Bangladesh
Statement by Mr. Md. Mustafizur Rahman
, Deputy Permanent Representative of
Bangladesh to UN at the Third Open-ended
Working Group on Sustainable Development
Goals, Issues: Water and Sanitation
New York, 22-24 May 2013
Mr. Co-Chair,
We heard a number of nice presentations yest
erday. The Technical Support Team has also
produced an excellent paper on water and sani
tation. We applaud all
of them for useful
contributions.
It will not be an overstatement
if we say, water is life. Wit
hout water, we can not think of
sustenance of life. According
to scientific knowledge, 70 perc
ent of human body consists of
water. We need water for varieties of purposes
, starting with househol
d use, sanitation and
hygiene to agricultural use, navi
gational use and most importantly
for ecology and biodiversity.
Although 2/3 of the earth surface consists of wa
ter, limited amount is usable for household
activities and irrigation. Water fo
r agriculture and food production c
onstitutes one of
the greatest
pressures on freshwater resources. We have b
een misusing and mismanaging this valuable and
infinite resource for too long. Enough attention
has not been given to managing surface and
groundwater water resources in a sustainable manner.
The problem with water is not unique or uniform
to all places. In some
parts of the world, it is
the scarcity of water as the whol
e, in other parts, it is an issu
e of shortage of fresh water or
potable water only. In some places, the problem is
depletion of ground water, in other place it is
pollution or salinity intrusion. Ye
t, in other regions, there is
abundance during the rainy reason,
scarcity during the dry season. S
o, it is a complex situation all together. This makes water
management a challenging issue to tackle in
a unified manner. As
countries develop and
populations grow, their demand for wa
ter increases. It is reported
that close to 2 billion people
live today in river basins where
water use exceeds recharge, leadi
ng to the dryness of rivers and
depletion of groundwater. On the other hand, degrad
ation of ecosystems due to human activity is
causing increase in extreme events such as floods
and droughts. This is expected to further
exacerbate water scarcity and flooding.
The MDG framework has captured water in a ve
ry narrow and limited manner in the form of
water and sanitation, ignoring the
broader water management issu
e and its inter-
linkage with
various other priority-areas, su
ch as, food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture;
health and population, biodiversity, desertifica
tion, land degradation and drought. This will be
another missed opportunity if we
take sectorial appro
ach as against holistic
approach to water
system management.
We have to manage water sustainably to
meet today’s needs without compromise the
requirements of the future. At the national level, we
have to take policy initiatives to finish the
unfinished job in meeting MDG targets on water
and sanitation. We know, the progress in the
sanitation area is not satisfactory
and it is lack of adequate res
ources as much as the habit and
culture that is responsible for its limited progre
ss. Clearly, the countries
in special situation,
particularly the LDCs would need financial s
upport, technology transf
er and capacity building
assistance to cover deficits in
MDGs and to achieve in the
post-MDG development objectives.
For sustainable water management, improved
knowledge, research and innovation is required.
These are available in global market, but shoul
d be made accessible and affordable to the
countries in need. Since environment does
not follow political boundary, trans-border
collaboration is critical for sustainable water management.
Mr. Co-Chair,
We would suggest integration of water challenge
into two sets of Su
stainable Development
Goals. The first set should incl
ude universal access to safe dr
inking water and sanitation; the
second set should address economic and ecological
aspect of water is
sue through integrated
water resources management and water
‐
use efficiency. In cases where the water source is
common, countries should undertak
e coordinated policies and shared management approach, for
example, joint river basin management of
common rivers. Trans-boundary cooperation on water
issue could contribute to more efficient mana
gement, with positive impacts on water quantity
and quality, as well as preservation of ecosystem
and biodiversity. This will also minimize the
possibility of unilateral divers
ion of water by any country fo
r hydropower, creating storage dam
or any other unsustainable expl
oitation of water resources.
I thank you.
, Deputy Permanent Representative of
Bangladesh to UN at the Third Open-ended
Working Group on Sustainable Development
Goals, Issues: Water and Sanitation
New York, 22-24 May 2013
Mr. Co-Chair,
We heard a number of nice presentations yest
erday. The Technical Support Team has also
produced an excellent paper on water and sani
tation. We applaud all
of them for useful
contributions.
It will not be an overstatement
if we say, water is life. Wit
hout water, we can not think of
sustenance of life. According
to scientific knowledge, 70 perc
ent of human body consists of
water. We need water for varieties of purposes
, starting with househol
d use, sanitation and
hygiene to agricultural use, navi
gational use and most importantly
for ecology and biodiversity.
Although 2/3 of the earth surface consists of wa
ter, limited amount is usable for household
activities and irrigation. Water fo
r agriculture and food production c
onstitutes one of
the greatest
pressures on freshwater resources. We have b
een misusing and mismanaging this valuable and
infinite resource for too long. Enough attention
has not been given to managing surface and
groundwater water resources in a sustainable manner.
The problem with water is not unique or uniform
to all places. In some
parts of the world, it is
the scarcity of water as the whol
e, in other parts, it is an issu
e of shortage of fresh water or
potable water only. In some places, the problem is
depletion of ground water, in other place it is
pollution or salinity intrusion. Ye
t, in other regions, there is
abundance during the rainy reason,
scarcity during the dry season. S
o, it is a complex situation all together. This makes water
management a challenging issue to tackle in
a unified manner. As
countries develop and
populations grow, their demand for wa
ter increases. It is reported
that close to 2 billion people
live today in river basins where
water use exceeds recharge, leadi
ng to the dryness of rivers and
depletion of groundwater. On the other hand, degrad
ation of ecosystems due to human activity is
causing increase in extreme events such as floods
and droughts. This is expected to further
exacerbate water scarcity and flooding.
The MDG framework has captured water in a ve
ry narrow and limited manner in the form of
water and sanitation, ignoring the
broader water management issu
e and its inter-
linkage with
various other priority-areas, su
ch as, food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture;
health and population, biodiversity, desertifica
tion, land degradation and drought. This will be
another missed opportunity if we
take sectorial appro
ach as against holistic
approach to water
system management.
We have to manage water sustainably to
meet today’s needs without compromise the
requirements of the future. At the national level, we
have to take policy initiatives to finish the
unfinished job in meeting MDG targets on water
and sanitation. We know, the progress in the
sanitation area is not satisfactory
and it is lack of adequate res
ources as much as the habit and
culture that is responsible for its limited progre
ss. Clearly, the countries
in special situation,
particularly the LDCs would need financial s
upport, technology transf
er and capacity building
assistance to cover deficits in
MDGs and to achieve in the
post-MDG development objectives.
For sustainable water management, improved
knowledge, research and innovation is required.
These are available in global market, but shoul
d be made accessible and affordable to the
countries in need. Since environment does
not follow political boundary, trans-border
collaboration is critical for sustainable water management.
Mr. Co-Chair,
We would suggest integration of water challenge
into two sets of Su
stainable Development
Goals. The first set should incl
ude universal access to safe dr
inking water and sanitation; the
second set should address economic and ecological
aspect of water is
sue through integrated
water resources management and water
‐
use efficiency. In cases where the water source is
common, countries should undertak
e coordinated policies and shared management approach, for
example, joint river basin management of
common rivers. Trans-boundary cooperation on water
issue could contribute to more efficient mana
gement, with positive impacts on water quantity
and quality, as well as preservation of ecosystem
and biodiversity. This will also minimize the
possibility of unilateral divers
ion of water by any country fo
r hydropower, creating storage dam
or any other unsustainable expl
oitation of water resources.
I thank you.
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