WWWeekAtHome Opening: Meet the Ministers Monday 24 August | 14:00-14:45

Convenors: Stockholm International Water Institute

Welcome to the Opening of World Water Week at Home 2020 and Meet the Ministers!

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis and recovery, it is even more crucial to work together to build an inclusive and resilient future through water by charting transformative pathways to protect people, the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. We must continue to address the nexus between water and climate change - especially as countries enter the implementation phase of the Paris Climate Agreement.

At 2pm CET on 24 August you can hear what the ministers from Colombia, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Sweden, as well as the President of Senegal have to say about their strategies when it comes to the urgent need for climate action and the importance of re-valuing water as well as their response to Covid-19 and building back better through resilient water management.

Maggie White and Kanika Thakar from SIWI are delighted to moderate this conversation and are looking forward to receiving questions from the audience prior to the session via social media and during the discussion. #WorldWaterWeek #wwweek #athome

STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE Box 101 87 │ SE-100 55, Stockholm, Sweden Visiting Address: Linnégatan 87A Tel. +46 8 121 360 00 │ Fax. +46 8 121 360 01 │ www.siwi.org

Programme

14.00 Introduction Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director, SIWI

14.03 Video message from His Excellency President Macky Sall, Republic of Senegal

14.07 Video message from H.E. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Government of the Netherlands

14.11 Interactive Panel discussion

Moderated by Maggie White, Senior Manager International Policy, SIWI and Kanika Thakar, Programme Officer Water Resources and Gender Equality Focal Point, SIWI

Speakers:

H.E. Isabella Lövin, Minister for the Environment and Climate and Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Sweden

H.E. Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, Water, and Sanitation, Government of South Africa

H.E. Jose Luis Acero, Vice Minister of Water and Basic Sanitation, Ministry of Housing, City and Territory, Government of Colombia

Questions can be addressed via social medias before the session and during the session

14.40 Concluding remarks by moderators

14.42 Debut performance, ‘Through Water’, by Låpsley

14.45 Closing of webinar

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Speakers biography

His Excellency President Macky Sall, Republic of Senegal

Macky Sall: President of the Republic of Senegal, Chairperson of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (New Partnership for Africa’s Development).

President Macky Sall was born on December 11, 1961 in Fatick, the town to which he served as Mayor from 2009 to 2012. President Sall was Prime Minister for three years from 2004 to 2007, and also acted as President of the Senegalese National Assembly from 2007 to 2008. Elected fourth President of the Republic of Senegal in March of 2012, he took office on April 2, 2012. On 24 February 2019, President Macky Sall was re-elected for a second five-year term of office (2019-2024).

H.E. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Government of the Netherlands

Education: 1975-1981: Secondary education, Christelijk College Nassau-Veluwe, Harderwijk 1981-1987: Human geography, Utrecht University

Cora van Nieuwenhuizen began her career in 1987 at Crédit Lyonnais Bank Nederland in Tilburg. From 1991 to 2007 she was responsible for the operational management of a veterinary practice in Oisterwijk and also worked as a freelance economic geographer. In 2007 she became a member of the North Brabant provincial executive, with responsibility for a range of areas including mobility, infrastructure, supervision of the water authorities, and Eindhoven Airport.

From 17 June 2010 to 30 June 2014, Ms Van Nieuwenhuizen was a member of the House of Representatives for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She was the party’s spokesperson on integration, asylum policy and social affairs, and chaired the Permanent Committee on Finance. On 1 July 2014 Ms Van Nieuwenhuizen became a member of the European Parliament representing the VVD. She served on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) as fintech and benchmarks rapporteur, and on the Panama Papers inquiry committee.

On 26 October 2017 Cora van Nieuwenhuizen was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management in the third Rutte government.

