State Secretary Raščan attends Water Dialogues for Results

1. 7. 2021

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Permanent Mission to the United Nations New York
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva

At the invitation of the German Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Svenja Schulze, State Secretary Stanislav Raščan attended the Water Dialogues for Results virtual conference in Bonn. The conference is part of a formal preparatory event for the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Water Action Decade scheduled for March 2023 in New York. This will be only the second conference in the history of the UN dedicated exclusively to water.

Water Dialogues for Results Conference | Author https://waterdialogues4results.com/

In preparation for the Bonn conference, Slovenia participated in the Steering Committee in the role of an observer. The Committee has prepared Key Communications as a substantive contribution to the 2023 UN Review Conference.

In his address, State Secretary Raščan expressed Slovenia's support for the Key Communications, which set out clear recommendations for measures to accelerate the achievement of Goal 6 (access to clean water and sanitation) of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other water-related goals of the financing agenda, data, capacity building, innovation and governance.

State Secretary Raščan assured that the comprehensive, inclusive, multi-stakeholder, intersectoral and multidisciplinary approach to water at the local, national and international levels, as proposed by the Key Communications, will also be advocated by Slovenia during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Water in the Union's external relations will be one of the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency. Slovenia has identified the important role of the Union's water diplomacy in promoting global action.

"In its efforts to respond comprehensively to water-related challenges at the global level, Slovenia will strive to secure more coherent global water governance, the appointment of a UN Special Envoy for Water and a comprehensive approach to Goal 6 and all other sustainable development goals," State Secretary Raščan concluded.