High-Level Meeting on Water | General Assembly of the United Nations
As per General Assembly Resolution A/RES/73/226, the President of the General Assembly will convene a one-day high-level meeting to promote the implementation of the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda in support of the implementation of the Decade on Water and Sustainable Development (2018-2028) and the high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF).
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the New Urban Agenda represent a collective global commitment, a clear roadmap. However, Member States need support to strengthen their ability to comprehensively review and accelerate progress towards meeting the global water-related goals. With only 10 years to go to achieve the SDGs, we need an immediate and integrated global response to rapidly improve progress on SDG 6. The United Nations, Governments and key stakeholders are fully behind the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework which was launched during the HLPF in July 2020. This Framework is galvanizing the international community’s support around five key accelerators: financing, data and information, innovation, governance, and capacity development.
With the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrating the critical importance of adequate access to safe water and sanitation for preventing and containing diseases, and climate change increasing variability in the water cycle, the Decade on Water and Sustainable Development (2018-2028) must succeed. The meeting will seek to showcase solutions in various contexts, and also identify the lessons learnt and best practices in implementing the water related targets and goals.
Opening Segment
Opening Statements will be delivered by the President of the General Assembly and other high-level representatives including a keynote speaker.
H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly
Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General
H.E. Mr. Munir Akram, President of the UN Economic and Social Council
H.E. Mr. Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan
H.E. Mr. Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, UN-Water Chair
Ms. Catalina Silva, Youth Ambassador of CONCAUSA
11:00 AM-3:00 PM
High-Level Plenary
Member States will share their experiences and lessons on promoting the progress of achieving SDG6 at national, regional and global level and accelerating concrete actions through multilateral cooperation to meet the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda.
3:00-4:25 PM
Panel 1: Data and Information and Governance
In this interactive discussion, panelists will present concrete acceleration actions for water and sanitation focusing on two of the accelerators set forth in the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework: data and information and governance. They will demonstrate how to scale-up international cooperation and accelerate concrete action to meet the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. The session further aims to generate commitments for the SDG Acceleration Actions on SDG 6.
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
Mayor, Mexico City
Xiaoyuan Ren
Founder & Director, MyH2O
Dr. David Kreamer
President, Interntional
Association of
Hydrogeologists
Nuraini Rahma Hanifa
Secretary-General,
U-INSPIRE Alliance
Sareen M. Malik
Executive Secretary,
African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation
Henrietta H. Fore
Executive Director, UNICEF (Moderator)
4:25-5:50 PM
Panel 2: Financing, Innovation and Capacity Building
In this interactive discussion, panellists will present acceleration actions for water and sanitation focusing on three of the accelerators set forth in the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework: financing, innovation and capacity development. They will demonstrate how to scale-up international cooperation and accelerate concrete action in these areas to meet the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. The session further aims to generate commitments for the SDG Acceleration Actions on SDG 6..
Jennifer Sara
Global Director, World Bank
Clive Allison
Global Sustainability
Director, Unilever
Dr. Paul O'Callaghan
Founder & CEO, Blue Tech Research
Ernest Gibson
Panel Member, Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change of the UN
Shamila Nair-Bedouelle
Assistant Director-
General, UNESCO
Achim Steiner
Administrator, UNDP (Moderator)
5:50-6:00 PM
Closing Segment
The President of the General Assembly will highlight main messages and commitments in the lead up to the Midterm Review of the Water Action Decade.
Key Documents
- Letter dated 8 March conveying the updated programme and provisional list of speakers for the high-level meeting on the “Implementation of the Water-related Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda”
- Letter dated 15 February 2021 conveying the revised Concept Note and draft programme for the high-level meeting on the “Implementation of the Water-related Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda”
- Letter dated 19 January 2021 conveying the concept note for the high-level meeting on the “Implementation of the Water-related Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda”
- General Assembly resolution A/RES/73/226 entitled “Midterm comprehensive review of the implementation of the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018–2028”
Stakeholder Registration
Non-Governmental Stakeholders are asked to register their participation by March 16th, 2021 at: http://bit.ly/WaterHLEStakeholders
Where to watch
The High-Level Meeting on Water will be broadcast live at http://webtv.un.org/
SDG6 Updates
SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework – Action Space
– As delivered –
Remarks by H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
18 March 2021
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us this morning for the high-level meeting to promote the implementation of the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda.
It is my hope that, through both our plenary discussion and the two panels, we can deliver on the ambitions set forth in the theme of today’s meeting, which is to “scale-up multilateral cooperation and accelerate concrete actions to meet the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
This discussion is long overdue. Water is integral to sustainable development, but we are well behind on the goals and targets that we have set ourselves.
