New York hosts global water conference next week

                        By Dr Babatope Babalobi and Racheal Ogundipe

New York, United States’ leading commercial city sitting at the mouth of the Hudson river, whose water empties into the North Atlantic Ocean, hosts the biggest Water conference in a generation, March 22-24, 2023.

Tagged UN 2023 Water Conference, and formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018 – 2028), will take place at UN Headquarters in New York, co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

The conference is holding as part of the Water Action Decade, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to help put a greater focus on water, commenced on World Water Day, 22 March 2018, and runs through World Water Day, 22 March 2028. The Decade aims to advance the sustainable development and integrated management of water resources for the achievement of social, economic and environmental objectives through cooperation and partnership at all levels. The last UN conference on water was held in 1977 in Mar del Plata, Argentina

The  2023 Water Conference organised as part of the water decade will address global water-related issues and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) of ensuring availability and sustainable water and sanitation management by 2030.

The targets for SDG 6 include:

• 6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
• 6.2 By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
• 6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
• 6.4 By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
• 6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
• 6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
• 6.A By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
• 6.B Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

Billions of people worldwide still live without safely managed drinking water and sanitation, even though access to both services has long been defined as a human right. Water and poverty are closely linked. Without water, there is no development;  and eradicating poverty is impossible. With many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) off track, progress in the implementation of Goal 6 (water and sanitation) is key to the achievement of other SDGs, particularly on health, food, gender equity, education, livelihoods, industry, climate and the environment

The UN 2023 Water Conference is expected to adopt the Water Action Agenda as a main outcome representing voluntary commitments of countries and stakeholders to meet global water-related goals and targets.

The conference aims to:

• Promote stakeholder collaboration and partnership to achieve SDG 6 a
• Increase awareness and understanding of water-related challenges and opportunities through its sessions and discussions and
• Identify innovative solutions for sustainable water management.

The Conference will adopt the Water Action Agenda as a main outcome, which represents the commitments of countries and stakeholders. The Agenda will help mobilize action across countries, sectors and stakeholders to meet global water-related goals and targets.

Preparatory meetings:

The conference and its preparatory process have been organised based on three principles: inclusive, action-oriented, and cross-sectoral. Participation of Member States, the UN system and other stakeholders is fundamental to realising these principles.

• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) organised the Pan-European Regional Preparatory Meeting for the UN 2023 Water Conference (12-13 April 2022- https://unece.org/prep-meeting-2023-water-conference
• The Dushanbe Conference https://dushanbewaterprocess.org/- 6-9 June 2022
• The African Regional Consultations https://www.uneca.org/events/african-climate-policy-centre/african-regional-consultations-on-the-mid-term-review-of-the- 13-14 June 2022

The Africa Regional Consultations took place on the 13th and 14th of June, 2022. They provided a platform for African countries, the international community and UN agencies to take stock and reaffirm their commitment to solving Africa’s water crisis and collectively implement the actions envisaged in the African Water Vision, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030) on water (SDG 6) and the AU Agenda 2063.

• The UN-Water Summit on Groundwater https://groundwater-summit.org/ -7-8 December 2022
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), through its Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG), organised an online consultation to compile views, experiences and proposals from all stakeholders concerning the potential themes for the United Nations 2023 Water Conference interactive dialogues.

The online consultation was open between 10 February and 10 March 2022. The consultation was held through an open online form. The form intended to collect inputs from non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector, philanthropic organisations, major groups and other stakeholders as contributions to the preparatory process for the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. Information about the global online stakeholder consultation was broadly disseminated through mailing lists, UN official websites and social media channels.

Themes

During a Preparatory Meeting, on 25 October 2022, at UN Headquarters in New York, the following themes were adopted:

1. Water for Health: Access to WASH, including the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation;
2. Water for Sustainable Development: Valuing Water, Water-Energy-Food Nexus, and Sustainable Economic and Urban Development;
3. Water for Climate, Resilience, and Environment: Source to Sea, Biodiversity, Climate, Resilience, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR);
4. Water for Cooperation: Transboundary and International Water Cooperation, Cross-Sectoral Cooperation, including Scientific Cooperation, and Water Across the 2030 Agenda; and
5. Water Action Decade: Accelerating the Implementation of the Objectives of the Decade, including through the UN Secretary-General’s Action Plan.

The themes of the five interactive dialogues are based on the five accelerators of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, launched by UN-Water in 2020: Financing, Data and Information, Capacity Development, Innovation, and Governance.

Programme

The conference will include an opening and closing session, six plenary sessions, five interactive dialogues, and side events organised by participants. It will result in a summary of proceedings from the UNGA President that will feed into the 2023 UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) session.

• The programme is from 8 am to 8 pm from Wednesday, 22 March 2023, to Friday, 24 march 2023.
• There will be a morning session from 10 am – 1 pm and an afternoon session from 3 pm – 6 pm. There will be a lunch break between 1 pm – 3 pm.

The full programme for the conference is available here: Programme Download

 

Participants:

The UN Water Conference 2023 is expected to bring together many stakeholders, including governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations, academia, private sector entities, and youth organisations. The conference will provide a platform for participants to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices on water-related issues and identify innovative solutions.

How to participate:

There are different processes and deadlines to register (request a United Nations grounds pass) to attend the UN 2023 Water Conference.

1. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): A grounds pass provides access to the United Nations Headquarters and is a result of being registered as personnel of a mission or office. Principals must be properly registered before their grounds pass can be issued.

Registration (request for a United Nations grounds pass) of official delegations of participating States for the UN 2023 Water Conference is handled by the United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service (Protocol Office) through the online “eRegistration system”, which is available through the e-deleGATE portal at (https://edelegate.un.int). (The deadline to register is Wednesday, 15 March 2023 by close of business at 5:30 pm.

2. Special Organisations: The representatives of the Specialized Agencies (FAO, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, ITU, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WHO, World Bank, WIPO and WMO) and related organisations (which include CTBTO Preparatory Commission, IAEA, ICC, IOM, ISA, ITLOS, OPCW and WTO) can use the e-registration system to register for the conference. (The deadline to register is Wednesday, 15 March 2023 by close of business at 5:30 pm.
3. Media: Media representatives can apply for accreditation by following the instructions available at www.un.org/malu. Media applicants will be required to submit a letter of assignment from their organisation, samples of their work, and government-issued identification. Media Accreditation opened on 9 January and closed on 10 March 2023. Requests for delegation media, including journalists, official photographers, and videographers, should be submitted by Missions and organisations enrolled in the eRegistration system, which is available through the e-deleGATE portal https://edelegate.un.int.
4. Registration for NGOs, Civil Society, Academic Institutions, Scientific Communities, Private Sector, associate members of the regional commission and Phylathronpic organisation is closed. Please note that there will be no on-site registration.
5. Registration is required for all those representatives of the UN Secretariat, funds, programmes, regional commissions, and other UN entities who wish to attend the conference in person, through the online registration system INDICO which can be accessed via the link: https://indico.un.org/event/1003790/. Registration to the Conference opened 17 January 2023 and closes on Wednesday, 15 March 2023, by close of business at 5:30 pm (EST)
6. Please note, special accreditation of your organisation DOES NOT automatically mean that you are registered to the UN 2023 Water Conference.
7. If you have questions, please visit the conference page here: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023/faq
8. If you cannot attend the conference, you will be able to follow proceedings via UN Web TV (which does not require registration)
9. You can also read through all Conference documentation > https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023/documentation

 

New York Water Week

New York Water Week will take place alongside the UN 2023 Water Conference at UN Headquarters in New York City.

An initiative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Department of Environmental Protection, City of New York, the Water Week (18-24 March 2023) will host creatives, businesses, cities, and water advocates outside of the conference halls, providing a unique opportunity to share knowledge and solutions around three core themes:

• Water innovation and businesses
• Youth and education
• Resilient cities

Connecting the international delegates with the city of New York, from its citizens and culture of innovation to its pioneering approach to water management, the Water Week aims to generate ambitious action and influence the Water Action Agenda, a main outcome of the conference.

New York – UN 2023 Water Conference, launched a call for events: Submit your event at https://nywaterweek.com/

#RoadToNewYork and #WCC4UN2023Water

eWASH will report proceedings of the conference on www.washnigeria.com starting: Monday, 18 – Friday, 24 March 2023