Bridging Science and Policy to Enhance Water Security in Africa and the Americas

Inspired by the IAP Water Program, NASAC and IANAS established regional water programs that engage Science Academies in actions aiming at the enhancement of access to clean water and sanitation services in Africa and the Americas. As one of the outputs of these initiatives, NASAC is currently producing a policymakers’ booklet on water issues in Africa, in collaboration with the German National Academy Leopoldina. On the other hand, IANAS has produced the publication “Water Diagnosis in the Americas” and is currently working on a publication on “Urban Waters in the Americas”. In an effort to advise government and society on water policy issues, a key challenge is reaching out to policy and decision makers. The present proposal focuses on the organization of two regional science-policy interface workshops, one in Africa and the other in Latin America, to give publicity to the outputs of the regional water programs, initiating a process of translating the findings and recommendations of the NASAC and IANAS water programs into policy. This proposal is aligned with IAP’s mission statement, as it stimulates Science Academies from different regions of the planet to develop mutual collaboration on global and regional issues of importance to the future of humankind. Similarly, it is clearly aligned with IAP strategic priorities numbers 1, 3, 4 and 6.

The IANAS Water Focal Points Meeting and IANAS-NASAC Workshop "Bridging Science and Policy to enhance water security in Africa and the Americas" took place in Ciudad de Saber, Panamá, from 14-19 October 2014.The findings and recommendations emerging from the discussions is now available HERE (pdf format).

iMore information on the Meeting and Workshop is available HERE.