As a 5T initiative, the Department of Water Resources and the UNICEF signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) on Wednesday in a ceremony presided over by department Principal Secretary Anu Garg for collaboration on communication and policy initiatives of the department.
This endeavour aims engaging with the community on sustainable water management, prudent water use, equity in water distribution, water conservation, women as principal stakeholders in water governance, participatory irrigation management, etc.
Garg said the department, for the first time since its inception, is unleashing its soft power through greater community engagement in matters of water governance, water conservation and keeping water clean. She explained that climate change has forced all to rethink the way water is managed and that it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to work towards realising key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, improved water quality, wastewater treatment and safe reuse, increased water-use efficiency; Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems, capacity-building and participation in water and sanitation management, etc. She also launched a Web Site “Youth4Water” for the purpose. She stated that rethinking the State Water Policy, development of the Water & Land Management Institute(WALMI) as a Centre of Excellence, ‘Youth4Water’an ‘Mo Nadi’ campaigns are the key features of the collaboration with the UNICEF.
UNICEF Chief Field Officer Monika Nielsen maintained, “Large-scale urbanisation, shifting cultivation patterns and increasing in industrial activities have forced us to think more strategically about water and communication and work to achieve the SDG. The UNICEF is committed to bringing positive changes to the lives of women and children and these changes cannot be achieved without addressing the water-related issues.