(Dushanbe, Tajikistan)The ECO Secretariat has participated in a UN- sponsored Conference on International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” 2018-2028 on June 19-21, 2018.
Delegations from UN Member States, relevant UN bodies, the specialized agencies, the regional commissions and other organizations of the UN system came together to discuss the means for implementing of the Action Plan of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” at the global, regional and national levels, as well as development of practical recommendations for the implementation of sustainable development goals and targets related to water resources.
Speaking at the session, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon said the world is considerably behind in the practical implementation of the set goals and objectives in the field of ensuring access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Therefore, efforts to create mechanisms to facilitate the implementation of the Decade should be strengthened with the necessary human, financial and technical resources, he added.
According to the Social Welfare and Environment section of the ECO Vision 2025, forging partnerships with regional and global stakeholders for environment protection is vital to as it leads to the improvement of the standard of living, quality of life, economic welfare and well-being of the people of the region. In this context the ECO Secretariat viewed the conference as an opportunity to complement efforts by States to realize the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
The Secretariat also participated in the Second meeting of the International Steering Committee of the International High-Level Conference on the International Decade for Action آ«Water for Sustainable Development on 18 June 2018. Chaired by the First Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan, Sulton Rahimzoda, the meeting of experts discussed the preparations for the International Conference, the organization of plenary sessions, panels of the International Conference, as well as matters concerning the preparation of the final documents of this international event.
The Final Declaration: Promoting Action and Policy Dialogue was adopted as an outcome document of the Conference.
