“Water is life, cutting across all global goals and 2030 agenda”, a simple message explicitly points out the vital role of water and sanitary to sustainable development for all human beings.
The message was repeated many times during the briefing to Member States on the Secretary General’s action for the upcoming International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” 2018 – 2028.
The event, organized by UN-Water on 8th December 2017, reaffirms the critical role that water plays in survival, health, dignity and prosperity. As climate change is aggravating increasing water-related challenges, causing natural disaster, financial loss, causalities, and even conflicts, it is essential to prioritize water and sanitation and mobilize commitment, cooperation and coordination to ensure implementation.
The International Decade for Action – Water for Sustainable Development was adopted in December 2016. Three Decade objectives were noted at the briefing: advance sustainable development, energize implementation of existing programmes and projects, and inspire actions to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
Under the Decade objectives, UN-Water and specialized agencies have been working closely on knowledge dissemination, good practice exchange, activities mobilizations at the global, regional and country levels.
Launching the water Decade can serve as a helpful and flexible platform for implementation of the water-related SDG 6 (water and sanitation), SDG 7 (energy) and SDG 11 (sustainable living).
Work streams and timelines were presented in the briefing. Despite raising awareness and cooperation, representatives from UN-Water and UN DESA agreed that, now it was only the very first stage in exploring effective means to fulfill water and sanitation for all. They further encouraged and welcomed constructive suggestions and good practice.
The briefing followed by an interactive session with participants of Member States and UN agencies actively presenting their constructive inputs. The representative from Japan highlighted the importance of water to realize SDG 11, urging more attention towards water disaster monitoring and financing. Other UN Member States noted “making commitment” would play a key role in binding and navigating actions to bring substantive results.
A series of events and forums on the issue are forthcoming. The SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation will be published in June 2018, ahead of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development where the Member States will review water-related goals in depth. Member states, relevant UN bodies, and agencies could take the opportunity to give reviews and share effective means, including monitoring, financing, capacity development and partnership between private and public sector.
Find out water facts and actions on UN-Water.
Source: UNSDN
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