UN to seek commitment for radical change in water management

Next week, the United Nations will try to garner worldwide support for a radical change in the way water is managed at a highly anticipated New York conference, the first of its kind since 1977.

“The 2023 Water Conference can and should be a turning point,” said Henk Ovink, the Dutch Special Envoy for Water, who is co-leading the event with Tajikistan, on Wednesday.

ONU at least 12 heads of state and government, about 80 ministers and senior government officials, and more than 6,500 civil society representatives are expected to attend. at this meeting, which will launch the new Water Action Programme.

Photo: Photolaboratory

This grand plan will include a range of commitments already made, as well as other commitments that will be presented at the conference, to accelerate water conservation.

“Water, whether it’s too much, too little or too polluted, is the connecting factor for the big problems of our time, from food and energy to migration and urbanization,” Ovink explained at a press conference.

The Ambassador of the Netherlands emphasized that Water can no longer be seen as something local or regional, but should be seen as a global issue for the entire world. and “radically change” the way it is managed.

According to the special representative of Tajikistan for water resources, Sulton Rakhimzoda, this conference should first of all become a source of “hope”.

“Hope for the 2.1 billion people who still do not have access to safe drinking water, hope for the 3.6 billion people who still do not have access to safe sanitation, hope for the 500 million people who continue to practice open defecation, and hope for 2 .3 billion people living in countries with water problems,” he explained.

Commitment and action are urgently needed in the face of the water crisis in many areas, from protecting aquifers to combating pollution, supplying drinking water, or integrating water policy with climate policy, according to the UN.

Unlike other major international meetings, countries will not negotiate a grand agreement, but this new agenda will be based on voluntary commitments Governments, companies and other entities.

So far the United Nations has already received 360 pledges and expects more over the course of the three days of the Conference, which takes place from 22 to 24 March at the headquarters of the organization.

In addition to plenary sessions, the meeting will include dialogues on specific issues such as “Water and Health”, “Water and Sustainable Development” and “Water and Climate Change”, as well as about 550 side events, both within the UN complex and in other points. New York.

The last UN Water Conference took place in 1977. in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

(EFE)

Source: Aristegui Noticias

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