High-Level Panel will track progress on global commitments

For the fourth time, SIWI and the Government of the Netherlands are organizing a High-Level Panel on global action as part of World Water Week. The Panel serves as a stocktaking moment to track progress on international processes such as the Water Action Decade, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The panel can be followed on 25 August at 2pm CEST. Register here for World Water Week to take part.

The High-Level Panel brings together leading actors to discuss trends in the achievement of the different global agendas, as well as how the agendas are interlinked and can enhance each other. Hence this year’s topic is “Strengthening Synergies, Accelerating Action”. Kitty van der Heijden, Director General for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, will set the scene.

The event is divided into sub-sections, where the first focuses on the SDGs and the global agendas, featuring speakers and participants representing the climate, food, and health sectors. Hear from the High-Level Champion for Global Climate Action Nigel Topping, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit Agnes Kalibata, and Maria Neira, who is Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization. They will discuss the role of water in these different processes, moderated by Henk Ovink, Special Envoy International Water Affairs from the Netherlands.

The second panel focuses on key existing global water processes, initiatives and campaigns such as the UN-Water Action Decade, the Bonn Water Dialogues, and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework. The discussion is led by Jennifer Jun, Senior Manager for International Policy at SIWI. Speakers include Kelly-Ann Naylor, UN-Water Vice-Chair; Thomas Stratenwerth, the Bonn Water Dialogues representative from German Federal Ministry for Environment BMU; Lindsey Marie Blodgétt, Youth representative from the Water and Climate Coalition and Japheth Habinshuti, Chief Resilience Officer for Kigali. SIWI’s Executive Director Torgny Holmgren will present concluding remarks.

“Together with the Opening and Closing Plenaries, the High-Level Panel is one of the key events during World Water Week. While the Opening and Closing will focus on main messages and outcomes of the Week, including the Challenges and Accelerators identified, the High-Level Panel will focus more on processes, actions, and concrete recommendations.”

Maggie White, head of the International Policy team,  SIWI

High-Level Panel 25 August at 2:00pm CEST

Agenda

Introduction and scene setter on achieving the global agendas through synergies

• Moderator: Henk Ovink, Special Envoy International Water Affairs, The Netherlands
• Scene setting speaker: Kitty van der Heijden, Director General for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands (Confirmed)

First panel on key global policy priorities of 2021: Climate, Food, Health

• On climate: Nigel Topping, High Level Champion for Global Climate Action, UK (confirmed)
• On food: Agnes Kalibata, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit (confirmed)
• On health: Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization (confirmed)

Second panel featuring global water stakeholders and their responses to global policy priorities

• Moderator: Jennifer Jun, Senior Manager, International Policy, SIWI
• Panelists:
  • Kelly-Ann Naylor, UN-Water Vice Chair (confirmed)
  • Thomas Stratenwerth, Bonn Water Dialogues representative from German Federal Ministry for Environment BMU (confirmed)
  • Lindsey Marie Blodgétt, Youth representative from the Water and Climate Coalition (confirmed)
  • Japheth Habinshuti, Chief Resilience Officer for Kigali (confirmed)

Wrap up remarks: Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director, SIWI

Sign up for World Water Week to join the High-Level Panel and more than 400 other interesting sessions. Register here – free of charge.