Intervention by H.E. Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, MP, Hon’ble Foreign Minister of Bangladesh at the meeting of the High-level Panel on Water with the UN Secretary-General UNHQ, 21 April 2016
Mr. Secretary-General,
Co-Chairs,
Excellencies,
I bring to this august meeting the warm greetings of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She was very keen to join you all. For certain exigencies, she could not make it.
Let me briefly share a few aspects that she asked me to flag:
Through the 2030 Agenda, the inter-linkages and interfaces vis-a-vis water and wider sustainable development architecture has been substantially articulated. Water is one area where climate vulnerable countries, including LDCs are most intensely challenged. In moving forward, the Panel would need to articulate a common set of actions that also take into account diversity in countries – their differentiated needs and circumstances.
Second, in terms of ensuring water security, we would need to ensure an optimal balance about non-public support measures. While market or philanthropies may offer much of promise, we need to ensure that the solutions are accessible and affordable to the people at the bottom.
Third, water may exacerbate inequality along the pathway of rapid urbanization or, planned industrialization or, resilient agriculture. The dichotomies in terms of protection, conservation and balanced utilization of common water resources need to be effectively addressed in policy or programmatic choices.
Fourth, If we are to craft effective and sustainable solutions towards ensuring water security, development of adaptive water-resilient technologies would be crucial. We need to consider helping the manufacturing sectors in the LDCs develop their productive capacities vis-à-vis water use efficiency.
Therefore, it is time for bold thinking and action – as regards our approaches and solutions over water.
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