Foreword

Over the past decade, the OECD has accompanied several countries in their efforts to reform water policies as a means to achieve sustainable growth and development. The demand-driven national Water Policy Dialogues help governments at all levels set the water agenda and facilitate ambitious policy reform in a shared responsibility with stakeholders by:

• Assessing a country’s performance in terms of designing and implementing water policies, and identifying key pressing and emerging challenges.

• Engaging in a constructive and collaborative dialogue with stakeholders to identify the key issues and build consensus on potential ways forward.

• Providing a clear menu of options for reform, building on international good practice and a robust analysis of the specific characteristics in the country.

• Establishing a realistic action plan, grounded in multi-stakeholder policy discussions, and laying down short, medium and long-term measures; and

• Initiating momentum for change that derives from political buy-in acquired in the data collection, analysis, and consultation phases.

The OECD carried out such national policy dialogues in countries such as Mexico, the Netherlands, Brazil, Korea, Jordan, Tunisia, and currently in Peru, focusing on various elements of water policy reform, including multi-level governance, regulation, financing and pricing, water allocation, basin management and private sector participation. In all these countries, the OECD independent and external view, as well as the high-level political leadership and commitment have provided impetus for change and improvement.

This national Policy Dialogue with Argentina is a valuable addition to this series. It assesses whether current water governance systems are functioning optimally in the country and provides policy advice to adjust them where needed. It also holds much potential for concrete follow-up and implementation thanks to the fruitful collaboration with the IDB throughout the process, which provides avenues for mainstreaming the report’s recommendations in future technical assistance with Argentina.

Foreword