ZIMBABWE is keen to glean experiences relating to water sustainability at the 8th India Water Week running until Friday this week as the country seeks to ensure that every Zimbabwean has access to clean, portable water, the Deputy Minister for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Vangelis Haritatos has said.
Deputy Minister Haritatos, who is attending the India Water week in New Delhi, said Zimbabwe will also share it’s experiences on the impact of the El Nino-induced drought on water availability.
“We’re here to share what we have in Zimbabwe. So, we are very keen to share our best practices and also learn best practices from countries of similar size.
“As you know, water is a scarce resource and we’re trying to see if there’s anything that we can learn, whatever loopholes that we have, so that we can close them, so that we can basically fulfill our mandate of ensuring that each and every Zimbabwean has access to clean, portable water,” Haritatos said.
Watch Haritatos on the 8th India Water Week: https://youtu.be/UtbFZRZiDVM?feature=shared
What Is India Water Week?
Conceptualized and organized first in 2012, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India is organizing the India Water Week 2024 biannually. It is a 4-day conference and exhibition which is India’s international water resources event.
The event serves as a global platform to elicit ideas and opinions from global level decision-makers, politicians, researchers, experts, planners, innovators, students and stakeholders in the field of water resources from across the world, focusing on “Partnerships and Cooperation for Inclusive Water Development and Management”.
The four-day event hosts Conference, Exhibition and study tours with Seminars, Panel Discussions, Side Events, Exhibition and Cultural programme, besides providing opportunities to businesses to find prospective partners and customers through a 4000 Sq.m. state of art exhibition.
“This week we will be discussing, sharing Zimbabwe’s take on things with regards to water and how we use water for the benefit of our people, as well as the agricultural usage of water.
“But the key word this week is going to be sustainability. We are signatories to several treaties when it comes to water bodies,” he added.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6.1 seeks to, by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. 6.2 by 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.
To achieve this, Haritatos called for collaboration with private sector because government cannot do it alone.
“Therefore, we also want to attract investment into the water sector. So there’s many things that we are coming to do. We’re very excited to be here, we have a good delegation with us,” the Deputy Minister said.
