51³Ô¹Ï

Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
      
It is my great pleasure to join this special event on the road to the UN 2023 Water Conference. I would like to thank the Food and Agriculture Organization of the 51³Ô¹Ï (FAO) for organizing this important timely event.
There is a critical link between water and food security.  In fact, water is interlinked with most Sustainable Development Goals.
With the growing challenges to hunger and food security fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, recent global conflicts, and climate-related shocks, addressing this interlinkage could not be more important. 
Around 150 million more people facing hunger in 2021 compared with 2019. Globally, as many as 828 million people, almost 1 in 10 people, are estimated to have suffered from hunger. We must change this trend.
Excellencies,
Among others, agriculture is by far the largest water user, especially in low and middle-income countries. Worldwide, agriculture withdraws 72 per cent of all freshwater resources, followed by 16 per cent of municipalities and 12 per cent of industries.
Improved water-use efficiency is critical for increasing productivity of agriculture. , We can address this with better irrigation systems, different crop types, and better water pricing mechanisms, among others
At the same time, agricultural runoff and untreated wastewater are major threats to environmental water quality, releasing excess nutrients into rivers, lakes and aquifers and harming ecosystem function. We must address this with sustainable farming practices. Cross-sectoral coordination about water management must be strengthened.
Excellencies,
To achieve integrated management of water resources for social, economic and environmental objectives, the 51³Ô¹Ï General Assembly will convene the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York from 22 to 24 next March.   The thematic interactive dialogues reflect this need for the integrated management of water, in light of the inherent cross-cutting nature of water with all the other SDGs. 
In particular theme 2, entitled ¡°Water for Sustainable Development: Valuing Water, Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Sustainable Economic and Urban Development¡± will look at a subset of these interlinkages through the lens of food. 
The Conference will review the achievements in the first half of the Water Action Decade, 2018-2028 and identify the necessary actions in the second half. The main outcome of the Conference will be a Water Action Agenda, namely a set of voluntary commitments of actions and initiatives announced by governments, international organizations, the private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders. Country-driven national water dialogues and National Water Roadmaps, supported by FAO, are leading examples of voluntary commitment.
As the Secretary-General of the UN 2023 Water Conference, I strongly encourage all of you to actively participate in the Conference and its preparatory process and contribute to the Water Action Agenda.
I wish you fruitful discussions at the Rome Water Dialogue today and to the momentum it will build toward March
Thank you.