Excellencies,Distinguished colleagues and partners,Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us at this Special Event to officially launch the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
I am very happy to be here, representing the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN DESA, as the HLPF Secretariat, and to co-host the event with Mr. Houngbo.
Special Events have a distinct profile during the High-level Political Forum. They have more visibility, more high-level participation and draw the attention of a large audience.
And this is what we need right now in order to accelerate action on SDG 6, which aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
A central objective of this Event is to show a unified UN system in support of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework. We also wish to draw commitments and high-level support from different stakeholders including Member States, civil society and the private sector.
This is a key opportunity to shape the political agenda in support of SDG 6 as we move towards major UN events on water – such as the PGA high-level event in 2021, and the 2023 UN Water Decade Conference.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework is a direct response of the UN System to the Secretary-General’s call for a decade of action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. Indeed, accelerated action is needed now more than ever to put the world on track to realize the Goals and their targets by 2030.
We are all well aware that under the current rate of progress, we will not achieve SDG 6.
Moreover, the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 crisis are jeopardizing the access of billions of people to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services. These are desperately needed to actually prevent the virus from spreading.
This year’s Secretary-General’s SDG Progress Report highlights that inadequate access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene led to a total of 870,000 deaths already in 2016.
Only 71% of the global population used safely managed drinking water, and just 45% used safely managed sanitation services. This leaves 2.2 billion people without safely managed drinking water, and 4.2 billion without safely managed sanitation.
The poorest and most vulnerable are affected disproportionally, including women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees.
Just imagine how hard a day in your life would be without access to these basic services, which billions lack their entire life! The current COVID-19 crisis has further accentuated these inequalities and pushed the marginalized even closer to the edge.
For this reason, we must step up our actions to realize the commitment we made five years ago, when the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted.
We must prioritize access to water and sanitation as fundamental services for people – not only for their health and to prevent infection by COVID-19 – but also for their livelihoods and prosperity. Indeed, access to quality education and decent jobs are also key to building society’s capacity for recovery.
The SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework we are launching today will provide the necessary boost to create more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies.
For its implementation, multilateral cooperation will be essential. Harnessing the benefits of sharing data, information and best practices is critical to implementing effective and integrated national, regional and international strategies.
My Department is therefore proud to commit to the Global Acceleration Framework, by:? supporting the SDG 6 Action Space through the SDG Acceleration Action platform,? increasing our capacity- building work on SDG 6, and? providing the platform for an annual high-level and multi-stakeholder moment to share progress on water and sanitation related issues.
Only by raising ambition through strong political will and commitment at the highest level, will we achieve SDG 6 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We count on you, all relevant actors and stakeholders, to scale-up support and action.
I look forward to hearing from colleagues and partners on how they will contribute to accelerate progress towards SDG 6 in the coming ten years.
I now pass the floor to Mr. Gilbert Houngbo for his remarks and to chair the session.
Thank you.
Thank you for joining us at this Special Event to officially launch the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
I am very happy to be here, representing the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN DESA, as the HLPF Secretariat, and to co-host the event with Mr. Houngbo.
Special Events have a distinct profile during the High-level Political Forum. They have more visibility, more high-level participation and draw the attention of a large audience.
And this is what we need right now in order to accelerate action on SDG 6, which aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
A central objective of this Event is to show a unified UN system in support of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework. We also wish to draw commitments and high-level support from different stakeholders including Member States, civil society and the private sector.
This is a key opportunity to shape the political agenda in support of SDG 6 as we move towards major UN events on water – such as the PGA high-level event in 2021, and the 2023 UN Water Decade Conference.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework is a direct response of the UN System to the Secretary-General’s call for a decade of action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. Indeed, accelerated action is needed now more than ever to put the world on track to realize the Goals and their targets by 2030.
We are all well aware that under the current rate of progress, we will not achieve SDG 6.
Moreover, the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 crisis are jeopardizing the access of billions of people to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services. These are desperately needed to actually prevent the virus from spreading.
This year’s Secretary-General’s SDG Progress Report highlights that inadequate access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene led to a total of 870,000 deaths already in 2016.
Only 71% of the global population used safely managed drinking water, and just 45% used safely managed sanitation services. This leaves 2.2 billion people without safely managed drinking water, and 4.2 billion without safely managed sanitation.
The poorest and most vulnerable are affected disproportionally, including women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees.
Just imagine how hard a day in your life would be without access to these basic services, which billions lack their entire life! The current COVID-19 crisis has further accentuated these inequalities and pushed the marginalized even closer to the edge.
For this reason, we must step up our actions to realize the commitment we made five years ago, when the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted.
We must prioritize access to water and sanitation as fundamental services for people – not only for their health and to prevent infection by COVID-19 – but also for their livelihoods and prosperity. Indeed, access to quality education and decent jobs are also key to building society’s capacity for recovery.
The SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework we are launching today will provide the necessary boost to create more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies.
For its implementation, multilateral cooperation will be essential. Harnessing the benefits of sharing data, information and best practices is critical to implementing effective and integrated national, regional and international strategies.
My Department is therefore proud to commit to the Global Acceleration Framework, by:? supporting the SDG 6 Action Space through the SDG Acceleration Action platform,? increasing our capacity- building work on SDG 6, and? providing the platform for an annual high-level and multi-stakeholder moment to share progress on water and sanitation related issues.
Only by raising ambition through strong political will and commitment at the highest level, will we achieve SDG 6 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We count on you, all relevant actors and stakeholders, to scale-up support and action.
I look forward to hearing from colleagues and partners on how they will contribute to accelerate progress towards SDG 6 in the coming ten years.
I now pass the floor to Mr. Gilbert Houngbo for his remarks and to chair the session.
Thank you.
File date:
Thursday, July 9, 2020