6th Pacific Water Forum discusses access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation
THE 6th Pacific Water and Wastewater Ministers Forum and the 13th Pacific Water and Wastewater Conference discussed the issues that Pacific Islanders faced while accessing clean drinking water and proper sanitation.The meeting held in Nadi recently was attended by Pacific Island Ministers, heads of delegation and chief executive officers who discussed ways in which water sanitation and insecurity can be resolved. While addressing the Pacific Island members, the Minister for Infrastructure and Meteorological services, Jone Usamate, highlighted that a collaborative approach towards ensuring access to clean water and treatment of wastewater was the way forward.“The challenges faced by us in the Pacific revolves around the effects of climate change on resources, lack of climate resilient infrastructure, ensuring availability of water for the coming generation and mitigating environment risks when it comes to human activities.”
“It is very timely for all of us to converge and collaborate as many of our Pacific Island countries and territories leaders are in Egypt for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) sharing experiences about the crucial role of water in climate action.”
Minister Usamate highlighted that Pacific Island countries have a greater opportunity seeking global attention at the UN 2023 Water Conference that would further strengthen their role in the Pacific for increasing accessibility of water and sanitation services.
Sharing similar sentiments, chairman of the Pacific Water and Wastewater Association EXPO, Ian Gooden shared that the effects of climate change and water insecurity are not only faced by many small island states but also some major economies.
“Water resilience and security has many faces and in my home country of New Zealand I was involved in water reform there back in 2014 and 2015 before I came after the Solomon Islands, and there was a major water security incident that occurred.”
He also highlighted that all countries must ensure water resilience in order to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goal number six which was to ensure access to water and sanitation for all.
The PWWA EXPO also introduces the Young Water Professionals Program whereby 30 youths will be trained to carry out water resilience projects.
This will be the second time for Fiji to host this event under the theme “Resilience and Water Security” whereby 13 Ministers of the Pacific Island Countries have gathered to discuss issues surrounding clean drinking water and proper sanitation.