The UN 2023 Water Conference ended on Friday with the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, a “milestone” action plan containing almost 700 commitments to protect water, humanity’s most precious global common good.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu led Nigerian delegation to attend the three days event at UN headquarters in New York.
The Agenda sets out a series of action-oriented game changing commitments, from making smarter food choices to re-evaluating water as a powerful economic driver, and part of the Earth’s cultural heritage.
In his remarks at the closing ceremony, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the conference, and its 2,000 participants, forged an” ambitious vision’’.
“Your dedication to action and transformation is propelling us towards a sustainable, equitable and inclusive water-secure future for people and planet alike,” he said.
“This conference demonstrated a central truth: as humanity’s most precious global common good, water unites us all, and it flows across a number of global challenges.”
From protecting the spread of disease to fighting poverty, the natural resource also flows through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a time when the world is grappling with climate change, water scarcity, and pollution.
“That’s why water needs to be at the centre of the global political agenda,” he said.