Senegal, stepping up its diplomatic efforts, hosted a key UN preparatory meeting on water. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye chaired a high-level UN preparatory meeting in Dakar on January 26. The meeting comes ahead of the United Nations Water Conference scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi in December 2026. Its goal is to mobilize the international community toward firm commitments on universal access to water and sanitation.
Senegal hosted a UN preparatory meeting on water, a crucial gathering driven by its active diplomatic engagement. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye officially opened the high-level UN meeting in Dakar on January 26, 2026. The meeting is being held ahead of the United Nations Water Conference scheduled for December 2026 in Abu Dhabi. The main objective is to mobilize the international community in response to a water crisis that threatens global stability. UN statistics reveal a critical situation, with 2.2 billion people lacking access to safe drinking water. Nearly 3.5 billion people do not have adequate sanitation services. President Faye emphasized that water is an essential resource that goes beyond a sectoral issue.
Your presence in Dakar reflects the political importance the international community places on water and sanitation, not only as a sectoral issue but also as a fundamental pillar of human dignity, public health, societal stability, and shared prosperity among nations. Water is a vital resource for humanity and nature. It is essential to maintaining the balance of our planet.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic – Senegal
Echoing this sense of urgency, Retno Marsudi, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Water, issued a strong call for collective action, stressing that reality contradicts the common saying that water is life.
Water is life. It is a phrase we often hear. Unfortunately, reality tells a different story. Billions of people still do not have access to safe drinking water. Even more lack access to safe sanitation. Every day, thousands of children die from preventable water- and sanitation-related diseases. Instead of sustaining life, the global water situation continues to destroy too many lives. This is a dark reality, but we cannot give up. Giving up would mean giving up on our lives and our future.
Retno Marsudi, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Water
The focus was placed on the particularly critical situation in Africa. President Faye recalled that the continent is being hit hardest by the crisis, with 40 percent of its population lacking access to drinking water and more than 70 percent without basic sanitation services.
This situation is morally unacceptable, and as long as it persists, our collective responsibility remains engaged. Water crises, fuel food crises, weaken economies, displace populations, and intensify tensions.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic – Senegal
The meeting in Dakar aims to lay the groundwork for strong commitments by UN member states ahead of the December 2026 conference in Abu Dhabi, with the objective of ensuring universal and sustainable access to water and sanitation.
