United for #WaterAction
ICLEI is among the organisations gathered this week in New York (USA) for the UN 2023 Water Conference to advance global efforts to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” (SDG 6).
The conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands, has brought together stakeholders and decision-makers at the local, regional, national, and UN levels to take action to implement and scale sustainable water management solutions. The theme of #WaterAction speaks to the event’s goal to build momentum for impactful water action.
The ICLEI delegation – led by Kobie Brand, ICLEI’s Deputy Secretary General and the head of ICLEI Africa – is engaging throughout the conference alongside a number of ICLEI Members, and our partners in the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments. ICLEI’s engagement includes being part of the 22 March launch of the Global Taskforce’s Statement at the 2023 UN Water Conference, which outlines key entry points for local and sub-national governments to support #WaterAction.
One message has been clear throught the conference, the ICLEI-led official side event on connecting the UN water, climate, and nature agendas, and the preceding Cities Solve, Cities Deliver event: we need sustainable water management commitments and actions.
Fortunately, local and regional stakeholders have shown strong willingness to engage in multi-level cooperation to accelerate progress towards SDG 6. Furthermore, ICLEI’s CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature platforms are crucial tools to connect water and nature, and to track meaningful process at the sub-national levels.
To read the Global Taskforce Statement in full, click here. To learn more about CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature, visit: https://CitiesWithNature.org/ and https://RegionsWithNature.org/.
The United Nations has invited all entities to register their commitments to the Water Action Agenda, which can be done at: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023/action-agenda.
