporting WASH projects.”

David Höltgen summarised one of the key messages of the conference visit: “At the current rate of progress, about 2 billion people will still be lacking access to safe drinking water in 2030. About 3 billion people worldwide have no access to toilet facilities. The international community needs to work six times faster from now on in order to achieve the ambitious targets by 2030.”

Another highlight was the meeting with Christine Amira from Nairobi, Sustainability & Communications Manager of Wilo East Africa, who said that connecting and exchanging experiences with the many companies and organisations that are working in the water sector was extremely valuable for her.