Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has stressed the need for the adoption of a basin-based approach in water management of cross-border rivers as well as for improved water management for the recovery and reconstruction initiative from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ‘Build Back Better’.
She said that in order to co-operate in tackling common challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, we must exchange the combined strengths of good practice, knowledge, and technology and adopt a basin-based approach to cross-border river management.
The Prime Minister emphasised regional and sub-regional cooperation including hydropower generation and supply.
The prime minister made the remarks in a video message broadcast at a two-day water conference in Kumamoto, Japan, on the theme “Water-Best Use for Sustainable Development and the Next Generation”.
Describing water as vital to life, she said, ‘It is fundamental to promoting a culture of sustainable development and peace.’ We need to ensure proper water management to ‘recover’ from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Referring to an event held in 2016, Sheikh Hasina said she was a member of the UN High-Level Panel on Water. The ‘call to action’ step was taken back then.
The mid-term review of the Water Action Decade next year will provide a platform for implementing our Action Agenda. She hopes the Kumamoto declaration will make an effective contribution to that process.
Regarding the measures taken in Bangladesh to this end, she said that her government has developed an inclusive, holistic approach to water management. More than 85% of the country’s population has access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation.
She said, ‘We have developed a cross-sectoral Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 with the aim of building a resilient and prosperous delta. Our government is organising an international funding conference next month to raise funds for the implementation of projects under this plan.’
