Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
at a High-level Policy Dialogue,
Africa Dialogue Series 2026
Theme: ¡°Water and Sanitation for Life: Harnessing Water Resources for the Africa We Want¡±
Friday, 29 May 2026
[As Delivered ]
Good morning,
Dear Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Dear DSG,
Dear ASG,
And the many many experienced experts especially in the further panel discussions we are having here,
Dear youth delegates,
Happy Africa day, and I am very thankful to be invited at this High-Level Policy Dialogue, including this year¡¯s Africa Dialogue Series, under the theme, ¡°Water and Sanitation for Life: Harnessing Water Resources for the Africa We Want.¡±
This theme speaks, as so brilliantly underlined by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP¡¯s ASG Ahunna, to the heart of Africa¡¯s development agenda, because water shapes almost every part of our life, and is part of the ambition the continent has set for itself:
From public health and education, from agriculture and food security to energy production, industrialization and economic diversification.
However, progress across these areas depends on resolving one of the most frustrating paradoxes facing the continent, on which I would like to focus on the beginning.
From the Nile to the Congo to the Niger rivers, Africa possesses significant freshwater resources, including major rivers, lakes and groundwater reserves.
Yet hundreds of millions of people across the continent still lack access to safe water and sanitation.
Water insecurity, then, stems from more than natural scarcity.
Across the continent, the challenge lies in the gaps that prevent water from reaching people reliably and safely: gaps in access, infrastructure, governance, management and distribution.
These challenges are being exacerbated by the climate crisis, which is bringing more droughts, more floods and more unpredictable rainfall.
Population growth and rapid urbanization also increase demand faster than systems can expand and deliver.
These pressures widen development divides and deepen social and economic inequalities.
And the burden falls heaviest on poorer households, and especially on women and girls, as mentioned, who often bear the greatest cost when safe water remains distant, unreliable or unavailable.
Yet, as with every SDG, ending this injustice and delivering on SDG6, clean water and sanitation is not only an act of charity or bringing justice to the people.
It is also an economic case.
For addressing water insecurity is in the clear interest of all.
Every dollar invested in water supply and sanitation in Africa can generate seven dollars in return.
With adequate funding, the sector could boost Gross Domestic Product by 5 percent, generating an annual economic gain of 200 billion dollars across the continent.
Those returns would be felt across Africa¡¯s economies, especially in sectors that depend on reliable water, from agriculture and mining to energy and industry.
Better water and sanitation systems strengthen productivity, protect livelihoods, reduce health costs, and make economies more resilient.
The social case is just as strong.
Limited access to water remains one of the clearest drivers of gender inequality, because it turns a basic service gap into a daily tax on women¡¯s and girls¡¯ time, safety, and opportunity.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls collectively spend around 16 million hours each day fetching water.
Those journeys are often long, physically demanding, and isolating, exposing women and girls not only to lost time and exhaustion, but also to heightened risks of harassment, sexual violence, and assault.
They are also hours lost from education, paid work, enterprise, family life, and public participation.
Expanding access to safe water and sanitation therefore advances gender equality and inclusion, while unlocking economic opportunity.
Excellencies,
Our task is to turn this water paradox into water security.
That begins with investment.
Governments, development banks and private partners need to scale up climate-resilient water infrastructure, including storage, treatment, irrigation, sanitation and distribution systems, at a pace that matches growing demand.
But investment also needs to go hand in hand with better management. Agriculture, energy, industry and urban development all depend on the same resource, so planning in each area must take account of the others as well.
That, in turn, requires stronger institutions. Governance gaps weaken water management, limit access to safe and sustainable services, and prevent communities from benefiting fully from the resources already available to them.
Financing and partnerships should also match the scale of the challenge. Public finance, development banks, private investment and blended finance all have a role to play.
And again therefore, our discussions today are heavily interconnected to the discussions on other forums, and high-level meetings; for example our discussions on beyond GDP or delivering on the Seville commitments.
Across all these efforts, science, technology and reliable data should guide planning, strengthen decision-making, and improve delivery.
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference this December gives the international community an important opportunity to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6 and strengthen a more coordinated, ambitious and inclusive global water agenda, for all, and especially for the African continent.
In this regard, I commend the Republic of Senegal, together with the United Arab Emirates, for their leadership as co-hosts of the Conference.
Africa¡¯s water paradox is serious, but it can be solved.
The continent has the resources. The need is clear. The economic and social returns are undeniable.
With sustained investment, stronger institutions, better planning, deeper cooperation ¨C and political will by all – water and sanitation can become a foundation for health, dignity, opportunity and resilience, a driver for the Africa we want; and help delivery on the promises this United Nations made, 80 years ago.
I thank you.
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