Approval of UfM Water Agenda - policy framework of action 2030 and its financial strategy

On 17 December 2018 Senior representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the 43 UfM member countries endorsed unanimously the UfM Water Agenda in a Senior Officials’ Meeting held in Barcelona. This approval was the final step to a process that had been carried out and followed by the Water Expert Group with the assistance of the Secretariat of the UfM and under its umbrella.

Conscious of the significance of this decision to work together in such a critical sector for the wellbeing and stability of UfM countries, the process to develop such an agenda has been intensive, inclusive and extensive. Consultation, first and foremost with UfM Member states and UfM Co-chairs, has been constant to ensure that the Agenda responds to the needs of UfM countries and to the added value that a regional dimension can bring to national efforts.

In this regard, care has been taken to respond to the overall objectives of the Ministerial declaration, which stated that the UfM Water Agenda should:

• assist in promoting sustainable economic and social development
• mainstreams efforts towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals,
• help to tackle as well two of the major concerns of the region today,
  • on the one hand the impacts of climate change
  • and on the other the challenges of migration.

These have, thus, been the guiding principles of the process for developing the work agenda.