Bioazul will participate at the UN 2023 Water Conference

The UN 2023 Water Conference, formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028), will take place at UN Headquarters in New York, 22-24 March 2023.

From Bioazul we are happy to announce that we have been invited to participate in the conference.

The conference will include an opening and closing session, six plenary sessions, and five interactive dialogues, as well as side events organized by participants. It will result in a summary of proceedings from the UNGA President that will feed into the 2023 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Vision statement UN 2023 Water Conference

The Netherlands and Tajikistan, as co-hosts of the Conference, will strive to make the Conference a watershed moment for the world. Their vision for the Conference is that we all fundamentally understand, value and manage water better and take concerted action to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While the Water Action Decade is an essential enabler for the 2030 Agenda, including SDG 6, additional enhancement of a UN system-wide approach to water is necessary for the achievement of water-related goals and targets and to reinforce the international water voice and cross-sectoral connections.

The preparatory process and the Conference will be grounded in a foundation of consistency, continuity and commitment, making sure that coalitions forged, opportunities identified, and promises made can lead to impactful results, replication and scaling up, ensuring that 2023 is indeed the springboard for catalyzing action for water security for all.

Both the preparatory process and the Conference itself will seek to shine the spotlight on commitments that create impact and set a clear agenda for the second half of the Decade and beyond until 2030, while promoting a longer-term approach and perspective, going beyond 2030. To scale up commitments including concrete actions and agreements, an effort will be made to promote successful and scalable solutions.

Principles

The Conference and its preparatory process will be organised based on the following three principles:

• Inclusive: both in terms of the Conference process (ensure vertical and horizontal inclusiveness) and in terms of the results (leaving no-one behind). This participatory, collaborative and inclusive approach helps to ensure strengthening capacity at all levels: individual, informal and institutional.
• Action-oriented: the Conference aims to lead to concrete results through concrete actions and plans on the ground. 2023 cannot pass by without challenging the status quo and reaching beyond our vested interests.
• Cross-sectoral: The Conference should mobilise all other sectors to improve the way they manage and utilize water resources. These sectors need to bring their plans and actions to the Conference. Water can drive the different partners apart – as a scarce resource or even a source of conflict – but water also brings them together, forging partnerships through inclusive collaborations. We need better water governance, finance, assessment and collaborative mechanisms to validate these cross-interest collaborations, ensuring a water secure world for all by all.