On 1 September 2022, as part of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, the co-chairs of the UN Water Conference 2023, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, held a joint special session entitled “Preparing for an inclusive and action-oriented UN 2023 Water Conference “.
The session focused on how stakeholders can make a meaningful contribution to achieving the goals of the UN 2023 Water Conference by making it a game changer for the world. It consisted of two parts: a brief introduction to the Conference and the preparations for it by Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda and Henk Ovink, Special Envoys for Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and a panel discussion.
The session was attended as speakers by Mr. Shoimzoda J. – First Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan, and Mrs. Kitty van der Heijden, Vice-Minister and Director-General International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Panelists included Mr. Alex Mung, Head of Water and Environment Resilience at World Economic Forum, Sareen Malik, Executive Secretary at African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) and Vice-Chair of the Sanitation and Water for All Steering Committee, Mr. Phil Duncan, Traditional Owner at Alluvium Consulting / Australian Water Partnership, Dr. Hwirin Kim, Head of the Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Mr. Franz Rojas, Chair of the Water Finance Coalition and Head of the Division of Water and Sanitation Analysis and Technical Evaluation at CAF Latin American Development Bank.
The participants of the session also highlighted the opportunities that will be provided for stakeholders to participate and contribute to the preparatory process of the Conference, as well as to help accelerate progress towards the water goals of the 2030 SDG agenda.
The session held by the co-chairs is an important preparatory event on the way to the UN 2023 Water Conference on Water, which provided a good platform for information, discussion, exchange of views on preparatory actions and discussion for representatives of various stakeholder groups, including representatives of various organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia, indigenous peoples and other participants in World Water Week.