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H.E. Isabella Lövin, Minister for the Environment and Climate and Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Sweden

Minister for Environment and Climate, and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Ms Isabella Lövin has previously served as Minister for International Development as well as a Member of the European Parliament. Ms Lövin has a background in journalism and as a published author, and she has a dedicated commitment to combatting climate change and its effects, as well as advocating for global water issues. Ms Lövin holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Swedish Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

H.E. Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, Water, and Sanitation, Government of South Africa

Ms Sisulu was appointed as Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation on 30 May 2019. Ms Sisulu is a member of the National Working Committee of the ANC since 2002 and member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC since 1997. She was Minister of International Relations and Cooperation from 27 February 2018 to 25 May 2019. Ms Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu was the Minister of Human Settlements of the Republic of South Africa from 26 May 2014 until 26 February 2018.

Ms Sisulu is member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) and a member of the National Working Committee of the ANC. She is a member of the Transitional Executive Council. Ms Sisulu is since 2008 president of the Urban Poor Fund International and was between 2004 and 2009 member of the UN Eminent Persons on Human Settlements.

Academic Qualifications

Ms Sisulu completed her General Certificate of Education (GCE) Cambridge University Ordinary Level at St Michael's School in Swaziland in 1971, and GCE Cambridge University Advanced Level in 1973, also in Swaziland. She holds a Master of Arts degree in History from the Centre for Southern African Studies of the University of York and an M Phil also from the Centre for Southern African Studies of the University of York obtained 1989. Ms Sisulu also holds a BA degree, a BA Honours degree in History and a Diploma in Education from the University of Swaziland.

H.E. Jose Luis Acero, Vice Minister of Water and Basic Sanitation, Ministry of Housing, City and Territory, Government of Colombia

Jose Luis Acero was born in the city of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander in Colombia. He has a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Development from Columbia University, as well as both a Master’s degree in Economics and an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering

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from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá. He is a father of two and enjoys playing squash in his free time.

Prior to becoming Vice minister of Water and Basic Sanitation, he held various positions in the development sector. He was a consultant in urban development for the World Bank in Washington D.C, a researcher at Columbia University, and an operations coordinator at the United Nations Regional Development Center, among others.

His technical experience includes leading and supporting policy dialogues, loan operations, technical assistance and publications in the areas of urban development, regional development, housing access and financing, financing of urban infrastructure, urban renewal, instruments for capturing land value and competitiveness of cities and municipal finances.

Mr Torgny Holmgren is SIWI’s Executive Director.

Former Ambassador at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Head of the Department for Development Policy, Mr. Torgny Holmgren became SIWI’s Executive Director in 2012.

Torgny has served as an expert or board member on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water, the World Water Council (Permanent Observer in the Board of Governors), the European Advisory Group of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with Water Aid (Sweden).

A Swedish national, Torgny has extensive experience working in East Africa, South Asia, Europe and North America. Before joining SIWI, Torgny worked for the World Bank and the Swedish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance. He has recently served as Sherpa in UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Global Sustainability.

Torgny studied at the Stockholm School of Economics and has over 30 years of experience in economic and development issues. He speaks English and Swedish.

Moderators

Maggie White is a senior manager at SIWI and co-chair of AGWA. She works with international policy and the World Water Week plenaries.

Maggie is a senior water policy expert who has worked for over 16 years in the sector. She is specialized in WaSH and water utilities, IWRM and climate change issues at a global, national and local implementation level.

She has a long-standing experience in developing relationships, partnerships and negotiating with key figures and organizations from different sectors as well as country and institutional representatives. Maggie has launched several key networks (Water Coalition, World Youth Parliament for Water, Butterfly Effect from local to global, European Pact for Water) and was at the genesis of the French Water Partnership. She is also a strong communicator and advocate for water issues and has a long-standing experience in internal and external communication activities.

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Kanika Thakar works with various projects in the Water Resources Department, including supporting the Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management, NAIAD and UNICEF’s Accountability for Sustainability programmes. Kanika is also SIWI’s Gender Equality Focal Point.

Kanika joined SIWI in October 2016. Before joining SIWI, Kanika ran her own consulting firm specializing in communications and project management for water and sanitation based NGOs. She holds a Master’s in Integrated Water Resources Management, and has previously worked with the United Nations Environment Programme, the Global Water Partnership and is a WASH emergency response delegate with the International Federation of the Red Cross. Kanika joins SIWI with more than 7 years of communications and programme management experience.

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