On behalf of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State, led the UAE delegation to the Africa Water Funding Summit, held from Thirteenth-Fifteenth August in Cape City, South Africa.
The delegation additionally included Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Overseas Affairs for Power and Sustainability Affairs.
Convened by the Republic of South Africa as a part of its G20 Presidency and hosted in partnership with the African Union Fee, the Continental Africa Water Funding Programme (AIP), the AU–AIP Worldwide Excessive-Degree Panel on Water Investments for Africa, and the African Union Improvement Company – NEPAD, the summit introduced collectively world leaders with the first goal of mobilising funding in climate-resilient water and sanitation tasks to drive water safety, financial development, and sustainable improvement throughout the continent.
In its capability as co-host of the 2026 UN Water Convention, the UAE participated on this high-level gathering as a key milestone within the intensive, inclusive, and clear preparatory course of it has been main for over a 12 months.
On the opening plenary, Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan stated, “The UAE views funding in Africa’s water safety as an funding in world stability, prosperity, and shared local weather objectives. For the 2026 UN Water Convention, our imaginative and prescient is to carry all actors – from governments to buyers – to the desk, making it a platform for actual agreements and measurable affect.”
He added, “The UAE’s dedication to increasing entry to water in Africa is rooted in a legacy impressed by our nation’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who made entry to scrub water and sanitation a cornerstone of his philanthropic work. This can be a legacy we proceed at the moment, as demonstrated by the launch of the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative in February 2024 to handle world water shortage with revolutionary, cutting-edge applied sciences.”
On the summit, Duma Boko, President of Botswana, in his capability as Chairperson of the World Water Changemakers Awards – an initiative that recognises world leaders demonstrating dedication and management in advancing climate-resilient water investments and selling funding for a extra water-secure world – introduced awards to 6 heads of state and authorities. The UAE was among the many recipients, honoured for its position as co-host of the 2026 UN Water Convention.
The UAE’s engagements on the summit additionally centered on preparations for the 2026 UN Water Convention, together with collaborating in a high-level ministerial roundtable and co-leading a plenary of greater than 1,000 stakeholders to determine concrete deliverables on water financing and funding for the 2026 convention.
The session was held in partnership with Senegal, AUDA-NEPAD, the Youngsters’s Funding Fund Basis, the World Local weather Finance Heart, and the World Water Partnership.
The summit was convened one month after the adoption of the 2026 UN Water Convention’s six interactive dialogue themes by consensus, together with a selected theme on “Investments for Water”.
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