The Just Water Partnerships (JWPs) initiative is a viable mechanism to enable investments in water resilience and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries and contribute to national development goals and the global common good, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina says.

“There is a need for partnership in the water sector to ensure that the people do have access to clean and fresh water. As the government of South Africa, we support a growing cohort of partners who are interested in developing the concept of JWPs,” she said during a panel discussion on the establishment of the platform at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.

The JWPs concept was formulated following a report by the Global Commission for the Economics of Water, which highlighted that traditional economics have failed water and that a new approach on the economics and governance of water should be taken to achieve a more sustainable, just and prosperous future for all.

“JWPs are conceived as platforms that facilitate financial and governance stakeholders, including multilateral development banks, regional development banks, development finance institutions, national governments, city and local authorities and public development banks, to support investments on their own balance sheets as well as to catalyse greater private finance,” she explained.

Such collaboration should also support multistakeholder partnerships among the public and private sectors and civil society.

Majodina said the JPWs concept mirrors the Department of Water and Sanitation’s commitment to build public-private partnerships to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone in the country.

This will consequentially achieve Sustainable Development Goals 6.1 and 6.2: achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all and ensuring access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation.

“This confirms a need for such a platform to not only ensure that investments are used efficiently and transparently, but also in a way that prioritises women, girls and others facing marginalisation globally.

“We also believe that carefully and collaboratively structured JWPs can protect existing water resources and will leave no one behind regarding the provision of water and sanitation services and ensure that water supplies are managed sustainably,” Majodina concluded.