1 September 2017: The 27th edition of World Water Week concluded on Friday, 1 September. The event brought stakeholders from over 130 countries together to discuss solutions to global water challenges under the theme, ‘water and waste: reduce and reuse’. Among many other contributions, participants advanced discourse on water and sanitation policy issues with the launch of publications.

Speaking on the Week’s outputs, Torgny Holmgren, the Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), which organizes World Water Week, emphasized that participants had discussed the value of water. He said, “With increasing scarcity, we must recognize the many values attached to water, be it economic, social, environmental, cultural or religious.” He noted that by “re-valuing water” the global community could use it more efficiently.

Throughout the Week, various organizations released reports ranging from annual reports cataloging contributions towards water-related goals and priorities, to outlooks and briefs that explore specific issues in-depth.

The Australian Water Partnership and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) both launched annual reports. The WSSCC report “shows the interconnectivity of WSSCC’s work on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.2 and other SDGs, especially those for health, education and reduction in inequalities.” The Australian Water Partnership report summarizes the organization’s achievements since its 2015 inception.

In addition to these annual accounts, the Asia Development Bank launched the ‘Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO 2016).’ It gives an overview of the water security status of 48 of the region’s countries and concludes that the number of countries assessed as water insecure dropped to 29, compared to 38 (out of 49 countries) identified in the 2013 edition of the report.

The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) announced the fourth brief in its series on sustainable intensification. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) released profiles from a portfolio of business models presented in the forthcoming book titled, ‘Resource Recovery from Waste,’ to be published later in 2017.

These titles were among other publications released during the Week, including by the World Bank, which addressed gender and water, as well as a report investigating inequalities in WASH implementation. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), with WLE, released a report exploring agriculture’s role in water pollution.

The 2018 World Water Week will be held from 26-31 August 2018, in Stockholm, Sweden. It will focus on the theme, ‘Water, Ecosystems and Human Development’. [World Water Week, Closing Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Week Opening] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Initiatives Launched] [Australian Water partnership Annual Report] [WSSC Annual Report] [Asian Water Development Outlook] [WLE Brief #4] [IWMI Business Model Profiles] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on World Bank, Gender and Water Report] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on FAO Report on Water Pollution from Agriculture] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on World Bank WASH Report]