Dushanbe Water Process and Sustainable Development Goals

United Nations in Türkiye hosted on 12 May an evet jointly with the Embassy of Tajikistan, to inform the government counterparts and international community on the Dushanbe Water Process.

The event which took place in a hybrid format was attended by representatives of state institutions, diplomatic missions and United Nations agencies.

In his opening remarks of the event UN Resident Coordinator in Türkiye Alvaro Rodrgiuez said it is very important to take urgent action to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

“Time is of essence because of the far-reaching impacts of climate change. As it is the case for “access to water, hygiene and sanitation”, climate change poses a systemic risk to achieve progress and protect the progress that has been made for sustainable development” he emphasized.

“The world is not on track to achieve Goal 6. A dramatic acceleration in current rates of progress and integrated and holistic approaches to water management are badly needed” Rodriguez underlined.

Speaking at the event Ashrafjon Gulov, Ambassador of Tajikistan to Türkiye reminded the importance of water and sanitation for socioeconomic development, food security and ecosystem health, and how vital water is in improving the health, well-being and productivity of populations.

“Science clearly shows that, the global crisis caused by climate change is increasing the variability of the water cycle, thus reducing the predictability of water supply and demand, worsening water quality, exacerbating water scarcity and threatens sustainable development world context” Gulov said.

Gulov explained how actively Republic of Tajikistan is initiating climate change and water conservation dialogues at various levels.

The joint event was a preparation meeting for the Second International High-Level Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” in Dushanbe in June 2022, which will convene under the theme “Water resources and climate: reinforcing the interlinkages”.

The preparatory event was organized to inform the government counterparts and the international community in Turkey about the High-Level Conference. The meeting is also served as a platform for exchange of ideas with the key actors on the matter.

Adnan Altay Altınörs, Head of Department for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also spoke at the event. “When we invest in water we are also investing in energy, food, climate change adaptation and addressing many other social issues like health. So many benefits are there once we invest in water. We need to double the efforts on achieving SDG 6 and other internationally agreed water goals and objectives” he said.

“Dushanbe Water Process”

The Government of Tajikistan, committed to continue providing a platform for policy dialogue, partnership and action, is organizing, with the support of the UN, high-level international conferences throughout the Water Action Decade, thus establishing the so-called “Dushanbe Water Process”.

The biennial conferences under the Dushanbe Water Process provide opportunities to create an enabling environment and platform for promotion of action, partnership and policy dialogue, review the implementation of the Decade, as well as to promote interlinkages with and contribute to other relevant processes.

Second High-level International Conference

The Government of Tajikistan will host in cooperation with the UN and other partners on 6-9 June 2022 a Second High-level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, entitled “Catalyzing water action and partnership at the local, national, regional and global levels”. The Conference will be co-chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

Water and Sustainable Development

Water and sanitation are at the core of sustainable development, and the range of services they provide underpin poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental sustainability. However, in recent decades overexploitation, pollution, and climate change have led to severe water stress in locales across the world. 

“Today, 40 per cent of the world’s people are affected by water scarcity; 80 per cent of wastewater is discharged untreated into the environment, and more than 90 per cent of disasters are water-related” says UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

In line with these developments, in December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution “International Decade for Action – Water for Sustainable Development” (2018–2028) in support of the achievement of SDG 6 and other water-related targets.