UN 2023 Water Conference – SHUKALB was there to contribute

UN 2023 Water Conference – SHUKALB was there to contribute

The United Nations organized on the week of World Water Day, a Water Conference in New York City, which is considered to be a once in a lifetime event, as the last conference took place in 1977. The Conference took place during 22 and 24 March, at the UN Headquarters and it gathered over 6000 delegates from all over the world, to discuss about the present and the future of water.

The UN 2023 Water Conference was co-hosted by the Governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands and its objective was to mobilize the Member States, the UN system and stakeholders to take action and bring successful solutions to a global scale, in order to solve the water and sanitation crisis and to fulfill the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”  The conference catalyzed action through the voluntary commitments of different stakeholders, which were summarized in the Water Action Agenda launched at the conference.

SHUKALB had the unique opportunity to be part of the conference and to contribute to a side event to the Conference Program, next to its long term partners, the International Association of Water Service Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD) and the Danube Water Program (DWP).

The Side event titled “Regional cooperation as a key to accelerate SDG 6 implementation – The Danube Water Program as lighthouse example to improve water and sanitation services within the Danube region” was hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, World Bank, IAWD, SHUKALB and AQUASAN, and it took place on 24 Mar 2023, 13:00 CET (08:00 EDT), at the UN Headquarters.

The event’s objective was to highlight experiences and best practice from two countries participating in the DWP (Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and demonstrate how these activities contribute to SDG 6 implementation. SHUKALB was represented by its Executive Director, Elisabeta Poci, who presented on “Advancing the Albanian water sector by supporting investments, cooperation and policy”, sharing in this way the support of DWP to the water sector in Albana, during its 10 years of implementation.

The event was greeted in the opening by H.E. Norbert Totschnig, Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management of Austria. Other speakers included Gustavo Saltiel and Raimund Mair from the World Bank, Walter Kling and Katerina Schilling from IAWD, and Vesna Muslic from AQUASAN Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The panelists discussed the approaches and the lessons learnt during a successful regional cooperation striving for smart policies, strong utilities and sustainable water services in the Danube region, which can be a model to be replicated in other regions of the world.  The vent was streamlined and you may watch it under this link https://media.un.org/en/asset/k11/k118iwdilv

In addition, SHUKALB contributed to another side-event titled Our water world: on the frontlines of water access and governance, which took place on 23rd of March, and was organised by University of Bergen and other organizations among which the International Water Association. Elisabeta Poci shared the achievements and challenges of the south eastern European countries in providing safe and reliable water and sanitation services over the last 3 decades, after the significant political changes that took place in the 90’s with the fall of the iron curtain.

The UN 2023 Water Conference provided a unique opportunity for the water community all over the world to mobilize action and to speed up change in order to tackle the today’s and future’s water challenges. SHUKALB is committed to contribute to this big puzzle of worldwide efforts together with IAWD and other partners, and advance the UN Water Action Agenda through cooperation, capacity development, and advocacy, in order to achieve safe, reliable, and sustainable water and sanitation services in Albania.