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The session focused on how stakeholders can make a meaningful contribution to achieving the goals of the UN 2023 Water Conference by making it a game changer for the world. It consisted of two parts: a brief introduction to the Conference and the preparations for it by Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda and Henk Ovink, Special Envoys for Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and a panel discussion.

The session was attended as speakers by Mr. Shoimzoda J. – First Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan, and Mrs. Kitty van der Heijden, Vice-Minister and Director-General International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Panelists included Mr. Alex Mung, Head of Water and Environment Resilience at World Economic Forum, Sareen Malik, Executive Secretary at African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) and Vice-Chair of the Sanitation and Water for All Steering Committee, Mr. Phil Duncan, Traditional Owner at Alluvium Consulting / Australian Water Partnership, Dr. Hwirin Kim, Head of the Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Mr. Franz Rojas, Chair of the Water Finance Coalition and Head of the Division of Water and Sanitation Analysis and Technical Evaluation at CAF Latin American Development Bank.

The participants of the session also highlighted the opportunities that will be provided for stakeholders to participate and contribute to the preparatory process of the Conference, as well as to help accelerate progress towards the water goals of the 2030 SDG agenda.

The session held by the co-chairs is an important preparatory event on the way to the UN 2023 Water Conference on Water, which provided a good platform for information, discussion, exchange of views on preparatory actions and discussion for representatives of various stakeholder groups, including representatives of various organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia, indigenous peoples and other participants in World Water Week.

 

On 31 August 2022 on the sidelines of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan on Water and Climate, Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda together with the Special Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Water, Mr. Henk Ovink, as co-chairs, and Ms. Madhushree Chatterjee representative of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) as secretariat were invited to attend the television show dedicated to the UN 2023 Water Conference.

This TV Show dedicated to the UN Water Conference 2023 with the participation of the presenter from the Royal Institute of Technology of Stockholm was called “The Road towards the UN 2023 Water Conference” and was aimed at educating viewers about the importance of the upcoming UN 2023 Water Conference, which is being held for the second time in the history of the UN and the first time in the last 50 years.

In the discussion they discussed the ways of implementation, actions taken, dreams, and vision of the Water Agenda of Action, proposed topics for interactive dialogues and engagement with stakeholders by the Co-Chairs and the Conference secretariat to make the 2023 path action-oriented, inclusive and inter-sectoral.

On 30 August 2022, within the framework of the World Water Week, the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan on Water and Climate, Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda, took part as a speaker in the High-Level Panel “Harnessing Global Development Agendas on Road to 2023″.

The High-Level Panel was hosted by SIWI in conjunction with the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to discuss harnessing the collective momentum behind various global agendas to make the UN 2023 Water Conference a real game changer and an example of a collaborative effort by the global community of leaders and practitioners.

The panel was attended by high-ranking representatives of the Kingdom of Sweden, the UN, the Arab Republic of Egypt, including Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland, Hani Sewilam – Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt, Henk Ovink – Special Representative of the Government of the Netherlands for International Water Affairs, Abdullah Shahid – President UNGA, Ricardo Mena – Director of UNDRR, Isabella Lövin – Co-Chair of Friends of the Ocean, Florika Fink- Hooijer- Director General of the European Environment Commission, Torgny Holmgren – Executive Director of SIWI, Joan Tonui – Founder and Director of the Green Cities Initiative, Caroline Tornesey McKinnon – President of the World Youth Parliament for Water, as well as Women’s Representatives and others.

The panel served as a good platform to share knowledge on how to best use the various global agendas for successful and comprehensive preparations for the UN 2023 Water Conference and beyond and dialogues on exploiting synergies between various processes and demonstrating related commitments toward the UN 2023 Water Conference. It also provided a good opportunity for the global policy community in the WWW to assess the current progress of the Conference co-hosts and to more clearly identify where more progress needs to be made.