Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, met on Wednesday with representatives of Germany during the ministerial segment of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York to discuss strengthening cooperation on global water governance and enhancing coordination across international water initiatives.
Germany is serving as co-chair of the 5th interactive dialogue, “Water in Multilateral Processes,” under preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference.
Sewilam praised Germany’s leadership of the dialogue and stressed the importance of greater integration among the conference’s interactive dialogues to deliver more effective outcomes for the global water agenda.
He highlighted the close cooperation between Egypt and Germany since 2023 in preparations for the UN Water Conference, describing it as a reflection of the strong partnership between the two countries.
The minister also reviewed an Egyptian-led initiative, being developed with international partners, to prepare a roadmap for integrating water issues into the three Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification.
He said the initiative emerged from the third interactive dialogue, “Water for the Planet,” and complements the objectives of the fifth dialogue by promoting greater coherence between environmental policies and multilateral processes.
Sewilam underlined the importance of working closely with Germany to further develop the initiative.
The meeting also addressed the future of global water governance beyond the 2026 UN Water Conference.
Discussions covered proposals for holding regular international water conferences, preparations for the 2028 UN Water Conference, and mechanisms to sustain political momentum after 2026 while building on the conference’s outcomes.
The minister also outlined preparations for the ninth Cairo Water Week, scheduled for October, describing it as a regional platform bringing together African, Arab and Mediterranean countries to strengthen regional and international momentum ahead of the preparatory meeting for the 2026 conference.
The event will also provide a platform for co-chairs of the interactive dialogues to present near-final recommendations aimed at producing practical and actionable outcomes.
