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Regional focus of the Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate

25 May 2021

Last update:20 April 2023

Each geographical area is vulnerable to the compiling outcomes of climate change and water insecurity, and their all-around impact on urban livelihood amenities, services and infrastructure resilience, public health, economic stability, and many other aspects of human life. However, megacities, urban spaces where more than 10 million people commute, live, and work daily, have unavoidably become one of the socio-ecological systems at higher risk. At the same time, megacities concentrate economic and financial centres, and often are essential for a country’s economy.

The initiative of will be officially established at the First Assembly together with the Mayor Congress during the in January 2022, at UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris of France.

The idea of regionalization of the MAWAC was proposed in 2016 during a WaterLinks Forum. Since then, the Secretariat has identified four regional chapters to be set up: Latin America and the Caribbean (MAWAC-LAC), Asia and the Pacific (MAWAC-ASPAC), Africa (MAWAC-AFR) and Europe and North America (MAWAC-ENA). Prior to the global meeting, four regional meetings are proposed to be organized online.

Context ()

Upcoming regional meetings

Latin America and the Caribbean (MAWAC-LAC)

second regional meeting, 26 May 2021

third regional meeting, 10 August 2021

Asia and the Pacific (MAWAC-ASPAC)

first regional meeting, 14-15 June 2021

second regional meeting, 26 October 2021

Europe and North America (MAWAC-ENA)

first regional meeting, 22 July 2021

second regional meeting, 27 September 2021

third regional meeting, 4 November 2021

Africa (MAWAC-AFR)

first regional meeting, 30 November - 1 December 2021

In May 2019, with the support of the National Agency for Water and Basic Sanitation of Brazil (ANA), the First Regional Meeting of the Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean (MAWAC-LAC), which was attended by around 100 participants from Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Santiago.

Despite the restrictions due to the pandemic, progress has been made in 2021 with the online format to bring together officials and experts from Latin American megacities on 26 May and 10 August 2021, and strengthen the MAWAC-LAC regional chapter. The objective was to exchange experiences among the members of the MAWAC-LAC Regional Alliance, and to advance with the preparation for the region's participation in the Second International Conference "Water, Megacities and Global Change" (EauMega 2022).

"In the region, almost 80% of the population lives in urban areas," said Ms. Lidia Brito, Director of UNESCO's Regional Office for Science for Latin America and the Caribbean, who stressed the importance of this initiative.

During this meeting, the participants decided to collaborate for the realization of a series of products, among which are the elaboration of technical works and a regional session for EauMega 2022, and the preparation of seminars on water in large cities.

For more information about the event, please visit UNESCO Montevideo Office () and IHP-LAC Working Group on Urban Water and Human Settlements ( | )

Meeting Outputs

Presentation

Bogotá -

Buenos Aires - Decision Maker (oral presentation) | |

Mexico City -

Lima - |

Rio de Janeiro - Decision Maker (oral presentation) | Academy (oral presentation) |

Santiago -

Sao Paulo - | |

Summary ( | )

More information

Leaflet ()
Programme ()
List of Partcipants ( | )
Summary (First MAWAC-LAC regional meeting in 2019) ()

Video

UNESCO is dedicated to facilitating regional dialogue and cooperation among megacities. Asia and the Pacific region own the biggest amount of megacities in the world - 27 megacities from 19 countries are located in this region. In 2021, the virtual regional events are held under the project of “Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate”, with the aim to strengthen the linkages between the participating institutions, to develop the Terms of Reference for the regional platform, and to advance the activities planned for the formation of the Global Alliance.

Addressing the delegates during the meeting’s opening session, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, Ms. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, recalled the need for an: “opportunity to share existing knowledge, solutions, to dialogue and cooperate, because the effects and impacts of climate change cannot be solved by one megacity alone”.
Mr. Mohamed Djelid, Director for UNESCO Jakarta Office Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, called for “a nexus approach of water management by highlighting the connections between water and all aspects of human life – food and agriculture, energy, ecosystems, health and security, spirituality”.

