Water is vital to maintain health, growing food, generating energy, managing the environment, and creating jobs. However, climate change is occurring at an alarming rate and has the most significant impact on water. As a result of climate change, water-related effects are already being felt in the form of more severe and frequent droughts and floods. Changes in rainfall distribution, soil moisture, glacier and ice/snow melt, river, and groundwater flow, higher average temperatures, and changes in precipitation and temperature extremes will affect the availability of water resources. Furthermore, these factors are expected to worsen the quality of water. This puts adaptation in water at the heart of a robust global response to climate change.
Climate change adaptation is a necessity now, and water management should be a central element in the adaptation strategy of any country. However, a considerable challenge is managing water resources when almost half of the world’s total land surface is drained by international river basins. Since both water and climate change are transboundary issues, transboundary cooperation in managing water and adaptation to climate change is necessary to facilitate a more effective response.
Egypt played an outstanding role in climate change adaptation and proved a real pioneer on the road to development and sustainability. In this context, Egypt hosted the United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27) in November 2022 at Sharm El-Sheik.
For the first time in COP history, water has been given its dedicated day at COP27 due to being recognized as a crucial part of mitigating climate change. At Water Day, COP27 Presidency launched the Action on Water Adaptation and Resilience (AWARE) initiative which was prepared in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The initiative aimed at decreasing water waste worldwide, improving water supply, and supporting the implementation of mutually agreed upon policies and methods for cooperative water-related adaptation action and its co-benefits. It also seeks to promote cooperation and interlinkages between water and climate action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030 (SDGs), especially the water-related goal of SDG6.

The CWW is now recognized as the most outstanding water event in Egypt and the Middle East. It receives immense attention from all stakeholders who consider water a crucial element of life. Since it started, CWW has evolved into a premier international forum for the discussion of water issues and has become the first platform in the middle east and Africa for all stakeholders to address and analyze water issues constructively.
The sixth edition of the CWW series of conferences, Cairo Water Week 2023, will take place from 29th October to 2^nd November 2023 in Cairo – Egypt, addressing the main theme “Action on Water Adaptation for Sustainability.” This year’s event will discuss and emphasize the adaptation actions in the water sector and ensure its vitality to achieving sustainability for the first time in this series. Furthermore, as part of the event, several related sub-themes and sub-topics will be discussed in plenary and technical sessions organized by reputed international and regional organizations.
In addition to developing solutions, practical tools, policies, and concrete measures to support future generations’ safety and well-being, CWW has a primary objective of advancing science and knowledge so we can better understand the current and future water challenges.