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Abu Dhabi Host The 4th Dialogue On Southern Asia Water Cooperation |
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The 4th Abu Dhabi Dialogue, which is being hosted by Abu Dhabi Government from 22-23 October, is bringing together senior government and political leadership and civil society stakeholders from seven countries of South Asia, with the aim of fostering water cooperation on the rivers of the Greater Himalayas. The name of the Dialogue derives from the ’First International Conference on Southern Asia Water Cooperation’, a regional meeting of senior political, government, academic, and civil society members from the seven countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, convened in Abu Dhabi in September 2006 by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) with the support of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Since then, the 2nd and 3rd Abu Dhabi Dialogues (organized in Bangkok and Singapore, in 2007 and 2008 respectively) have resulted in a consensus vision of a "cooperative and knowledge-based partnership of states fairly managing and developing the Himalayan River systems", as well as agreements on specific actions to advance the water cooperation agenda. The 4th Dialogue was inaugurated today (Thursday) by H.E Mohammed Al Bowardi, Secretary General of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Managing Director of Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) with the attendance of HE Majid Al Mansouri, EAD’s Secretary General and other officials from the Agency. This 4th Dialogue aim at launching a cooperative knowledge grants programme, and developing the vision for a possible regional cooperative project on the rivers of the Greater Himalayas. HE Al Bowardi said in his opening speech that “water crisis is considered one of the most important issues in today’s world. It poses short term and long term challenges for all of humanity. The United Nations Environment Programme has already alerted the world to the fact that 1/3 of the world will face water scarcity issues in the coming 30 years. More than half the world’s populations will live in areas that suffer from water shortages. As the pace of economic development increases so does the demand on our water resources”. “There are more than 245 shared rivers that around 40% of the world’s population and 50 % of farm land depend on. Despite this fact, there are no international agreements that govern the use of these resources. This drives us to be even more careful with he management and distribution of these important resources to avoid conflict among countries that share borders” he added. Al Bowardi said “it is our pleasure to host the Fourth Session of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue on Southeast Asian Cooperation on Water, where senior representatives from several countries are gathered here today to discuss how to strengthen cooperation in a region of the world that derives its water from the mountains of the Himalayas”. “We are honored to be hosting this meeting in Abu Dhabi to promote the contributions of the leading local, regional and international organizations in the field of environmental conservation and mitigation of the effects of global climate change and achieving water security” he added. He noted that under the wise leadership of H.H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the guidance of H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE have taken great strides in the realm of environmental protection over the past several years. “Abu Dhabi has been a champion of environmental protection. Abu Dhabi is currently hosting the Arab Water Academy to provide a platform for dialogue to achieve water security in the Arab world. Today, we are hosting this Dialogue after it was launched in this same city in 2006 and continued in 2007 & 2008 in Bangkok and Singapore” Al Bowardi said.. He noted that by hosting this important event, in partnership with the World Bank, we aim to encourage regional water cooperation to ensure that water is provided to more than a billion and a half people. “I would like to take this opportunity to invite all participants in this Dialogue to develop the necessary frameworks to contribute to global efforts to protect our natural resources and to mitigate the effects of climate change, because of their significant environmental, economic and political impact” Al Bowardi concluded. |
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