In 2024, 2.1 billion people – one in four people on the planet – still did not have access to safe drinking water. At the same time, 1.5 billion people are at risk of extreme flooding. Water quality is deteriorating everywhere under pressure from population growth, urbanisation, and the demands of agriculture, energy production and industry.

Climate change is exacerbating these imbalances, leading to more frequent droughts, more severe floods, soil salinisation and the overexploitation of underground water tables. In Africa, agriculture alone accounts for over 80 per cent of water use, exacerbating tensions between economic uses, domestic needs and the preservation of ecosystems.

Therefore, ensuring equitable access to water is a major strategic issue, at the intersection of food security, public health, climate adaptation, economic stability and conflict prevention.

Priorities

For Enabel, water lies at the heart of its climate and territorial action. Our approach is based on science, data, and political dialogue. It is developed around five priorities:

Equitable access to water and sanitation services: Enabel supports access to safe drinking water and sanitation through technically appropriate, financially viable and inclusive solutions, focusing on service continuity, maintenance, water quality and strong local governance.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): We support collaborative water management, including in cross-border contexts. This approach aims to allocate the resource between human, economic and environmental uses, both now and for future generations.

Water and adaptation to climate change: Water is at the heart of climate impacts. Enabel systematically incorporates risk analysis relating to droughts, floods, salinisation and the overexploitation of resources. The organisation promotes nature-based solutions and climate-resilient infrastructure, including in urban areas.

Governance, public policies and water data: We are building the capacity of national and local institutions to improve the regulation, planning and accountability of the water sector. Our approach focuses on the collection, analysis and sharing of hydrological and climatic data, including the digital transformation of services.

Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems Nexus: Enabel integrates water management with food systems, renewable energy, health, urbanisation and ecosystem conservation in order to maximise the climate, social and economic benefits. This approach encompasses the blue economy, which drives growth, climate resilience and green jobs.

Services

• Studies, applied research and technical support: Hydrogeological and hydrological studies; assessments of catchment areas and aquifers; design and supervision of drinking water, sanitation and water supply infrastructure.
• Sustainable Water Resources Management: Support for the implementation of IWRM; groundwater management; piezometric monitoring; development of regional and cross-border water management plans.
• Water and climate adaptation: Integration of climate risks into projects; nature-based solutions (infiltration, retention, erosion control, wetlands); water resilience in rural and urban areas.
• Governance and social engineering: Institutional capacity building; support for public water policies; local governance facilities; mainstreaming of gender and vulnerable groups.
• Innovation, data and scientific partnerships: Development of water information systems; telemetering and environmental monitoring; action-research and partnerships with Belgian, African and international universities and research centres, as well as with the private sector and civil society.
• Capacity development: Enabel works with both communities and technical staff to improve the overall understanding of water-related challenges, particularly sanitation and water supply for productive purposes, though not limited to these.