K-water Participates in UN 2023 Water Conference

Dignitaries, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, participate in a performance event at a ceremony to celebrate the 2023 World Water Day at KINTEX in Goyang, north of Seoul, on March 22. (Photo: MOE)

K-water, which serves as president of the Asian Water Council (AWC), participated in the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York from March 22 to 24.

AWC is a leading water platform that aims to provide tangible solutions to resolve water issues in Asia and beyond. AWC, established in 2016, has a membership of 152 entities from 24 countries, including foreign governments and international institutions, as of 2023.

K-water, Korea’s representative water institution, who led the establishment of AWC, serves as president institution of AWC and its secretariat.

K-water has implemented diverse collaboration projects to cope with Asian countries’ responses to climate change and solve water issues.

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) - took place at UN Headquarters in New York, co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

The conference included an opening and a closing session, six plenary sessions, and five interactive dialogues, as well as side events organized by participants. It resulted in a summary of proceedings from the UNGA president that fed into the 2023 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

The UN 2023 Water Conference took on significance as the meeting was the first water gathering, hosted by the United Nations in 46 years since 1977 when the United Nations Water Conference took place in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

AWC has been approved as a special certification institution in recognition of presenting water-related international conventions and diverse cooperation activities to the United Nations and outcomes related to water issue agenda.

K-water, Korea’s sole water certification institution, participated in the UN 2023 Water Conference and hosted a side event at the United Nations.

The side event at the United Nations 2023 Water Conference took place on March 23 under the theme “Identifying and bridging the capacity gaps to achieve water-related SDGs.”

Water experts, including officials of governments, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Laos, as well as ADB, World Bank, Green Climate Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank participated in the event, hosted by the National Water and Sanitation Agency of Brazil (ANA), Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water), United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), and UNESCO International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management (UNESCO i-WSSM).

Park Pyeong-rok, a director in charge of planning at K-water, said, “I’m very pleased that effective discussions designed to solve water issues in Asia have been held at the top-ranking official conference of the water sector, and the UN 2023 Water Conference will serve as an opportunity for AWC to move forward as a global water platform to link foreign governments, international institutions and investment entities.”

MOE Hosts World Water Day Anniversary

The Ministry of Environment (MOE) held a ceremony to celebrate the 2023 World Water Day at KINTEX in Goyang, north of Seoul, on March 22.

The United Nations designated March 22nd as “World Water Day” in 1992 in order to raise awareness of water as it became polluted and scarce globally due to a growing population and industrialization.

In Korea, the “World Water Day” ceremony has been held at the government level with a view to remind of the meaning and join forces with the world since 1995.

This year, the UN selected "Accelerating Change to Solve the Water and Sanitation Crisis” as the theme of 2023 World Water Day.

Those who have contributed to the development of the water sector so far were presented with orders and other prizes. The prize winners included President Kim Dong-woo of BKT, who was honored with the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Bronze Tower.

A number of water companies participated in the Water Korea 2023, the nation’s biggest water industry fair, which took place at KINTEX on March 23 on the occasion of 2023 World Water Day.