Deputy Secretary-General, at High-Level Special Event, Urges Partners to ‘Pool’ Strengths in Stride to Achieving Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the high-level special event on “Catalysing Implementation and Achievement of the Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals”, in New York today:

I would like to thank the members of the Friends of Water Steering Committee for bringing us together on water-related challenges in today’s world.  We are honoured by the presence of President [Emomali] Rahmon [of Tajikistan] and Prime Minister [Prayuth] Chan-ocha [of Thailand], as well as representatives of many other members of the Committee.

We know the key issues and challenges before us.  Worldwide, water demand is projected to grow by over 40 per cent by 2050.  Population pressures, climate change and energy and agricultural needs have made finding sustainable solutions to water-related challenges an urgent and crucial task for ever more regions in the world.

As we all now know, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is transformative and universal.  Thanks to many of you in this room, the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] place and address water in an integrated perspective.

The litmus test for this new Agenda will be implementation — how to translate this vision into realities on the ground.  Substantially transforming societies and economies requires political will, vigorous efforts, as well as ingenuity and innovation.

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides a foundation for forging enhanced global partnerships to ensure effective implementation.  Governments, international and regional organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia can and must come together in new ways to take action comprehensively on the global water crisis.

We must work harder at getting the right people around the table to find solutions to water-related development problems.  For example, the Sanitation and Water for All partnership brings finance ministers together with sector ministers to make clear commitments.  I have participated in two of the [Sanitation and Water for All] high-level meetings in connection with the World Bank spring meetings.  They were some of the best water sessions I have ever attended.  They showed the power of cross-cutting thinking and action, as well as of partnerships for financing.

The new Agenda will require us to build national capacities and mobilize both finance and technology on a larger scale.  In particular, technology can open the door to solutions which are durable, affordable and can provide jobs for our youth.  You can all play a vital role in mobilizing financial support and spreading knowledge, as well as bringing the key actors together.

The United Nations system, through UN-Water, is ready to continue to provide support.  Here, I want to thank Secretary-General Michel Jarraud of WMO [World Meteorological Organization] for his excellent leadership of UN-Water, and at the same time, welcome Director-General Guy Ryder of ILO [International Labour Organization] as the new Chair of UN-Water.  His and ILO’s commitment to work on water is strong and steadfast.  I also want to thank UNSGAB, the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water, for their invaluable work over the years.

Let us resolve to pool our strengths.  Everyone in this room has a role to play.  Collaborative and cooperative efforts, such as those of Central Asian Governments to find mutually acceptable ways of managing trans-boundary water resources, supported by the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia, are imperative if we are to build a world of water security.

Water must never be a reason for rivalry or competition.  Water must be a source of cooperation and of shared security and prosperity.  Let us remember that water is our primary source of life.  So, this is also, fundamentally, an existential challenge and a moral obligation.  I thank you.