Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has expressed concern over the limited international financing available for water-related climate adaptation.

He urged the global community to step up efforts for enhanced international financing for sustainable water management including for adaptation.

“To implement the water action agenda under Sustainable Development Goals, we call upon the development partners and international financial institutions to enhance the international financial support to the countries in need," Momen said.

He was speaking at the general debate of the UN 2023 Water Conference at the UN Headquarters on Wednesday.

This is the first UN Water Conference in a generation, which aims to mobilize global support to take concerted action towards achieving the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Referring to the national policies of Bangladesh on UN water action agenda, Foreign Minister Momen said Bangladesh attaches high importance to sustainable management of its water resources in order to support its long-term development plan. 

He said under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the government has initiated a 100-year plan titled ‘Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100’ and formulated ‘Bangladesh Water Act 2013’ for building a resilient delta through sound integrated water resources management (IWRM). 

The UN conference, co-hosted by the governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands, features an opening and closing ceremony, six plenary meetings and five multi-stakeholder interactive dialogues.

Foreign Minister Momen delivered keynote in interactive dialogue-2 entitled “Water for Sustainable Development: Valuing Water, Water-Energy-Food Nexus, and Sustainable Economic and Urban Development” and opening statement in another side event entitled “Water Solutions for Climate Adaptation: Lessons to Scale up Impactful Delivery” organized by the Global Center on Adaptation, Government of the Netherlands and African Development Bank.