Two day Moot on 'Water for All' in US from Wednesday

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid on Tuesday left for Washington DC to participate in the two-day meetings from Wednesday on "Sanitation and Water for All (SWA)."

The moot will comprise a Finance Ministers' Meeting (FMM), convened by the World Bank on behalf of the SWA partnership, on April, 20. It will be attended by Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, a press release here said.

In the preceding days, 19 and 20 April, a Sector Ministers' Meeting (SMM) will be convened by UNICEF, involving those ministers responsible for water, sanitation and hygiene who have accompanied their finance counterparts.

At the ministerial meetings, participants will have the opportunity to engage in policy debate, exchange lessons learned and hold each other mutually accountable for progress on improving access to sanitation and drinking water for all.

These ministerial meetings will build on previous SWA High-level Meetings of Ministers of Finance (in 2010, 2012, and 2014) and of Ministers responsible for Sanitation, Water and Hygiene (in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016).

The purpose of ministerial meetings is to raise awareness among ministers of the challenges of the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) targets of the SDGs and the changes required to meet them.

Follow-up and exchange learning on the Building Blocks of a strong sector (in terms of financing, institutions, capacity, planning, and policy and strategy), that support progress and development effectiveness in order to eliminate inequalities and achieve sustainable universal access.

Enable ministers and senior representatives of development partners to discuss the essential Collaborative Behaviors that foster increased development effectiveness.

Discuss attracting and utilizing adequate finance, in advance of the Finance Ministers' Meeting.

Building on the previous Sanitation and Water High Level Meetings, SWA will bring together Ministers of Finance to considers the crucial issue of funding to achieve the sanitation, water and hygiene related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, Issues to be addressed will include how service producers can operate more effectively, improve governance and use their financing more efficiently to mobilize additional resources for the sector.

The 2016 Meeting was the first occasion for the sector to come together after the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed. Countries and their partners will discuss national planning to meet the challenges of the water, sanitation and hygiene-related targets and required resources.