Water Transversality is Unlocking Equity through Integration

''There is an urgent need to adopt a transversality approach to water governance, one that breaks sectoral silos and embeds water at the centre of planning for poverty reduction, health, agriculture, energy, and climate resilience. Traditional, single-sector strategies are no longer adequate in the face of complex and socio-economic inequalities. Instead, we need integrated policy frameworks that bring government, industry, civil society, and communities together to co-create solutions that benefit both people and the planet'' highlighted Sh. Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Government of India, captivating over 500 online participants, experts, and global participants at a high-level policy dialogue on ''Water Transversality for Poverty Alleviation and Social Inclusion'' organized by the India Water Foundation as an official side event of the 64th Session of the UN Commission on Social Development. The event spotlighted water not as a mere utility, but as a transformative force weaving through health, livelihoods, gender equity, and climate resilience especially in a nation where rural poverty and water stress intersect dramatically. He painted a vivid picture of India's water revolution under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, spotlighting Jal Jeevan Mission's leap from 60% to over 81% rural tap water coverage, reaching 15 crore homes. Echoing this urgency, Sh. Amit Gosh, Additional Chief Secretary for Health, Medical Welfare, and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh, shared a stark personal tale: as a young trainee, contaminated village water hospitalized him yet locals endured it daily. In UP, where 53% of female adolescents battle anemia tied to waterborne ills, Gosh framed water transversality a ''pro-poor poverty intervention. He called for convergence: linking water to nutrition, health surveillance, and even medical colleges for evidence-based inclusion, declaring poverty ''the biggest polluter.'' From NITI Aayog, Yugal Kishore Joshi urged placing water ''at the center of development,'' drawing from Singapore's integrated model blending housing, industry, and education. ''Water issues are management issues,'' Joshi stressed, he spotlighted the water transversality is the need of the day. Secretary General, Global Alliance for Sustainable Planet Dr. Satya Tripathi warned of India's tough bargain 18% of world population, 4% freshwater exacerbated by groundwater overuse since the Green Revolution, plummeting soil carbon from 3% to 0.5%. Dismissing silos, he demanded water guide every decision, from natural farming saving 50% water in Andhra Pradesh to climate-neutral AI hubs buying water credits. ''Water is politics, economics, social our existence,'' he said, urging transversality to avert crisis. Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation, set the tone by emphasizing water's transversality as a unifying force across SDGs, transforming scarcity into resilient livelihoods through renewables, nutrition, and green jobs. The event was moderated by Shweta Tyagi, Chief Functionary, IWF who opened with a warm global welcome and seamless transitions, featured amplifying voices like Dr. A B Pandya (GWP South Asia), Dr. Ritesh Kumar (Wetlands International), Ms. Dalia Sabri (IWRM), Ms. Stefania Curado (FAO Mountain Partnership), and Dr. Dipak Ranjan Sen (IWMI) highlighting equitable agriculture (73% water use), wetlands as natural infrastructure, gender time-savings, mountain ''water towers,'' and AI-driven nexus modeling for ESG outcomes. Shweta' Tyagi, moderator of the event powerfully captured the dialogue's essence: ''When water reaches the last household with reliability and fairness, it becomes the most quiet and most powerful instrument of social inclusion.'' Water Transversality is an integrated, cross-sectoral approach that positions water as the central connecting thread across development systems linking water with energy, food, health, environment, climate, economy, governance, and social equity. It recognises that water flows through every dimension of human and ecological well-being. Agriculture depends on it, energy production relies on it, public health is shaped by it, ecosystems are sustained by it, and economic growth is constrained or enabled by it. Therefore, policies, investments, and governance frameworks must be designed in an interconnected manner rather than in silos. All the speakers unanimously and emphatically underscored the urgent need to adopt Water Transversality as the pathway toward a resilient and water-secure future. The concept of Water Transversality, pioneered and institutionalized by the India Water Foundation, was acknowledged as both visionary and pragmatic an idea that has evolved from a framework into a lived and actionable reality. (This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)