Representatives of the High-Level Panel on Water (HLPW) have handed over the HLPW outcome to the UN Secretary General (SG) António Guterres and senior representative of the World Bank president.
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Masud Bin Momen joined the event at UN secretary general’s office in the UN headquarters on behalf of the prime minister on Wednesday, said a press release on Thursday.
After handing over the outcome documents, Ambassador Masud said the outcome package that they have handed over “will provide the governments and all stakeholders guidance to carry out meaningful water actions to implement the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] and to create a water-secure world for all.” Mentioning that water and environment remains at the centre of the development priorities of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Masud said under the premier’s visionary leadership, Bangladesh has earned global recognition as a champion for ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for all.
“In a country of more than 160 million people, nearly everyone can access safe drinking water.
Now, our target is to ensure direct access to safe drinking water for all by 2020,” he said.
The ambassador also mentioned that Bangladesh values water as a right, and as a tool to ensure human dignity.
He expressed his sincere appreciation to the HLPW leaders for their commitment, guidance, and hard work.
Mentioning that climate change and frequent disasters have exacerbated the crisis of safe water across the world, the UN Secretary General (SG) António Guterres assured that the proposals for accelerated water actions of HLPW leaders would be taken very seriously by the UN.
António Guterres also hoped that the governments of member states would also take guidance from these recommendations while implementing water actions at the national level.