Allow me to pay my respects to His Majesty King Letsie III and Her Majesty the Queen ‘Masenate,

The Right Honourable the Prime Minister, Ntsokoane Sam Matekane,

Honourable Ministers in His Majesty’s Cabinet, in particular,

The Honourable Minister of Natural Resources, Mohlomi Moleko

Their Excellencies Heads of Diplomatic missions and international organisations and members of their teams.

Representatives of Government Ministries,

Bo-‘M’e le Bo-Ntate,

All participants in today’s event,

Khotsong,

It is a great pleasure for me join you today at the Water Sector Forum, reconvened again after a four year break. The forum this week comes at an opportune time as we join the World to commemorate World Water Day under the theme “Water for Peace” on the 22^nd March 2024.

The Water Sector Forum provides a platform to all involved in the water sector to exchange information and present progress against targets of projects and programmes. This forum plays a critical role in avoiding operating in silos and in promoting dialogue.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)’s targets, and particularly SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation for all - is in less than 6 years away. With 72% (as of 2020) of the population with access to basic drinking water services, Lesotho must accelerate progress.

Today we gather under SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and the European Union is committed towards supporting efforts in water security and access in Lesotho.

Lesotho is often described as the “Water Tower of Southern Africa”, and portrayed as a country rich in water, which is undoubtedly true if we consider that around 1/3 of the water in Gauteng comes from the highlands of Lesotho and that Lesotho contributes to 40% of the Senqu-Orange river basin.

At the same time, this image of abundance is in contrast with the lived reality of most people in Lesotho who too often have to walk long distances to access water sources, who experience malfunctioning water delivery services, or are faced with polluted water sources.

We are acutely aware of this paradox. For this reason, the number one priority of the European Union’s cooperation with Lesotho is to ensure that everyone enjoys the right to safe drinking water.

The European Union has been a strategic partner of Lesotho for nearly 50 years, supporting diverse programmes and initiatives covering areas such as water and sanitation, renewable energy, infrastructure, social protection, and governance.

Currently, over 75% of the resources in EU’s cooperation strategy is going towards the support for a green and resilient economy, and the EU is one of the lead donors in the Lesotho water sector.

Our cooperation in the water sector is centred around:

1. Providing equitable access to water and sanitation: In the past, the EU has supported the construction of the Metolong Dam benefiting 400 000 people, as well as the development of water supply networks for Maputsoe, Teyateyaneng, and Roma. These initiatives have benefited 112 000 people in 28,000 households by ensuring access to safe drinking water. Additionally, we have contributed to the rehabilitation of wastewater treatment plants in Maseru, benefiting over 100,000 people. Furthermore, our support extended to the construction of the Muela Hydropower station, which currently fulfils almost half of Lesotho's power requirements. We are currently contributing to the Lesotho Lowlands Development Project Phase 2 for expansion of infrastructure in Hlotse and Maputsoe as well as Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek which will benefit nearly 280,000 people, once completed. Soon we will be launching a new initiative called Metsi a Lesotho focusing specifically on water and sanitation in 250 rural communities.
2.  Ensuring that land and water resources are managed sustainably, most notably through our contribution to the flagship initiative ReNoka. The impact of the climate crisis is before our own eyes. Lesotho has made an important choice to embed in an innovative programme ReNOKA to address it and the choice is starting to bear fruits. Like with many Sesotho names, the programme’s title has a purpose and a special meaning: ‘we are a river’. Like the individual streams meet to form a river and sustain life, ReNOKA represents a network of individuals, communities, professionals and leaders coming together to contribute to the restoration of water, land, and the long-term prosperity of all Basotho. The European Union trusts that when we rally together and each does their bit in land and water resources management, Lesotho will meet her water and land demands as well as contribute significantly to the region.

The European Union is a steadfast supporter of the equitable access of water for all, investments in building human capital through the technical assistance in Ministry of Natural Resources and the programme for water management training, under the ReNOKA Programme, the EU and the Government of Germany have funded the launch in the academic year 2023/24 of the Master of Science in Integrated Catchment and Water Resource Management (MSc in ICWRM) programme. We believe that capacity building will benefit Lesotho now and in the future.

To conclude, the Water Sector Forum is a vehicle which will promote dialogue and information sharing, enhance reporting, planning, coordination and monitoring within the sector and ensure more efficient use of resources and to promote effective stakeholder involvement and participation across the sector to ensure sustainability of interventions proposed and implemented.

It would be remise of me to not convey my deep appreciation to you the Honourable Minister for the resuscitation of this forum in the 200^th celebration of the founding of the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Thank you all for your dedication and commitment.

Khotso! Pula! Nala!