On the occasion of World Water Day, which falls tomorrow 22 March, Italy confirms that at the heart of its action in the Mediterranean is the issue of water as a lever for sustainable development and cooperation. In this spirit, and at the instigation of Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Rome will host two high-level events in 2026 to relaunch the dialogue on water as a resource for peace and growth in the Mediterranean: the second ministerial meeting on water of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the first Euro-Mediterranean Forum on water, which will take place at the end of September. The aim of the ministerial meeting will be to combine political dialogue with operational and effective water cooperation between the members of the Union. In turn, the Euro-Mediterranean Forum, strongly synergistic in terms of objectives and themes at the Ministerial, organized by the One Water Committee with the support of the Ciheam of Bari and in collaboration with the UfM and the Mediterranean Water Institute of Marseille (IME), will offer an operational platform that will involve several subjects to translate political commitments into concrete actions. More than 40 delegations will participate including UfM member states and non-UfM member states, observers and international organisations. The Forum will be divided into 10 high-level segments and over 70 seminars, according to a multidisciplinary approach, with the aim of identifying shared solutions to the challenges of water resource management with a concrete and effective approach, inspired by trust in human action and new technologies, and the peaceful and sustainable sharing of water resources. World Water Day was established by the UN to raise awareness of water resources in the international community: according to the United Nations, more than 2.1 billion people in the world do not have safe access to drinking water and basic sanitation.
