– As delivered –
Remarks by H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
22 March 2021
Excellencies, Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to share my heart-felt congratulations to the scientists and experts here on World Water Day ¨C your creativity, hard work and dedication are critical to address today¡¯s global water and sanitation challenges.?
I also commend the efforts of the Government and people of Saudi Arabia for their support for innovative research to meet one of humanities greatest challenges.?
Excellencies,
Water is essential for life on our planet ¨C and for our survival. As recognised by Sustainable Development Goal 6, which underpins much of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the availability of water has far reaching consequences. It impacts economic development, food security, health, biodiversity and ecosystems, energy production, poverty eradication and gender equality, amongst others.
This morning, before attending this ceremony, I presided over the General Assembly¡¯s High-Level Meeting on the ¡°Implementation of the Water-related Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda¡±. This is one of the landmark meetings that will feed into the ¡°Midterm comprehensive review of the implementation of the International Decade for Action, Water for Sustainable Development, 2018 to 2028¡±, scheduled for 2023.
At the High-Level meeting, many of the 80 Heads of State or Government, Ministers and high-level officials who attended, recognized the challenges of ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation. Many of these challenges have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic ¨C but Member States came with solutions. They renewed their strong commitment to advance SDG6 and implement the objectives of the Water Action Decade by increasing investment in water and sanitation, enhancing cooperation at global, regional and national levels, and improving water governance.
Others, including those from business, academia, IGOs and civil society, presented concrete proposals focused on the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework¡¯s 5 accelerators: financing, data and information, capacity development, innovation, and governance.
The diverse panels at the High-Level event discussed the whole of society approach needed to achieve the SDGs. An integrated approach is required to foster the innovation in science, ICT, emerging technologies, ways of working, governance and business models that can improve water resources and sanitation development and management.
Excellencies,
By bringing together our collective skills and knowledge, through our collective ingenuity, it will be possible to develop new solutions that address the complex water challenges before us.
That is why it is so important to share research and innovation. We must share and scale up best practices throughout our societies, enable innovative technologies and ecological approaches to accelerate progress on water and sanitation to the benefit of all those left behind.
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
This award is an excellent example of the enabling environment we need to nurture innovation and invention in the field of water and sanitation.
I commend the award winners today. Your work demonstrates that there are proven technologies, solutions and approaches from around the world that, if adapted and deployed at scale, could meaningfully narrow the SDG implementation gap. It¡¯s time to get serious about accelerating innovation on our way to meeting the SDGs.
I encourage all innovators and change-makers to continue to share their solutions and promote innovation to secure the Future we Want.
As we enter this Decade of Action and Delivery for sustainable development, I call on all Member States to increase their political will, reaffirm and renew their commitments, provide political, financial and technical support, to accelerate the implementation of SDGs, including all the water-related targets.
I thank you very much for inviting me to this very important meeting and I thank the organisers and Ambassador of Saudi Arabia once again.