Room 205

Achieving water security means ensuring a minimum water supply for human and economic needs. Being this as one of the main short-term objectives in the world, the impacts of climate change and the degradation of natural water sources make water security an insurmountable challenge in the medium and long term.

The Session intends to reflect on the role of international cooperation to the achievement of SDG6 taking into consideration concrete projects existing in Portuguese speaking countries. This session will address the technical, social, environmental, and regulatory perspectives of these countries, with a view to achieving the SDGs, in particular the SDG6.

Africa has undergone fundamental changes over the last decade, which has fueled increasing demand for water and interconnected sectors underpinning human development, food security, energy access, environmental wellbeing, and climate action. Building on the vision of the EU-Africa partnership “Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa” this special session serves as a follow-up to the European Union - African Union summit (17-18 February 2022).

The session cuts across priority 1: Water security and Sanitation (human rights to water and sanitation) and priority 3: Cooperation (strengthen dialogue and partnerships…)

The session intends to fit within the following themes:
human rights access to watsan, access for all, relations between ethics and water & sanitation services and interfaith collaboration/dialogue.

Objectives

Les zones humides jouent un rôle important dans la sécurité de l’eau, la résilience des communautés, la réduction des risques climatiques et la sécurité humaine. Les gouvernements Africains s’engagent pour leur sauvegarde à travers des plans et politiques nationaux et internationaux comme la Grande Muraille Verte et la Convention des Nations Unies sur la Lutte Contre la Désertification.

What are the new perspectives on drought in a time of climate change? Drought is often compared with other natural hazards such as floods, storms, and wildfires. However, unlike these hazards, drought is often a so-called hidden risk, meaning that its onset is not perceived until drought conditions are already having an impact.

Background
- As the world faces deteriorating environmental conditions, dense populations, and rapid economic growth, Africa and Asia are highly vulnerable to climate change. They must be considered as strategically important locations in responding to global climate change.

The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) organized the second H.L. Segment in a series of international meetings to develop water scare countries' messages to be submitted to the U.N. Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Water Action Decade, March 2023. Regional and International partners support the roadmap for the Policy dialogues in water-scarce countries to achieve SDGs.

In 2017, the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace launched its report “A Matter of Survival” with recommendations on how to promote water as an instrument for cooperation and peace, including through innovative financing for water cooperation. At the 9th session (2021) of the Meeting of the Parties to the 1992 Water Convention, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) launched the publication on Funding and Financing transboundary water cooperation and basin development, also presenting innovative Financing Initiatives, including the Blue Peace Financing Initiative.