The Bali Basin Action Agenda, a Concrete Evidence of Cooperation at the 10th WWF

Bali – Various international commitments were made at the 10th World Water Forum (WWF) in Bali. One of them is the launch of the Bali Basin Action Agenda which discusses five levels of political processes, related to river and water area authorities.

It is believed that the guidance in this document can provide concrete results, in the form of commitment and good practices that support river area management as a supporter of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Each country has its own water management problems and focus, so a comprehensive regional approach needs to be taken. For the political process, water management policies will be discussed in stages starting from the implementer, river authority, to the head of state,” said the Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works and People’s Housing who is also Chairman of the Secretariat of the National Organizing Committee of the 10th World Water Forum, Mohammad Zainal Fatah.

He said, there needs to be a political and policy process that is consistent and followed by real action on the ground.

That is why this theme is discussed very seriously and toughly. The high-level panel discussion session regarding river basin authorities took place in two locations, namely the Bali International Convention Center (BICC) and the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC).

This political segment was attended by Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono and a number of ministers in charge of the water sector, including Chinese Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying, Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam, and Brazilian Minister of Regional Integration and Development Waldez Goes .

Apart from that, the same session was also attended by the President of the World Water Council (WWC) Loic Fauchon, the Minister of Equipment and Water of the Republic of Morocco and the President of the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) Nizar Baraka, as well as a number of high-ranking river basin authorities from other countries.

Previously, the 10th World Water Forum had ratified the Ministerial Declaration as a concrete result of diplomatic victory for Indonesia. The declaration was ratified at the end of the Ministerial Meeting which was attended by delegates from 106 countries and 27 international organizations.
Apart from the Minister’s Declaration, one of the achievements of this forum was Indonesia’s success in compiling a list of water-related projects that were the mainstay of various countries.

This list contains 113 projects worth US$9.4 billion, including projects to accelerate the provision of drinking water for 3 million households and domestic wastewater management projects for 300 thousand households, which will greatly benefit communities in various countries.

Indonesia is on the world spice route, namely the traditional shipping route that stretches between the Pacific region in the east to the east coast of Africa in the west. For more than a thousand years the peoples along this route have interacted, producing a remarkable legacy of knowledge regarding the management of water-related life.