McCornick and Neale re-elected to World Water Council, DWFI involved in World Water Forum

The 9th General Assembly of the World Water Council (WWC) re-elected DWFI Executive Director Peter McCornick to the council's board of governors during its meeting in Paris in December 2022. DWFI Director of Research Christopher Neale was re-elected as an alternate.

McCornick and Neale were elected for their first term in 2018 and again in 2022, as the planned 2021 election was delayed a year due to the pandemic.

DWFI is one of just four U.S.-based institutions in the Professional Associations and Academics college. The institute has actively participated in the World Water Council's World Water Forums, the largest international event on water, held every three years in different international locations to advance water management and sustainability. DWFI co-led the Water for Food track of the World Water Forum held in Brasilia, Brazil, in March 2018.

McCornick has been appointed to the Forum Bureau, the high-level committee directing the preparations for the 10th World Water Forum to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in May of 2024. McCornick and Neale both participated in the first planning meeting for the forum in Jakarta earlier this year andDWFI is supporting the development of the program for the upcoming forum.

"We continue to collaborate with our partners to bring the link between agriculture, food and water to the forefront of the world stage," said McCornick.

The World Water Council is an international multi-stakeholder organizationcreated in 1996 to gather the international community to convince decision-makers that water is essential for the sustainable and equitable development of the planet.

During his keynote address at the Water for Food Global Conference, which was designated as a partner event to the 10th World Water Forum, the President of the World Water Council, Loïc Fauchon, stressed that "we must stop ignoring that water is food." In his video message to the conference, Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Republic of Indonesia, encouraged attendees to "develop new initiatives and collaborative actions for water for food security" and, on behalf of the government of Indonesia, extended an invitation to attendees to bring these ideas to the 10th World Water Forum in Bali.

About the World Water Council

The World Water Council has 260 member organizations, which come from 52 countries across 5 continents and represent five Council colleges:

1. Intergovernmental institutions
2. Governments and Governmental Authorities
3. Enterprises and Facilities,
4. Civil Society and Water Users Associations
5. Professional Associations and Academics

Together, World Water Council members bring a spirit of community around one goal: Making water a global priority. To do this, the council focuses its activities around three main areas:

1. Mobilizing stakeholders and hydrodiplomacy
2. Promoting water security, and
3. Organizing the World Water Forum

The decision-making body of the organization is the Board of Governors, 35 members who are elected every three years by the General Assembly.