A new Water Resources Action Plan was adopted at the UN Water Resources Conference held in New York from March 22 to 24.
"This document confirms the basic human right to water. It is about the need to reduce the load on the hydrological system and to adopt the right decisions and wise policies in the field of water resources management," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. “Water needs to be at the centre of the global political agenda,” he said. “All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on charting a new science-based course to bring the Water Action Agenda to life.”
Implementation of the new Water Resources Action Plan will require an integrated approach to water, ecosystems and climate aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing robust infrastructure.
At the opening of the conference, invited young people from different countries presented the various problems of their countries' water resources in the form of a film. Hasmik Barseghyan, a member of the delegation of the International Office of Water Resources, President of the European Youth Parliament on Water Affairs, one of the initiators of "Fill Up The Glass" global youth water campaign, spoke about Lake Sevan. "Where I come from is a vulnerable country to bear the consequences of climate change. Lake Sevan is one of the World’s largest high-altitude freshwater lakes. But pollution and persistent droughts threaten the lake. My lake is ill. How to stop this? We call to come together, across generations to protect Lake Sevan and other freshwater lakes."
Gayane Gabrielyan, RA Deputy Environment Minister, participated in the conference. In her speech, she specifically noted: "Armenia considers the approximation of the national water policy to the UN multilateral environmental agreements, such as the UNECE Protocol on Water and Health in accordance with the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Water Flows and International Lakes, or other global commitments, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as an additional lever in accordance with the principles of integrated water resources management.
Armenia periodically submits voluntary reports to the United Nations, in particular on the Protocol on water and Health, and in this regard, significant progress has been made in bringing our national sectoral goals and action programs in line with the protocol.
In 2020, Armenia developed a strategy for achieving the 6th Sustainable Development Goal, which includes a detailed basic analysis and identification of threats to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals:
The agreement provides for time-appropriate and ambitious commitments in the field of water resources and quality related to the issues of urban wastewater treatment, drinking water, nitrates and floods.
In the same year, the Armenian government adopted a water sector adaptation program and its 5-year action program to combat the growing vulnerability of the country's water resources to climate change," the Deputy Minister noted.
March 30, 2023 at 16:43