Consultative meeting with stakeholders in preparation for the UN 2023 Water Conference

The meeting was held in a hybrid format at UN Headquarters in New York to seek methods, approaches, collaboration strategies, capacity development activities, or agreements that will change the way we think, do business, plan and implement policies or govern at local, regional and global levels; which can also serve as a catalyst for building resilience to water, climate, food, and energy crises, as well as economic, environmental, social and political change, and to enhance cooperation to get the benefits between actors, sectors, and societies and become a vehicle for sustainable development.

After the opening of the meeting, at which the President of the UN General Assembly Mr. Csaba Korosi, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, and the Secretary-General of the Conference Mr. Li Junhua spoke, the discussions continued within the frame of 5 round tables, where government representatives, economic sector entities, representatives of the private sector, youth and academia and others shared suggestions for potential changes to the Water Action Agenda.

The round tables were dedicated to discussions based on the main directions of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, including 1) Governance, 2) Capacity Development, 3) Data and Information, 4) Innovation and 5) Finance.

The Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan for Water and Climate, Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda, and the Special Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Henk Ovink, spoke at the closing session of the meeting. They stressed the importance of multi-stakeholder involvement, both in the preparatory process and at the Conference itself, and called on participants for more decisive global action to realize political ambitions on water into action at the local, regional and international levels, as water plays a critical role towards a more sustainable future.