RUWR: ARe yoU Water Resilient? Asian Development Bank's Initiatives and Call for Action to Strengthen Water Entities' Resilience in Asia and the Pacific - Curtain Raiser and Pre-launch Dialogue

Asia and the Pacific is the most disaster-prone region in the world. Climate change is likely to amplify and intensify the impacts of natural hazards, with unprecedented effects on local economies, populations, and the environment. Focusing on resilient water management has become urgent and central to climate change adaptation. Innovative approaches identified at the local level and aligned with national, regional, and global water goals are required to tackle these challenges.

The Water Sector Group (WSG) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has set up a new initiative called “RUWR: ARe yoU Water Resilient”. RUWR is a dedicated technical assistance platform that aims to support water entities on the ground in the Asia and the Pacific through capacity building and tools to enable resilience to shocks and stresses, including climate change, pandemics, and financial crises. The RUWR initiative aims to bring about a transformational shift toward water security and resilience in ADB’s developing member countries using a collaborative approach. It will promote learning and knowledge exchange by bringing together key stakeholders, development partners, government representatives, and water service providers from the region.

As part of the initiative, ADB is creating a virtual Asia and the Pacific Water Resilience Hub. The Water Resilience Hub will be a vehicle for strengthening water resilience by establishing partnerships; providing trainings; and developing and sharing knowledge products, innovative methods, tools, data, and digital technologies. It will do this based on needs identified by recipient entities.

ADB is hosting a 1-hour session at Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2022 on mainstreaming water resilience in Asia and the Pacific. The session will unveil details of ADB’s water resilience initiatives. A panel of experts, representing diverse water sector stakeholders, will discuss examples, challenges, entry points, and good practices of water resilience in the region. The event will also be used to announce the formal launch of the initiatives, including RUWR and the Asia and the Pacific Water Resilience Hub, as well as ADB’s forthcoming Guidance Note on Mainstreaming Water Resilience in Asia and the Pacific, at ADB’s Asia Water Forum in August 2022.