Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena called on the South Asian water and sanitation experts to ensure water sanitation in all the schools in the region by 2030.
He said Sri Lanka would be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG No 6) on water sanitation before the target year.
Addressing the Global Water Partnership – South Asia (GWP SAS) 28th Regional Council Meeting at Negombo yesterday, the Prime Minister said Sri Lanka is determined to achieve the SDG goal 6 on ‘Water sanitation to All’ before the target year of 2030 and added that the our desire is to ensure adequate water sanitation provisions in schools as early as possible.
“While expressing my deep appreciation to all participants in the GWP SA Regional Council for their efforts, I urge them to ensure water sanitation SDG goal in all South Asian schools by 2030. I wish success to your innovative new ways of working which will enhance regional as well as global cooperation in water management,” he said.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the 28th Regional Council meeting of the Global Water Partnership - South Asia (GWPSAS) held in Colombo yesterday.
The Prime Minister said that one need not stress the importance of water for the survival of human beings. “Conflicts on water issues are not something unfamiliar to us. Over 2500 years ago during the life of Gauthama Buddha, an armed feud took place between his father’s clan, the Sakyas and his mother’s clan the Koliyas concerning the waters of the River Rohini, which formed the boundary between the two states and the Buddha, the Enlightened One, had to intervene to settle the conflict,” he said.
He pointed out that the cascades village tanks system is a salient feature of water and soil management systems in ancient Sri Lanka and added, “Though the system was neglected during the colonial rule, today, steps have been taken to revive these tank systems.”
“What we seek from the affluent countries is an honest commitment to finance and to share technology that are needed to address Climate Change and the resulting disasters,” the Prime Minister emphasised.
"I am glad to address this 28th Regional Council Meeting of Global Water Partnership – South Asia as it coincides with the most important environmental summit, the COP 27, in Egypt where our country is represented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe", he said.
"One need not stress the importance of water for the survival of human beings. Looking out of the windows when you see the torrential rains, you might think this beautiful country has no water issues, but the experts are well aware of our periodic floods, droughts, landslides and other natural disasters we face from time to time. The current weather vagaries too resulted due to global climate warming, which has affected almost every nation.
I am confident that the participants of this 28th meeting of Global Water Partnership South Asia regional council will exchange views and formulate plans to enhance regional cooperation in this vital area", he said
In Sri Lanka, the practice of construction of storage reservoirs for irrigation and domestic water requirements had been in practice since as early as 500 BC. Thousands of reservoirs varying in sizes were constructed in cascading arrangement for the purpose of irrigation and domestic water requirements. The cascades village tanks system is a salient feature of water and soil management systems in ancient Sri Lanka.
Though the system was neglected during the foreign rule, today, steps have been taken to revive these tank systems.
With climate finance still scarce, climate adaptation in the form of early warning dissemination is key to safeguarding lives and livelihoods from cascading natural hazards causing substantial losses around the world.
However, I wish to point out that there is an urgent need to acknowledge the cascading natural hazards that cause substantial losses around the world. In devastating natural disasters, a small country could lose almost their national income in a few days. Such instances could have devastating consequences in countries that do not have sufficient means to cope with them. What we seek from the affluent countries is an honest commitment to finance and to share technology that are needed to address Climate Change and the resulting disasters.
There is no doubt about the commonality of problems on water related in South Asian countries and I wish to emphasise on this occasion we must look for the commonality of solutions. I am glad to note that GWP promotes Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) based on the Dublin Rio Principles that focuses on the role of women and water. In any calamity, drought, floods etc. the most affected are the women. We can see women carrying earthen pots and walking long distances to collect water from rivers, tanks or community wells. There is an imperative need to bring solutions to the issues of water scarcity during prolonged droughts. In Sri Lanka we have launched programmes to implement the national objective of ‘Water for All’. I am pleased to say that we were able to rapidly develop our organisational capacity, skills, and tools to carry out these plans successfully, with most planned activities continuing and substantial results being achieved despite the unexpected hurdles like Covid pandemic and the unprecedented economic crisis, which caused financial constraints.
Before concluding, it is earnest to mention that soon youth, those below 35 years of age will consist two-thirds (2/3) of almost two billion people living in South Asia, and naturally half (1/2) of them are women.
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