By Bonnie Barclay, Global Communications Manager for International Rivers
International Rivers joins coalition and local partners at the 2023 UN Water Conference this week in New York City. This year’s conference is the “Midterm Comprehensive Review of the implementation of the UN Decade for Action Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018 – 2028”, marking the midpoint of the latest 10-year Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water.
A key outcome of the Conference will hopefully be an ambitious Water Action Agenda, which captures new water-related commitments from UN Member States and other stakeholders. In the words of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “This Conference must result in a bold water action agenda that gives our world’s lifeblood the commitment it deserves”.
Monti Aguirre, International Rivers’ Latin America Program Director will be speaking at multiple events on the importance of centering permanent protections for rivers and defending human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights and territories. For over 25 years, Monti has worked with International Rivers’ partners in Latin America and around the world. She works with legal experts and civil society partners to assess the impacts of proposed dams and identify strategies to permanently protect rivers from harmful development and for the benefit of riverine and Indigenous peoples. Monti also co-produced the award-winning 1991 documentary, “Amazonia: Voices From the Rainforest.”
Partners Speaking at the UN Water Conference:
Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari, president of the Federation of Kukama Indigenous Women, “Huaynakana Kamatahuara”(working women). She has more than 30 years of experience dedicated to the territorial defense of the Kukama Kukamiria nation, to which she belongs in Peru. She has worked tirelessly in the defense of the Marañón River, which is her home and that of her ancestors, and of her integral territory as a Kukama nation. The objective of Huaynakana is to promote the leadership of Kukama women in defense of their territory, their bodies and their collective rights, promoting self-recognition of their ancestral roots and recovering their mother tongue.
Photo: Comunicación PSHA
Josefina Tunki is president of the Shuar Arutam People (PSHA) of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Called among her people a ‘brave woman’, Josefina is the first Shuar female leader, and she firmly stands in defense of the Amazon against extractive activities that consistently violate the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the environment. She is also leading the defense of the Santiago River where a megadam is proposed, which would impact her people and the Wampis Indigenous peoples downstream in Peru. Learn more her leadership and communities’ from the recent Mongabay article.
Brook Thompson is a Yurok and Karuk Native American from Northern California. Brook fights for water and Native American rights through public speaking, academic research, and frontline activism. She currently works as a Restoration Engineer for the Yurok Tribe’s fisheries Design and Construction Program. Brook was awarded the American Indian Graduate Center’s Undergraduate student of the year and won Unity’s 25 Under 25 award. Thompson’s goal is to bring together water rights and Native American knowledge through engineering, public policy, and social action. Watch Brook speak (starting at about 55 minutes, 45 seconds in) at last year’s UN Climate meeting COP27 in Egypt.
International Rivers’ schedule of events at the UN Water Conference
Join in person or watch online.
Tuesday, March 21st
Red Por Los Ríos Libres en Chile: Una Experiencia
Time: 11:00 am CLST/10:00am EDT
Online link: Watch live on Facebook stream by Codesa Aysen
Wednesday, March 22nd
Turning the tide on the freshwater biodiversity crisis
This panel will discuss effective measures to accelerate the achievement of SDG6.6, highlight innovative approaches to upscale restoration efforts and safeguard water-related ecosystems.
Time: 11:00am – 12:15pm EDT
In-person location: The Nature Hub, Apella, 450 East 29th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10016
Online link: https://youtube.com/live/6jiXNhpyjZM
Special Event: Radical Collaboration for Water Resilience: Action with our greatest Allies in the Climate Crisis
Time: 3:00 – 6:00pm EDT
In-person location: Conference Room 2, United National Headquarters (UNHQ) in New York City
Online live-streaming at the UN web TV: https://media.un.org/en/webtv
Thursday, March 23rd
Side event: Cooperation and Social Participation for the Water Management
Time: 8:30 – 10:00 am EDT
Online link: Register today!
Towards just water governance in Colombia: A dialogue on the Transformative Water Pact
Time: 8:00am Bogota/9:00am EDT
Online: Free registration: http://bit.ly/WaterPactEvent (Spanish, English and French)
Official event: Reducing inequalities – implementing Human Rights
Time: 10:00 am-1:00pm EDT
In-person location: Conference Room 2, UNHQ in New York City
Online live-streaming at the UN web TV: https://media.un.org/en/webtv
Side event: Water for Nature, Nature for Water: Policies, Solutions and Commitments for Sustainable Development
Time: 11:00am – 12:15pm EDT
In-person location: UNHQ, Side Event Room C
Online link: Coming soon. More information can be found here
Friday, March 24th
Facilitating Access to knowledge about Water (Facilitando o acesso do conhecimento sobre a água)
Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm BRT/10:00 am – Noon EDT
Online link: Watch live on AESabesp’s YouTube Channel
Side event: Rights of Nature: The missing connection to enhance and implement the SDGs on Water
Time: 3:30 – 4:45pm EDT
In-person location: UNHQ, Conference Room A
Register to watch live on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_r3AEqJXFREC9QMCPym0qVg