How does Africa engage on the UN 2026 Water Conference ? A humanitarian WASH perspective

The UN 2026 Water Conference, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal, is a pivotal moment for the global water community. For humanitarian WASH actors, this event and its preparatory process must meaningfully integrate the urgent needs and realities of populations lacking access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, who are often overlooked in global forums. African actors, at the forefront of humanitarian WASH response, confront compounded challenges: - Dwindling funding for life-saving interventions, - Climate and environmental crises intensifying vulnerabilities, - Restricted humanitarian access and violations of International Humanitarian Law, - Critical gaps in coordination between local and international stakeholders. This session brings together the UN 2026 Water Conference co-hosts, African and global humanitarian WASH practitioners, and key stakeholders to collectively design actionable pathways to: 1. Amplify underrepresented voices, especially field practitioners, in Conference discussions and outcomes, 2. Establish active monitoring tools to track progress from now through 2026 and beyond, 3. Translate commitments into tangible change that addresses ground-level realities. We will explore: How can we ensure the voices of affected communities and frontline WASH actors directly inform the 2026 agenda? And critically: What immediate steps must we take to make this a reality?