State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque has stressed increasing ownership of all the citizens to the water issues, building awareness for reducing water wastage in all the sectors including agriculture.
He laid emphasis on introducing pilot projects for rainwater harvesting and initiatives on scaling up ground water level.
The State Minister was speaking at a debriefing and follow-up session on Bangladesh’s commitments made at the UN 2023 Water Conference. The event was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen mentioned that the upcoming SDG Summit during the 78th UNGA will reflect and assess the Water Agenda as part of the whole 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.
Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, Chargé d' affaires of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and representatives from government and non-government stakeholders attended the session. Prior to Bangladesh’s participation in the UN 2023 Water Conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Ministry of Water Resources organized a stakeholder consultation to prepare a set of commitments to be presented by Bangladesh.
Earlier, the Foreign Secretary attended a follow-up discussion on Bangladesh’s 10 commitments made at the 2023 UN water Conference.
Talking to reporters, the Foreign Secretary said they mainly discussed how to implement those commitments and how the development partners can help Bangladesh in this process.
The Foreign Secretary said most of the commitments will be fulfilled by 2030 and many countries of the world made their commitments separately.
The UN 2023 Water Conference saw the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, representing voluntary commitments of nations and stakeholders to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets connected to water.
The event brought together over 6,500 participants. By the close of the meeting, the Water Action Agenda had received approximately 700 commitments in the form of financial pledges, collaborative projects, and actions to protect the world’s most precious and irreplaceable resource.
The Foreign Secretary said water is an important factor for livelihood and sustainability and they discussed issues related to coastal area, salinity problems, ground water level declining, plastic pollution, agriculture water wastages, rain water harvesting and ways to boost efficiency in water management.
He said there are reasons to be worried after a few years and laid emphasis on international cooperation and resource mobilization.
The UN says water is a dealmaker for the Sustainable Development Goals, and for the health and prosperity of people and the planet.
But, the UN added, progress on water related goals and targets remains alarmingly off track, jeopardizing the entire sustainable development agenda.
