Asian Water Development Outlook 2020

The Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) 2020 shares the current water security status in Asia and the Pacific, including main findings and recommendations on water governance and finance as well as application of the AWDO framework in policy development and water management.

According to AWDO 2020, key recommendations are:

• Position water as the centerpiece of sustainable rural development by promoting water-effective irrigation agriculture (KD2), community-based water and sanitation services (KD1), and locally resilient disaster risk reduction (KD5) such as the combination of community protection and farmland flood retention. 
• Achieve urban water security (KD3) by investing in water, sanitation, and disaster risk reduction infrastructure (KD5) services not only in cities but also in slums and peripheral areas, while following a gender-based approach.
• Provide a healthy environment (KD4) for the people by drastically reducing pollution, stimulating a circular economy, increasing terrestrial protection, and embracing nature-based solutions for improving water security of other KDs.
• Increase the resilience of the water systems to avoid water-related disasters and to be prepared for climate and other global changes. Turn recent lessons of disasters into better practices of tomorrow by building back better and applying nature-based solutions.