By current estimates:
– Some 2.2 billion people – almost a third of the global population – continue to lack access to safely managed drinking water;
– 4.2 billion people – more than half of the planet’s population – live without safely managed sanitation;
– 2 billion people don’t have a decent toilet of their own;
– and 3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities – even in the midst of a global pandemic.
If I may be candid: it is a moral failure that we live in a world with such high levels of technical innovation and success, but we continue to allow billions of people to exist without clean drinking water or the basic tools to wash their hands.
And make no mistake, this is a global failure that has far-reaching implications for all of us.
We must remember:
– Water is life. We simply cannot live on this planet – and certainly not in any healthy capacity – if we are deprived of this most basic human need. Our entire agricultural system – all of the food we consume – is dependent upon water supplies. The same extends to all other life on this planet. Every ecosystem, every species, depends upon water.
– Water is sustainability. Safe drinking water systems and adequate sanitation is essential to ensure cities and towns grow sustainably. Without these core services and needs met, our ability to provide education, healthcare, and jobs and livelihoods will suffer.
– And Water is empowerment. While we have recognized women’s central role in the provision, management, and safeguarding of water, the implementation of this core principle remains far from adequate. For women and girls across the globe, the daily trek to collect water can be an impediment to accessing education, healthcare, or work. We cannot empower people, we cannot raise them up, when they are held back.
Delivering on SDG6 and guaranteeing water and sanitation for all is a win across the board. Water is both an economic good and an SDG accelerator, facilitating progress on each of the other SDGs. For this reason, we must see the recovery from COVID-19 as an inflection point in the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, and re-focus our efforts on sustainable and integrated water management.
Volkan Bozkir
President of the UN General Assembly
Excellencies,
I could point to dozens of examples where the lack of water or sanitation is impacting people around the world, but the most obvious and most topical is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The fact that billions of people have had to face this pandemic without basic handwashing facilities and that health providers in some of the Least Developed Countries do not have running water is impossible to reconcile, especially when we live in a world of such abundance and of such profound innovation.
This stark example of global inequality can and must spur us to action.
While we cannot go back and change what has happened, we must acknowledge our failings and use this opportunity to root out the systemic gaps that have allowed the crisis to flourish. When the next global pandemic or crisis strikes, and we know that it will, we will have no excuse for having not acted now.
Delivering on SDG6 and guaranteeing water and sanitation for all is a win across the board. Water is both an economic good and an SDG accelerator, facilitating progress on each of the other SDGs. For this reason, we must see the recovery from COVID-19 as an inflection point in the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, and re-focus our efforts on sustainable and integrated water management.
Excellencies,
In light of all that I have outlined, our discussions and statements today must focus on tangible, concrete actions that deliver for the people of the world.
Among the many areas where I hope to see progress is support for the SDG6 Global Accelerator Framework, which promises to deliver fast results at scale, with an emphasis on COVID response and recovery. The Framework, and other efforts like it, offer a clear path to ramp up progress at the country level, yet they remain vastly underfunded. As it is, the OECD notes that there is a critical need for investments in water infrastructure to the tune of $500 billion dollars by 2030.
For this reason, I call on the international community to provide greater financial and capacity-building support to water and sanitation related activities, particularly through their support to COVID-19 recovery.
In doing so, I ask that you consider and prioritize countries in special situations, notably LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, and that you make every effort to support those who have borne the brunt of the water-deficit, particularly women and girls.
Finally, I ask that we, as an international community, work closely with civil society groups and with young people to strengthen water-related goals and activities. Young people and local groups, with their ear to the ground and their nimble ability to act, are often the first to usher in new technologies or approaches; we must take advantage of this tool and empower all people in this process.
Governments alone cannot achieve the 2030 Agenda and strong engagement of stakeholders is essential for the achievement of all SDGs. It is therefore important that we enable stakeholders from different sectors, ranging from civil society and academia, to the private sector, to fully participate in discussions in related events. For this purpose, I have designated a special part of the panel discussion, dubbed “CSO Spotlight”, to give as many stakeholders as we can accommodate an opportunity to voice their concerns, visions, plans, successes and lessons, and calls for action.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
In closing, allow me to emphasize that our discussion today is not just about liquid in a bottle…
It’s presence or absence means so, so much more.
It is about dignity.
It is about opportunity.
It is about our health and our ability to survive.
And it is about equality.
I thank you again for joining us today.
I very much look forward to hearing your commitments and discussions.
Thank you very much. It is my pleasure.
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