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This statement in the most recent Human Development Report articulates a conviction that has increasingly gained ground in the water community over recent years:
the key challenge in the water sector is not a lack of water, knowledge, financial resources or technology. In general, it is the political sphere that determines whether or
not water problems are solved, whether or not people have access to drinking water,
irrigation water and sanitation, whether our natural resource base is developed sustainable or overexploited, and whether new challenges for the water sector – such
as adaptation to climate change – will be tackled or not. Politics (the process of
decision-making of groups of people, involving the authoritative allocation of e.g.
resources), the actors, their interests and interactions determine whether progress
is made or hindered. The outcome of water politics is then reflected in water policies, the substantive outcome of the political interplay in terms of regulations, action
programs or spending priorities of the various public or private entities concerned.
The importance of the political sphere for understanding and solving water sector
problems is the basic rationale of this book. It is not the first time that the Dialogues
on Water have touched upon water politics and policies. But these Dialogues, unlike
earlier ones, focus on the political processes of policy formulation and the strategic behavior of the actors involved. The chapters assembled in this book analyze
debates and investigate water politics and policies at the international, national and
local level, each considering different aspects or different elements of policy formulation and implementation processes from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds.
They examine policies that result from power plays of state and non-state actors
alike over water resources and modalities of water service delivery and as a function of their respective means of bringing influence to bear. In line with the general
focus of Dialogues on Water, specific attention is devoted to the implications for
development cooperation |
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