Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

18 May 2022

 

His Excellency Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia,

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

I am honored to join you for the Sector Ministers’ Meeting under the theme, ‘Building Forward Better for Recovery and Resilience’.

I congratulate the Government of Indonesia for hosting this important event, in collaboration with UNICEF and the Sanitation Water for All global partnership.

Excellencies,

Access to water and sanitation is a matter of survival.

Water is essential to our health and well-being, to reduce poverty and to ensure food security among others.

It is a fundamental element of life that supports the achievement of almost every sustainable development goal.

In fact, we can expect little to no progress on education, on jobs, on healthcare, or on the environment without ensuring universal access to water and sanitation. 

Yet, the world’s current water trajectory paints a dire scenario.

Many countries combat threats such as water pollution and scarcity.

Globally, more than 2.3 billion people are already in water-stress scenarios, with independent assessments implying a global water deficit of 40% by 2030.

We are seeing water reservoirs drying up and farmlands become barren in every corner of the globe thereby negatively impacting people’s health and productivity.

While water scarcity is affecting us all, women and girls are affected disproportionately due to the role they often play in agriculture and domestic spheres.  

When water is compromised, women and girls must commit additional hours and effort to acquire water – taking them away from school and income generating opportunities.

This is in addition to the alarming health threats for mothers, girls, children, and newborns. It is simply unacceptable that over 700 children die everyday due to poor sanitation and lack of access to safe drinking water.

Currently, over 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the importance of hygiene, sanitation and clean water for all.  

These underlying water-related challenges are an urgent call for the world to pivot away from its destructive actions.

This was the same message that rang loud and clear during the COP15 discussions on desertification and land restoration.

Excellencies,

I am encouraged by the sector-wide presence of government ministers from health, climate, economy and environment, including stakeholders and experts on water, sanitation and hygiene.

It is through collaborations of this scale that we can truly achieve an inclusive and concerted effort.

It’s also important to remind ourselves that improved access to safe drinking water goes hand-in-hand with improved access to sanitation and adherence to good hygiene practices.

While COVID-19 dealt a severe blow to our development efforts including those around water, it also reminded us that siloed strategies are futile efforts in a world that is increasingly interdependent.

Realizing universal access to adequate and clean water and sanitation requires all hands-on deck, from the government level to the private sector, civil society and youth. 

Sustainable water management will also lead to economic growth and better preservation of water ecosystems. It is also critical towards climate change mitigation.

This requires inclusive and sustainable solutions available through science and traditional knowledge, as we have seen in the innovation of agricultural practices that use less water.

I commend the important goal of this global partnership to eliminate inequalities through realizing the human rights to water and sanitation. Especially, as it puts women and girls at the center, as dynamic agents of change.

Looking ahead, it will be important to achieve synergies, and the 2023 UN Water conference is one such opportunity.

By doing so we can collectively spur ambitious and bold actions for the implementation of SDG-6 and other water-related universal goals for all.

I thank you and wish you a productive discussion.