Water is the lifeblood of humanity, but protecting it isn’t taken seriously enough. That was the conclusion of many at the historic United Nations 2023 Water Conference.
There is “no home” for water in the United Nations system, Henk Ovink, special envoy for international water affairs for the Netherlands said on Friday. There is no legally binding international agreement to protect water resources, like there is, for example, for climate change.
Ovink’s remarks came during a press conference on the closing day of the U.N.’s first water conference in nearly 50 years held at its headquarters in New York City. The highly significant event was co-hosted by the Netherlands and Tajikistan.
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About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
