[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”-76px|auto||auto||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.19.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
13 February 2023<\/b><\/p>\n
Welcome to the 2023 Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n My thanks go to the President of the Interparliamentary Union, my colleague Duarte Pacheco, for\u00a0his\u00a0work in bringing the voices of legislators to the United Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n A strong strategic partnership between the United Nations and IPU is critical to bridging the gap between ideas at the global and the national levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You, through the Interparliamentary Union, turn Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ resolutions and decisions into national legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n And you bring the issues and the aspirations of your constituents to the attention of the international community, to make their opinion and their wishes heard.<\/span><\/p>\n And, most importantly, to find solutions to their real-life problems.<\/span><\/p>\n That is why the General Assembly adopted a resolution last December highlighting the decisive role that you, as parliamentarians, play in bringing the SDGs to life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Member States recognized that your power to legislate, budget and scrutinize government action makes you a key player in the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/span><\/p>\n Of the 17 Goals, perhaps none are more urgent than SDG 6 on water.<\/span><\/p>\n Why? Because we are already in the midst of a water crisis that will inevitably get worse.<\/span><\/p>\n And nearly all climate change is felt through water.<\/span><\/p>\n Too much water. Or not enough. Or water that is too dirty to use, and too unsafe to drink.<\/span><\/p>\n Some people experience all three of these at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n If we do not get the global water crisis under control, we will not be able to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/span><\/p>\n Already, we have breached the planetary boundaries for water for the first time in human history.<\/span><\/p>\n This means that one of the red lines to keeping humanity and our planet alive has been crossed.<\/span><\/p>\n By the end of this decade, the demand for water is expected to exceed supply by 40 per cent.<\/span><\/p>\n Imagine what that world will look like.<\/span><\/p>\n What can we do to avoid this?<\/span><\/p>\n Next month, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ will host the 2023 Water Conference, the first of its kind since 1977.<\/span><\/p>\n My message to all Governments has been \u2013 come to the Conference at the highest possible level and bring concrete proposals for action and transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s tackle this challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n We know how. We have the science. We have the technology. We even have the finances.<\/span><\/p>\n How often, as politicians, do you hear that? We have the money.<\/span><\/p>\n What we need is political will and action.<\/span><\/p>\n And do you know what else we need?<\/span><\/p>\n Data. And ways to verify and share the data.<\/span><\/p>\n We know that, according to the famous James Bond ratio .007\u00a0(point double o seven)<\/i>\u00a0per cent of the planet\u2019s water is potable.<\/span><\/p>\n But if you ask any country, how much water they expect to have in five years? Ten years time? They don\u2019t know the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n We need a global water information system.<\/span><\/p>\n This would change the game.<\/span><\/p>\n In October, I convened a meeting with some 1,200 scientists, private sector actors and civil society organisations.<\/span><\/p>\n Together, we came up with ten gamechangers for water and sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n I will officially present them at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference.<\/span><\/p>\n We have to create the Paris moment of the water action. If we join hands, we can achieve that.<\/span><\/p>\n But let\u2019s admit, so far I have been speaking about only one of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n And I also know that the agenda of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is much broader than all of the SDGs.<\/span><\/p>\n Last Tuesday, I invited scientists to brief Member States about water and health, climate and conflict, and early warning systems.<\/span><\/p>\n I want to make sure that the General Assembly can operate with information that is supported by science and is data-driven.<\/span><\/p>\n We can argue about politics and philosophy. We may sit on different ends of culture or tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n Our countries can have divergent interests \u2013 yet, we are united by science.<\/span><\/p>\n Because it is the shared knowledge base that we can build on in this time of multiple, cascading, compound and interlinked global crises.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And that is why my motto for this General Assembly session is \u201csolutions through solidarity, sustainability and science\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dear Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n I ask you to support what we\u2019re doing here at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and to take it back to your constituents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You are the ones that can fully reach our goals at the level that matters: the level that will impact real people.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, the eight billion who all rely on us.<\/span><\/p>\n Our mission is to support solutions that have a direct, tangible impact on people\u2019s lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And that is what this year\u2019s hearing is about.<\/span><\/p>\n Let us work together in service of \u201cWe the Peoples\u201d.\u00a0 The first sentence of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter.<\/span><\/p>\n We need all hands on deck to change the game.<\/span><\/p>\n Because business as usual is not an option anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n We must transform this world.<\/span><\/p>\n I thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 13 February 2023 Welcome to the 2023 Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations. My thanks go to the President of the Interparliamentary Union, my colleague Duarte Pacheco, for\u00a0his\u00a0work in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" 10 November 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\r\n Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is in crisis. It is in many crises.<\/p>\r\n It has been 15 months since the Taliban consolidated control over the country.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Its economy is in ruins. The humanitarian situation is disastrous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Two-thirds of the population is hungry.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Girls and women are banned from learning, having a job or getting proper medical care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The country is awash with heroin and opium.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Organized crime and terrorist organizations are thriving once again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is facing complex and interlinked challenges that the Taliban have shown they cannot \u2013 or would not \u2013 solve.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\r\n It is time to support the Afghan people with concrete solutions that place their needs front and center.<\/p>\r\n It is true that some problems will require some time to resolve.<\/p>\r\n But there are actions the Assembly can take to change the paradigm now.<\/p>\r\n I would like you to consider one solution through solidarity.<\/p>\r\n The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan \u2013 which requires $4.4 billion US dollars \u2013 is only half funded.<\/p>\r\n With winter weather just weeks away, I encourage Member States to provide urgent support to help reduce the $2.3 billion dollar shortfall.<\/p>\r\n Let\u2019s remind ourselves of the old saying from Afghanistan: \u201cA real friend is one who takes the hand of his friend in times of distress and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan has a rich history of scientific achievement.<\/p>\r\n I encourage the country\u2019s reengagement with the international science community.<\/p>\r\n And\u00a0to allow women who used to be respected members of the country\u2019s science community to resume their research and their studies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Afghanistan is now the only state in the world that would deny girls their full right to education.<\/p>\r\n The prospect of girls\u2019 education has been left to uncertainty amid seemingly random edicts from the Taliban.<\/p>\r\n This time last year, Fawzia Koofi, the first woman Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, recalled her dream of one day addressing the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ as the President of Afghanistan.<\/p>\r\n She said:\u00a0\u201cWith me, millions of girls and women in Afghanistan had this dream that now they think will never come true.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dreams of becoming President have been replaced by the reality of child marriage. Arrests if women and girls leave their home without a male chaperone.<\/p>\r\n I reiterate my call for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of all Afghans, especially women and girls.<\/p>\r\n Similarly, I urge the Taliban to ensure the safety of all Afghans, regardless of gender, ethnic background, religious belief or political affiliation.<\/p>\r\n To protect journalists and civil society members.<\/p>\r\n To allow unhindered humanitarian aid, and to cooperate with humanitarian workers.<\/p>\r\n We expect the Taliban to make good on the commitments they made to the international community.\u00a0To show honesty through\u00a0concrete action.<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n The dramatic changes of 2021 have taken a massive toll on Afghanistan\u2019s economy and profoundly widened many security risks.<\/p>\r\n