Located in the centre of the Mediterranean region, Malta has always been a meeting point which facilitated the integration of different cultures and contributed to the development of the Mediterranean’s distinctive characteristics. This applies for the water sector as well, thanks to all those who have passed by Malta’s shores and who played a part in the development of Malta’s distinctive Mediterranean Water Culture. Our Mediterranean region is facing unprecedented challenges, due to factors such as increasing populations and climate change. We are therefore called to identify increasingly sustainable solutions which can ensure the well-being of our citizens. I am sure that as host of the 4^th Mediterranean Water Forum, Malta will provide the necessary discussion environment conducive for the development of an equitable strategy for the sustainable management of water resources in the Mediterranean. Our country has played a critical role in optimising the management of water resource security in the context of a broader sustainable development agenda. In this regard, the Mediterranean’s context can provide an important contribution to the 9^th World Water Forum, in particular on its focus area of Water Security for Peace and Development. I look forward to hosting you in Malta for the 4^th Mediterranean Water Forum in December. I am confident that it will help to contribute to the development of our sustainable water management frameworks in the challenging post-COVID environment.

It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate to the 4th Mediterranean Water Forum, on the road to the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar 2021 on ‘Water Security for Peace and Development’. After Marrakech (2011), Murcia (2014) and Cairo (2018), the 4th edition of the Forum will take place in Malta. With demographic change, rising living standards, tourism development, land planning and the impact of climate change, water security today and tomorrow is a great challenge. It is not only a question of dealing with the qualitative and quantitative problems of water resources but also of securing water use and biodiversity. Securing water use requires technological innovation and significant behaviour changes. These major orientations based on the three pillars of governance, knowledge and finance, can only be achieved through strong political decisions. Water must be a decision priority. The Mediterranean region brings together all water-related crisis situations and all solutions to deal with them. The Mediterranean Water Forum in Malta is an excellent opportunity to promote our responses for a better water management on earth.

Water is an invaluable resource. It is essential to all life, all ecosystems and all human activity. Yet, water is still not appreciated as it should. That is why, since its creation, the World Water Council has been working to make water a global political priority, mainly through the organization of the World Water Forums. The time has come to transform our speeches into tangible and concrete solutions. It is also time to approach water in a cross-cutting manner. Water must be inseparable from energy, food, education and health. The 9th World Water Forum will take place in March 2022 and for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa in Dakar, Senegal. The contribution of the Mediterranean will be crucial for the 9^th Forum of Dakar in view of the similar challenges encountered. We all have a responsibility towards water. Let us never lose sight of the reasons for our commitment, and above all for who we are fighting for. Several billion people are concerned worldwide. Join us in Malta for this 4^th Mediterranean Water Forum and let us bring together the long-awaited solutions to Dakar in 2022.

Our common efforts in the next decade have to focus on facing this urgent issue that goes way beyond climate change and implies reconsidering our approach to the region’s limited resources. The UfM is committed to supporting its member states to achieve the objectives of the UfM Water Agenda and the Financial Strategy for Water, as a contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Forum aims to present the Mediterranean as a hub of innovative water management solutions which have been locally developed or adapted to address the prevailing challenges of the region including those related to climate change impacts.  It will also outline how the Mediterranean region is developing an integrated implementation framework through the Union for the Mediterranean’s Water Agenda, while also servicing other important political and technical regional and sub-regional frameworks, which ensures that different water management actions reinforce each other thereby providing a comprehensive solution for evolving needs.  It will also showcase the replication potential of these solutions to address emerging problems at a global scale, including as a contributor to jobs, prosperity, stability and peace.