This document, Water for the 21st Century: Vision to Action – Southern Africa was prepared for presentation at the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference at The Hague, the Netherlands, 17 to 22 March 2000.

The Vision was prepared under the guidance of the World Water Commission for the 21st Century – an initiative of the World Water Council. Development of the corresponding Action plans was executed by the Global Water Partnership (GWP). This document is an interim report as it only broadly addresses the Actions that need to be taken to reach the Vision. Over the forthcoming year, the process of identifying the solutions to support the actions will continue and the report finalised.

The Vision to Action process was designed to be as broad based as possible. Consequently, the building blocks for the development of the Vision and Action were constructed through consultations with the principal stakeholders in the major regions of the world. Through regional meetings and workshops this consultation process brought many experts together – government agencies, key water practitioners, UN agencies, donors, the private sector, and others – to establish a shared view of appropriate strategies, mechanisms for implementation, and priorities for immediate action and investment. The participatory nature of the whole process will deliver new hope for sustainable water management in the new millennium.

The Southern Africa Technical Advisory Committee (SATAC) of the Global Water Partnership gratefully acknowledges the contributions to the Vision to Action process by the Southern Africa Development Community-Water Sector Co-ordinating Unit (SADC-WSCU), the Vision Reference Group, Vision Sub-sectoral specialist working groups, Vision national contact points, stakeholders who attended various workshops to develop the Vision, the SADC Water Resources Technical Committee, the SADC Sectoral Committee of Water Ministers and The World Conservation Union Regional Office for Southern Africa (IUCN ROSA).
SATAC gratefully acknowledges the financial contributions to the Vision to Action process made by the governments of Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland and Denmark, and the World Bank.
SATAC is also grateful to the Vision Management Unit of the World Water Council for its contributions to the development of the Regional Vision.

The Global Water Partnership facilitates the exchange of knowledge and experience, and the practice of integrated water resources management. Through a worldwide network of partners, GWP identifies critical knowledge needs at both global and regional levels, helps design programmes for meeting these needs, and serves as a marketplace for providers and financiers of the required knowledge services. The World Water Council (WWC) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP) co-operate in improving water management worldwide.