The water challenges varied from one place to another, but they point towards not only the issues of the resources, but also the effective management. The representatives of the participating megacities have explicated their concerns ranging from precipitation pattern change to limited water resources and treatment capacity. In Tehran and Delhi, to tackle the water concerns are obtaining growing national strategic consideration and closer engagement. Speakers from Jakarta shared the experiences of water resilience which can lead to multi-functional outcomes from promoting urban resilience. Community engagement, infrastructure improvement, equitable service delivery and flood management were commonly shared during the meetings.

The Asia and the Pacific megacities will be engaged in planning the Regional Sessions during the 2nd International Conference “Water, Megacities and Global Change”, which will take place in January 2022.

For more information, please visit

Meeting Outputs

Presentation

Bangkok - Decision Maker ()

Jakarta - Decision Maker ()

Karachi - Academia ()

Manila - Decision Maker ()

New Delhi - Utility (Delhi Jal Board)

Tehran - Decision Maker, Utility, Academia ()

UNESCO - ,

Summary

First meeting - 14-15 June (); List of Participants ()

Second meeting - 26 October (); List of Participants ()

More information

Programme - First Meeting (); Second Meeting ();
Agenda - First Meeting (); Second Meeting ();

Video

Watch the recorded video of the Virtual meeting - First Meeting (, ); Second Meeting (currently not available)

The cities in Europe and North America region emerged as one of the earliest megacities and world economic engines during the Industrial Revolutions period, including New York, which exceeded 10 million population since the 1950s. 7 megacities are currently located in this region, including Chicago, Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York and Paris.

From July to November, three preparatory meetings were organized and had brought 7 megacities on board. The meetings offered a valuable chance for extensively exchanging the current and future challenges and practices towards the water security issues, addressing the key issues such as awareness-raising, green infrastructure, flood management and prevention.

The regional group proposed to set as an Acting Steering Committee (ASC), which aimed to coordinate and support identifying the regional priorities and develop the draft of the Terms of Reference,

Meeting Outputs

Summary: First Meeting (not available); Second Meeting (); Third Meeting (coming soon); List of Participants ()

More information

Programme: Second Meeting (); Third Meeting (English)

Video

Watch the recorded video of the Virtual meeting - ,

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Africa is considered as one of the most vulnerable regions in the world in the face of climate change and water security. It is estimated that 14% of Africa’s population (about 160 million people) currently live under conditions of water scarcity, due in part to the uneven distribution of water resources, and to various unsolved problems related to wastewater.

“We have an undeniable responsibility to take actions from all levels, heading towards a climate resilient future, and pass it to our next generations who can thrive in this continent”, stated by Mr. Phinith Chanthalangsy, Programme Specialist of UNESCO Harare Office.

Under the framework of Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate (MAWAC), the First Regional Meeting for Africa region (MAWAC-AFR) was organized among 4 megacities, Cairo, Kinshasa, Greater Johannesburg and Lagos, and was hosted by UNESCO Harare Office, with the support of UNESCO Offices in Abuja, Cairo and Kinshasa.

The two-day meeting has brought forward a wide spectrum of ideas of policies and plans as well as current practices for water management. Ms. Walaa M. Elsorogy from Cairo Water Company, introduced the current application of the Artificial Intelligence system that drove the digital transformation of water management for Cairo. In Johannesburg, explained by Ms. Nomvula Mofokeng, drought was highlighted to transform the strategies into actions and mobilize the compliance from different stakeholders to the regulations and plans. Ms. Sikulisimwa Céline, speaking on behalf of Kinshasa, and Ms. Funke Adepoju of Lagos, have presented common water and sanitation challenges faced in response to the huge population, thus necessitating the multi-dimensional cooperation for solutions and support among megacities. In addition, Mr. Rene Frank was invited to deliver a presentation entitled ‘water solutions for water-scarce cities’, introducing the current exercise of W12 Blueprint about the case studies presentation and database construction among global cities.

A discussion session was organized on the second day, which focused on the ongoing initiatives where 4 megacities can involve. The African megacities will be warmly invited to contribute to the development of regional Terms of Reference, consultation on the strategic document and the Second International Conference “Water, Megacities and Global Change”, from 11 to 14 January 2022.