UN 2023 Water Conference – A watershed moment for the SDGs
Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is the most basic human need for health and well-being,and a declared human right. But some 2 billion people around the world still lack access to safe drinkingwater and 40 per cent of the world’s population are affected by water scarcity. Agriculture demandsalone account for some 70% of water usage. Adding to the pressure, more than 90 per cent of disastersare water-related, with climate change hitting hardest through water. And humanity’s demand for waterkeeps growing, with pressure on freshwater projected to increase by more than 40 per cent by 2050.

Against this background, conference deliberations ranged from the urgency of the water crisis, includingits role in forced migration, climate change and conflicts to stressing its critical link to good health,poverty reduction and food security. Attention was also given to solutions, with deliberations spanningthe need for better data collection, enhanced governance systems, capacity development opportunitiesand funding gaps in the water sector. With financing needs at between US$182 to more than US$600billion annually, the importance of unlocking financing and innovative funding schemes, calling for newinnovations and investments at scale in the water economy was also underscored.


Transformative Water Action Agenda

Responding to this, the Water Action Agenda, the key outcome of the Conference, captured over 700 commitments aimed at driving transformation from a global water crisis to a water-secure world. The agenda represents the global community’s bold resolve to address the water challenges through a more coordinated and results-driven approach (see select list of commitments below). A number of otherfollow-up steps are also under consideration – including the appointment of a Special Envoy on Water.

The conference outcomes will also receive concrete follow-up in three key upcoming Summits: the SDGSummit during the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the Summit of the Future in 2024, the World Social Summit in 2025, and through the annual High- level political forum on sustainable development, Conference of Parties and other United Nations processes, as well as the Dushanbe WaterProcess.

“At the 2023 UN Water Conference a determined global community came together to make a differencenot only for the future of water but for the future of the world,” said Mr. Li Junhua, the UN Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Conference Secretary-General.

“I hope that the energy we experienced at this Conference will flow on to the SDG Summit in Septemberwhen the world gathers together to advance the transformative actions that we need, to realize allSDGs, and secure a sustainable future for everyone, everywhere, on a healthy planet.”


UN 2023 Water Conference – Eco Needs Foundation

Eco Needs Foundation got the special accreditation of UN for this conference. Dr. Priyanand Agale its founder ,Mr. Deelip Mhaske its USA president,Mr. Prajey Nagdeve its Youth president ,Mr. Manish Meshram, Mr. Vishwajit Ilamkar team were participated.

Dr. Priyanand Agale recored his SDG 6 implementation observations during the discussion of first session of conference ,’’ said Dr.Priyanand Agale ,The UN 2023 Water Conference is highly integral as it deals with review of implementation of UN Water Action. In the midterm review of SDG-6, we must be thankful to the UN for achieving remarkable success. We found that, while implementing sanitation programs in rural areas, the sewage treatment and treatment of domestic water-supply are highly ignored which leads to surface and ground water contamination. Unavailability of viable technology for water treatment and administrative apathy are the major hurdles in achieving the SDG-6 goal.

Eco Needs Foundation came up with solutions through my patented technology of sewage treatment, AGBS Purifier, which is cost effective, easy to construct and operate, without mechanical and chemical processes. Similarly, for treatment of domestic water supply we have developed technique of electronic disinfectant which is fully-automated system and just require $250. We have huge experience in environmental conservation and also developed India’s first smart-village as a model of sustainable development.

We appeal the UN to pay urgent attention and to constitute an expert-committee for reviewing pollution and suggesting appropriate solutions, establishing pilot model, monitoring and auditing. So that desired outcome of the UN water action decade can be achieved.

In the plenary session discussion 24 th March Eco Needs Foundation raise the demand of “Right to Water” Dr. Priyanand Agale said this conference reaching at the common conclusion that water for humanity .In India Humanity and water relationship firstly established by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar father of modern India on historical day of 20th March 1927 by Mahad Lake Satyagraha same day i.e. 20 th Eco Needs Foundation celebrating as World Rights to Water Day and Dr. Agale appeals to global leaders and society to celebrate 20th March at Global level along with strong legislation for Right to Water.

Snapshot of Commitments

Member States

• The US announced a commitment of up to $49 billion in investments to support climateresilient water and sanitation infrastructure and services.
• Japan will proactively contribute to the solution of water-related social issues faced bythe Asia-Pacific region by developing “quality Infrastructure”, providing financialassistance worth approximately 500 billion yen ($3.65 billion) over the next five years.
• Vietnam pledged to develop policies for major river basins management by 2025 and toensure all households would have access to clean running water by 2030.
• Switzerland submitted 5 commitments to contribute to the UN's work, including in theareas of the Water Convention and transboundary cooperation. Switzerland is the cochair of the Interactive Dialogue on Water for Cooperation.
• The Niger Basin Authority (NBA) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment,Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) made a jointcommitment of $21.2 million in funding for a project that strengthens the Niger BasinAuthority (NBA) and its member countries.
• • The Government of Mozambique committed to taking all necessary steps to accelerate achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 by 2030 with investmentsof $9.5 billion.
• With the Continental Africa Investment Programme (AIP), the African Union Commissionaims to close Africa’s water investments gap by mobilising at least US$30 billion/year by2030 through a range of initiatives, including the International High-Level Panel on WaterInvestments for Africa.
• By 2030, the EU aims to support the access of 70 million individuals to an improveddrinking water source and/or sanitation facility. The EU will also support Member Stateswith €20 million funding to accelerate the deployment of wastewater surveillance for COVID-19.
• More than 50 leading global companies unite to make collective commitment to SDG 6.

• The Asian Development Bank commits to investing $11 billion dollars in the water sector in the Asia-Pacific Region and $100 billion to the water sector globally by 2030.

• Starbucks, Ecolab, Gap Inc., Reckitt and DuPont joined forces with U.S. Government to invest nearly $140 million in Water Access Fund with the goal of reaching 5 million people with access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
• DANONE is launching a water acceleration blending fund to give daily safe water access to 30 million people in need.
• Xylem and 16 other companies commit $11 billion dollars in Research and Development.
• World Benchmarking Alliance has pledged to assess 1,000 global companies across 22 industries on their impact towards achieving water-related goals every two years to helps close the corporate accountability gap.

• World Vision committed to raising and investing $2 billion by 2030 to extend the impact of transformative water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services work across 50 countries.