On 13 July 2022 at the UN Headquarters, within the framework of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development a special session was held to discuss the Sustainable Development Goal #6. The session was initiated by the UN-Water in cooperation with UN DESA, Permanent Missions of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN.

The session started with speeches by Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs H.E. Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Chair of UN-Water, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) H.E. Mr. Gilbert Houngbo, and President elected of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly H.E. Mr. Csaba Korosi. It was attended by over 110 participants representing the UN Member States and other stakeholders in online and offline formats.

During the session the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan on Water and Climate, Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda, presented the outcomes of the 2nd Dushanbe Water Decade Conference. It was noted that the Dushanbe Conference widely discussed the progress achieved and the existing problems in achieving the goals and objectives of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028, and also developed specific recommendations for the UN 2023 Water Conference. The Dushanbe Conference became a milestone to the UN Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028, which will be held in March 2023 in New York under the chairmanship of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Special Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Water Affairs briefly informed the participants about the preparations for the UN 2023 Water Conference and the preliminary considerations of the conference organizers regarding the themes of the interactive dialogs of this important UN event.

The session also presented the outcomes of other regional and international events within the framework of the preparatory process for the UN 2023 Water Conference – the Bonn Dialogue, the 9th World Water Forum, the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit, and the High-Level Symposium on Water in Portugal.