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On Friday, March 25, 2023, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on humanity, which is at risk of worsening water scarcity, to “change course” in its management of “this precious common wealth”.
At the end of an unprecedented conference nearly half a century ago at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Guterres stressed that water is “the most precious common property,” adding that it should be “at the center of the global political agenda” along with other issues such as health, hygiene, peace, development, poverty and food security. .
“All humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on a change of course, based on science,” the UN official said, calling for efforts to “change the situation” in order for every person on this planet to have access to water.
In this context, Guterres considered, at the opening of this three-day conference, in which more than 6500 A person, including ministers and heads of state and government, said, “We have destroyed environmental systems and polluted groundwater.”
“There is a lot of effort required and time is not on our side,” said Gilbert Hongbo, head of the United Nations Commission on Water, a platform that coordinates the work of the United Nations, which does not have a dedicated body on the subject.
In a world where the use of fresh water has increased over the past 40 years 1Approximately percent annually. The report of the United Nations Water Commission first highlights the water shortage, which is about to “become widespread on a large scale”, and is getting worse with the impact of global warming. Asia or South America.
It is noteworthy that no conference of this size has been organized for a year 1977 On this vital issue that has been ignored for so long.
Monte Carlo International/AFP
