Department of Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has called for collective leadership in the efforts to manage water efficiently for sustainable development.

Speaking at a high-level panel on Financing for development post-2015 during World Water Week currently taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, Mokonyane emphasised the importance of political will in finding solutions to the challenges of poverty and under-development that confront the world.

She was joined by the Ministers responsible for water from Sweden, the Kingdom of Jordan, Peru, Spain and Tajikistan.

Mokonyane highlighted progress made in placing issues of human development at the centre of the world agenda and drew the comparison that "twenty years ago, bilateral and multilateral relations among States were based on military cooperation and that today, states are cooperating more on issues of sustainable development; water, climate change and global warming".

She also made a call for integrated planning between government, the private sector and research organisations to ensure that there is a common vision pursued at state, regional, continent and global levels with differences in implementation to suit country challenges and circumstances.

"Planning, innovation, partnerships and community mobilisation must be the pillars of our efforts to drive the agenda of water management and sanitation provision. There is a need for better coordination of resources,” said Mokonyane.

World Water Week has brought together world Ministers, experts and business leaders to engage on the theme 'Water for Development' and the need to increase cooperation as the world begins to address the Sustainable Development Goals.