Butterfly Effect : Road to Dakar 2022

The next World Water Forum will be held from March 22 to 26, 2022, in Dakar, Senegal.  This major event in the water sector has for many years been an opportunity for the Butterfly Effect to bring the voice of NGOs and CSOs to the international level and to promote their inclusion in all Forum processes. 

1. THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT AT THE WORLD WATER FORUM

Active within the World Water Forums since the 6th edition (Marseille World Water Forum, 2012), where the network was created, the Butterfly Effect is recognized as a major actor facilitating the participation of international Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in this event and throughout its preparation process. 

 

For this 9th edition of the Forum, the Steering Committee of the Butterfly Effect agreed on an action plan to operationalize the participation of the Butterfly Effect in the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar:  

The participation of the Butterfly Effect will have two main objectives, namely: 

  • Promote the good participation of CSOs from the water sector in the Forum  
  • Make the voice of CSOs heard, particularly at the Heads of State Summit. 

This will include ensuring an active presence of network members before, during, and after the Forum, notably through information and mobilization of members, design, and dissemination of advocacy messages, or monitoring of the commitments made by the various stakeholders at the end of the Forum.  

2. ORGANIZATION OF AN INFORMATION AND MOBILIZATION WORKSHOP

Following the initiative of the Steering Committee and in order to support and inform its members on the different possibilities of participation in the WWForum 2022, the Butterfly Effect organized on January 7th, 2021 an information workshop for its members. 

The objective of this meeting was notably to inform NGO members of the Butterfly Effect and other Civil Society Organizations about the 9th World Water Forum, as well as the different opportunities for CSO participation. 

 The workshop brought together about 60 organizations from Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and included presentations from the International Secretariat for Water, the Water Coalition, the Water and Sanitation CSO Platform of Senegal (POSCEAS), and the World Water Forum Youth Coordination Committee. 

The proceedings documents are available at the following link, as well as the PowerPoint presentation.

3. NEXT STEPS

The next work of the Butterfly Effect will focus on defining common advocacy messages to be carried to the Forum and more specifically to the Heads of States Summit. This initiative, launched by the Senegalese President Macky Sall, aims to enable an exceptional political mobilization to reduce the backlog in the implementation of the SDGs and more particularly SDG6 “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. 

In this regard, the mobilization of civil society – especially women and the new generation – will be even more necessary in the face of the magnitude of the challenges. In such a context, the role of the Butterfly Effect is more relevant than ever, and the network will remain committed to a more inclusive water sector, allowing the full expression and participation of civil society in the water sector. 

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The Butterfly Effect - NGO Coalition
Created in November 2010, the Butterfly Effect is a network of more than 130 local and international NGOs and CSOs from around the world, which aims to promote effective local solutions for sustainable improvements in access to water and sanitation services and water resource management. The network supports the initiatives of its members to support their advocacy work and thus bring the voice of NGOs and CSOs in the water sector and in the international arena.