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A water-secure world for all - water for development: responding to the challenges

The Stockholm World Water Week’s focus on “Water for Development” comes at an opportune time. Water as a sector in world affairs is reaching a tipping point. Over the next two decades and more, the global push for food and energy security and for sustaining urbanization will place new and increasing demands on the water sector. Ours is a world of ‘thirsty agriculture’ and ‘thirsty energy’ competing with the needs of ‘thirsty cities.’ At the same time, climate change may potentially worsen the situation by increasing water stress as well as extreme events, reminding us that the water and climate nexus can no longer be a side event at global climate talks. All of this is happening in a context where the important agenda of access to services – despite the impressive gains over the past several decades – remains an unfinished agenda, requiring an urgent push if we are to fulfill the promise of universal access. At this year’s World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Sweden, the World Bank Group is engaged in a range of technical sessions and workshops aimed at looking at tackling key policy challenges confronting the water sector. This booklet is a summary of some of the issues to discuss in Stockholm in the broader setting of ‘water for development.’

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