Upcoming UN Water Conference - Press Conference (15 March 2023) | United Nations

Press conference by Lotta Tahtinen, Chief of the Outreach and Partnerships Branch, Division of Sustainable Development Goals in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), along with Henk Ovink, Special Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Water and Sulton Rahimzoda, Special Envoy of the President of Tajikistan for Water. A UN official said, “Water action can increase food security and equality between genders. Water action keeps children in school, communities at peace, and nature healthy. The time to act is now.” The United Nations General Assembly, with support from the Governments of the Netherlands and Tajikistan, will convene the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023. Speaking to reports today (15 Jan) in New York on the expectations for the upcoming UN Water Conference, Lotta Tahtinen, Chief of Service, Sustainable Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said, “A key outcome of the conference will be an ambitious Water Action Agenda, which will capture new water-related commitments from UN member states, the UN system and other stakeholders.” She continued, “Many of these commitments are ambitious, both in scope and funding, with several commitments, mobilizing millions and, in a few cases, billions of dollars for water action.” Also addressing reporters, Henk Ovink, Special Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Water, stated, “We rapidly have to figure out how to repair and replenish the water cycle, even as we prosper, and the good news is that we do have what it takes to put water back on a sustainable track.” He explained, “We have the scientific knowledge, we have most of the technologies and capacities, and we have the financing.” He asked, “do we have the political and societal will to address the water crisis head-on and reinvent our governance and finance, our policies and politics, our practices and approaches?” Ovink concluded, “The UN 2023 Water conference calls for water to be prioritized in decision-making, both in policy and politics, public and private. It is only the beginning. The beginning of a global change in how we understand, value, and manage water.” Sulton Rahimzoda, Special Envoy of the President of Tajikistan for Water, said, “This conference is a conference of hope. Hope for 2.1 billion people who still do not have access to safely managed drinking water. Hope for 3.6 billion people who lack access to safely managed sanitation. Hope for 500 million people still practicing open defecation and hope for 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries, of which 733 million living in high and critically waters risk countries.” The Conference will feature an opening and closing ceremony, six plenary meetings, and five multi-stakeholder interactive dialogues. It will also feature a number of high-level special events and side events organized by Member States, the UN system, and other stakeholders. The outcome of the Conference will be a summary of the Conference proceedings and new commitments, pledges, and actions by Governments and all stakeholders toward achieving SDG 6 and other water-related goals and targets, compiled in the Water Action Agenda. The UN 2023 Water Conference and the Water Action Agenda will unite the world for water. The key building blocks of the Water Action Agenda are commitment to action, sustained and scalable implementation, follow-up, and review processes. These blocks will enable replication and scaling up of what works and bring successful solutions to a global scale.


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