Hundreds of Parliamentarians, Speakers and related officials gather in the lead-up the UN 2023 Water Conference

8 February 2023 – “Water for People and Planet: Stop the waste, change the game, invest in the future” will be the theme of the 2023 Annual Parliamentary Hearing, a joint initiative between the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Some 250 Members of Parliament, Speakers, advisers and related officials from more than 60 countries are expected at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on 13 and 14 February.

The Hearing takes place only a few weeks after a resolution adopted by the UNGA which highlights the critical role that parliaments play in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the universally agreed upon blueprint for a better and more sustainable future for all. Resolution A/77/159 recognizes the essential role of national parliaments to bring the SDGs to life through their powers to legislate, budget and scrutinize government action.

The theme for this year’s Hearing will raise support for Sustainable Development Goal #6 on clean water and sanitation, and the UN 2023 Water Conference – formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) – which will take place at the UN, 22-24 March, co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

The President of the 77^th session of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, said, “The theme of this year’s Hearing is critical. We live in a time of multiple and interconnected crises. But the greatest one we face is the water crisis. Nearly all climate change is felt through water – we have either too much, not enough or it’s not potable. The policy that we implement now will impact not just us, but dictate how our children and our grandchildren will live. We have the gamechangers ready, but we need support to make them a reality – a lifechanging reality for all of humanity.”

IPU President, Duarte Pacheco, said: “Although our planet is called the blue planet, billions of people do not have access to clean water and sanitation. The good news is that water and sanitation problems can be solved through coordinated national and international actions. And that’s where parliamentarians can make a difference. Change is possible when governments lead with smart policies and when parliaments demand accountability and help enact those commitments with laws and budgets.”

The IPU mainstreams global commitments into the day-to-day work of national parliaments and supports parliaments in their vital role of holding governments to account in implementing multilateral agreements.

According to UN Water, 1 in 4 people lack safe drinking water; and almost 50 per cent of the global population lack safe sanitation. Water is related to most natural disasters with 1.2 billion people at risk from floods across the world. In past 20 years, floods and droughts have caused over 166,000 deaths, disrupted the lives of billions of people, and caused at least $700 billion in damage.

For additional information:

Paulina Kubiak Greer, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly kubiakp@un.org, +1 917 367 3819

Thomas Fitzsimons, Director of Communications, IPU tf@ipu.org, +41 22 919 4137