Public Utilities Minister participates in CWWA Conference in Guyana.

 Declaration of Georgetown 2023 Final – Click to see Declaration

The Minister of Public Utilities, The Honourable Marvin Gonzales, travelled to Georgetown Guyana on
October 23, 2023 to October 26, 2023 along with a team of senior officials from the Water and
Sewerage Authority to participate in the 32ndCaribbean Water and Waste Water Association Annual
Conference for Caribbean Ministers in charge of Water.

The theme of the Conference was “accelerating Change in the Water, Waste Water and Solid Waste Sector”.

The Conference focused on a wide range of issues in the water sector in the Caribbean region including disaster risk management, climate change,
sector financing, disaster preparedness, utility insurance for disasters and pooled procurement,
international and regional partnerships to accelerate a climate ready Caribbean region. The Ministers
present discussed Programmes and initiatives in their respective countries which are geared towards
achieving water security whilst at the same time preparing water utility agencies for the onslaught of
climate change and other environmental hazards that threaten water security and water availability to
Caribbean peoples.

The Honourable Marvin Gonzales led a presentation at the High Level Conference on the recent
Inaugural Water Loss Conference which was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad in March 2023.

At the end of the High Level meetings, the Ministers present signed the DECLARATION OF GEORGETOWN 2023.

The Declaration commits Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for water to the following:

• To reviewing the water sector governance, legal and institutional framework to mainstream
integrated water resources management in order to achieve water security, universal access to
water and sanitation and the sustainable development goals;
• To build capacity for the Caribbean water and sanitation sector through Caribbean Water and
Waste Water Association Research and Education Foundation;
• To collaborate with the Inter – American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development
Bank to prepare a concept note for a Non-Revenue Water training programme for practitioners
in the Caribbean by the next high Level Forum;
• That the IDB and the CDB, as accredited entities of the Green Climate Fund, begin, on behalf of
the Caribbean constituency, the process of preparing an application to the GCF for a Caribbean
water sector resilience programme.

The next High Level Caribbean Regional Water and Waste Water Conference 2024 will be held in Port of
Spain of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago