A-game-changer-paris-moment-for-water-un-2023-water-conference?

The UN 2023 Water Conference was convened from 22-24th March2023 in New York on the theme of water was after 44 years since 1977 and opened with energy and optimism for a true watershed moment and began with a clear diagnosis of the situation that progress has fallen severely short in achieving SDG 6 for universal access to WASH and actions that work, exist, but must be taken to scale. Some 10,000 participants gathered at UN Headquarters and online from 22 to 24 March 2023, to urgently scale up action to address the water crisis and ensure equitable access to water for all. Co-hosted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Tajikistan, the Conference brought together world leaders, civil society, business leaders, young people, scientists, academics, the UN System and others from across sectors — agriculture, energy, environment and water — around a common goal: to urgently tackle the water crisis and set the world back on track to achieving SDG 6 – On Clean Water and Sanitation. 

Why was this conference crucial?

Today half of the world population, four billion people, lives with severe water scarcity for at least one month of the year. About half a billion face water scarcity year-round. Approximately 4.2 billion people lack sanitation, 2.2 billion people lack safe drinking water, and 700 million people could be displaced due to scarcity of water by 2030. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the number of weather related disasters – floods, droughts, storms and extreme temperatures – has increased by a factor of five over the past 50 years, claiming, on average, the lives of 115 people and causing $202 million in economic losses daily. Enhanced water management can be catalytic in leaving no one behind, in communities fighting poverty and hunger, safeguarding health and reducing child mortality, and protecting natural resources. We need to get the incentives right, both in terms of financial instruments, political will and behavioural change at a scale we haven’t seen before – on both the supply and demand side.........Read more https://www.focusglobalreporter.org/a-game-changer-paris-moment-for-water-un-2023-water-conference/