Background to the UN 2023 Water Conference

Sadly the world is not on track to achieve the water-related Sustainable Development Goals and targets at the global level by 2030, at the current rate of progress. 

Against the background of this reality, in accordance with resolution A/RES/73/226, the UN General Assembly will convene the United Nations 2023 Water Conference[1] in New York, 22-24 March 2023,  co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands, with Mr Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations as its Secretary. The key objective is to support the achievement of the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in the context of its three economic, social and environmental pillars.

The conference has three principles in terms of (a) its process (ensure vertical and horizontal inclusiveness) and (b) the results (leaving no-one behind). It will be cross-sectoral, mobilizing all other sectors to improve the way they manage and utilize water resources, which need to bring their plans and actions to the Conference, as well as action-oriented, aiming to lead to concrete results through concrete actions and plans on the ground. 

It will include:

• opening and closing sessions      
• six plenary sessions, in which Member States have a space to make their statements
• five interactive dialogues
• three to five special events
• side events organized by Member States and other stakeholders
• Cultural elements including marathons, exhibition, action zones – the sky is the limit 

Relevant stakeholders can be accredited to be observers (through special accreditation process to be started soon

The Conference will help to set the agenda until 2030, and thereafter, by;

• Delivering a summary of proceedings from the UN General Assembly from the President of the General Assembly that will feed into the 2023 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)
• Presenting a set of voluntary commitments in a Water Action Agenda to get the world back on track to:
  • Scale up and replicate what works
  • Discontinue or change what does not work
  • Innovate what needs to be improved
  • Fund what merits funding
• Setting out a roadmap towards 2028 (UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028)) and 2030 (SDGs)

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[1] Formerly known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028)