UN Water Conference Starts with Warning Water 22/03/2023 • Kerry Cullinan Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Co-chairs of the UN Water Conference, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan and King Willem of Netherlands, at the opening ceremony. “We are draining humanity’s lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use and evaporating it through global heating,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the start of the UN 2023 Water Conference. which also coincided with World Water Day. At the conference, national governments and stakeholders from all levels of society will collaborate to make voluntary commitments to accelerating progress on Social Development Goal Six, to promote access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. These voluntary commitments will form the Water Action Agenda, designed to deliver rapid, transformative change in the remainder of this decade. Did you know that more people have access to mobile phones than toilets or sanitation? 🚱 To solve this crisis, each of us needs to be part of the solution 💧 Join our Director @LilianaGaravito in pledging to take #WaterAction ahead of #WorldWaterDay 👉 https://t.co/hpCXIU44sa pic.twitter.com/L91Pxnp19B — United Nations Caribbean (@CaribbeanUN) March 20, 2023 “We’ve broken the water cycle, destroyed ecosystems and contaminated groundwater,” Gutteres added. “Nearly three out of four natural disasters are linked to water. One in four people lives without safely managed water services or clean drinking water. And over 1.7 billion people lack basic sanitation. Half a billion practice open ablutions. And millions of women and girls spend hours every day fetching water.” In addition, 1.4 million people die annually and 74 million will have their lives shortened by diseases related to poor water, sanitation and hygiene, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Global water demand is projected to increase by 55% by 2050. 💧 Water is life💧 Water is livelihoods💧 Water is empowerment Yet, 2.2 billion people still live without access to safe drinking water. On #WorldWaterDay and every day, let's take #WaterAction to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to safe, clean water. pic.twitter.com/gmLs71gx1f — UN Development (@UNDP) March 22, 2023 Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Combat the infodemic in health information and support health policy reporting from the global South. Our growing network of journalists in Africa, Asia, Geneva and New York connect the dots between regional realities and the big global debates, with evidence-based, open access news and analysis. To make a personal or organisational contribution click here on PayPal.