Speech by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon at the closing ceremony of the UN-2023 Water Conference

Excellencies,
Distinguished Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Distinguished President of the General Assembly of the United Nations,
Honourable Present,

Over the past three days, the Second United Nations Water Conference, held for the first time in 46 years, has brought together thousands of people.

We have gathered to discuss one of the most pressing issues affecting all areas, including food, health, climate, nature, culture and the economy of our countries.

Water is indeed the source of all living things in the universe. Therefore, water can unite us all.

We are fully aware of the need to fundamentally change the way we understand, value and manage water.

We need to have a new vision of water that reflects the prospects for the development of its resources and at the same time contributes to strengthening the role of freshwater resources in the subsequent world agenda.

The Republic of Tajikistan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as hosts of this Conference, have cooperated fruitfully with all of you at all stages.

Therefore, we have become real partners in the water issue, having the same values and representing a complete cycle of water from the source to the sea.

We also discussed issues related to mountains, glaciers and full-flowing rivers in the picturesque country of Tajikistan, up to the mouth of the rivers, the coast of the sea and the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

This is the greatest power of water, which unites different continents, countries and cultures of the world.

Indeed, this Conference brought the world together.

Let's unite around the water!

Let's not miss this opportunity to accelerate the further implementation of the Sixth Sustainable Development Goal and other water-related goals!

Although this Conference is taking place in the middle of the decade of action "Water for Sustainable Development", we believe that this is the beginning of a new highway of concrete action for us.

These three days really gave us a new strength: we gathered the world community in New York, now we can convey to the world the developed joint actions in the water sector.

All your commitments have been included in the Water Action Agenda.

We welcome those commitments and believe that their broad implementation should be monitored.

The water agenda should be clearly and specifically articulated at three key upcoming United Nations events, namely the 2023 Summit of the Sustainable Development Goals, the upcoming 2024 Summit and the 2025 World Social Summit, as well as the annual high-level policy forums on the Sustainable Development Goals, stakeholder conferences on climate, biodiversity, and other United Nations processes and, of course, the water process in Dushanbe.

I take this opportunity to invite all of you to the next Conference on the Implementation of the International Water Decade, which will be held in Dushanbe in 2024.

Thank you for being with us in New York and for your collective partnership.

I am sure that today we are all inspired by our commitment to step up action on water.

Together we will achieve these noble goals!