Guterres asks governments to ensure equal access to water

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments this Wednesday to guarantee equal access to water and recalled the “pride” of signing the Albufeira Convention as Portugal’s prime minister.

Before the plenary meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York at the opening of the 2023 Water Conference, Guterres indicated that almost three out of four natural disasters are water-related; one in four people live without a safe water supply or safe drinking water; more than 1.7 billion people lack basic sanitation; 500 million people defecate outdoors; and three million women and girls spend hours every day fetching water.

“Water is in trouble. We are sucking the blood of humanity through vampire overconsumption and mismanagement and evaporating it through global warming. We are disrupting the water cycle, destroying ecosystems and polluting groundwater,” – United Nations Secretary General.

Against this backdrop and with a call to action, António Guterres outlined four areas for accelerating results in relation to water management.

First, the Secretary-General asked governments to develop and implement plans to guarantee equal access to water for all citizens, but in a way that preserves a valuable resource.

He also called for work between countries, across borders, for the joint management of water resources and called on all UN member states to respect and implement the UN Water Convention.

“One of the achievements that I am most proud of as Prime Minister of Portugal was the signing of the Albufeira Convention on Water Management with Spain 25 years ago. The convention is still in effect this Wednesday,” he recalled.

Secondly, Guterres called for massive investment in water and sanitation systems and urged international financial institutions to develop “creative ways” to expand funding and accelerate the redistribution of special drawing rights, and for multilateral banks and development agencies to continue to expand their water and sanitation facilities to support to countries most in need.

The third area highlighted by the head of the UN is investment in disaster-resistant pipes, water supply infrastructure and wastewater treatment plants.

“We cannot handle this emergency of the 21st century with infrastructure from another era. (…) And that means exploring new public-private partnerships,” he stressed.

Finally, Guterres has championed an approach to climate change, arguing that climate action and a sustainable water future are “two sides of the same coin.”

“This is more than a conference on water resources. It is about today’s world viewed from the point of view of its most important resource. This conference should be a quantum leap in the ability of Member States and the international community to recognize and act on the vital water of our world,” he said.

From Wednesday to Friday, at a water conference, the first of its kind since 1977, the UN will press for worldwide commitment to radically transform water management practices.

In addition to plenary sessions, the meeting will feature dialogues on specific topics such as Water and Health, Water and Sustainable Development or Water and Climate Change, as well as about 550 side events, both in the UN complex and in other places. areas of New York.