UN | WATER PROJECTS | UGANDA | TO BENEFIT

The much anticipated United Nations water conference has come to an end with vital commitments that will see Uganda benefit from a lump sum funding of Euros 50m (about sh204b) targeting selected countries in Africa.

The water conference, which attracted many countries including Uganda and its government officials, took place in New York from March 22-24, 2023.

According to Stefania Giodini, the lead water and innovation Netherlands Red Cross revealed how the momentum created cannot be put to waste as it is time for transformative water action that leaves no one behind.

UN members at water conference 3

“It has finally happened after months of preparations for the UN Water Conference at the heart of a climate action partnership with collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross, the United Nations Office for Disaster and Risk Reduction, and the Netherlands Red Cross drove with support from the Netherlands government, which has made an initial commitment of Euros 50 million for Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Sudan,” Giodini stated via her Twitter handle.

Derk Segaar, the director of international assistance at the Netherlands Red Cross, said he was excited to launch the water at the heart of climate action project at the UN headquarters in New York.

“Today a wonderful collaboration to scale up water action through locally-led adaptation has happened,” Segaar said on Friday.  

In 2015, the world committed to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 as part of the 2030 agenda that promises that everyone should have safe drinking water and sanitation by 2030.

UN members at Water conference

According to the United Nations, billions of people and countless schools, businesses, healthcare centers, farms, and factories are being held back because their human rights to water and sanitation still need to be fulfilled.

The United Nations needed to urgently accelerate change to go beyond what they termed as ‘business as usual.’

The 2022 World Health Organization report revealed that 1.4 million people will die annually and 74 million will have their lives shortened by diseases related to poor water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Another 2021, WHO/UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) revealed how one in four people, which translates to 2 billion people worldwide, lack safe drinking water.

Derk Segaar, Director of International Assistance at the Netherlands Red cross

As the UN's new round of funding is likely to bring hope, Uganda’s water ministry revealed how the last three decades with most streams and rivers that used to be permanent have become seasonal.

“We have rivers that have been feeding cities with water, and they are running out, particularly in the dry season,” Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, the commissioner for water resources, planning, and regulation in the water ministry, said.

According to the ministry, the cities that are becoming thirsty include, Mbrarara in the western region, Mbale in the eastern region, Gulu in the northern region, Arua in west Nile, and Kampala, which is affected by a growing population that has not spared wetlands and forests for human settlement and industry.