Distinguished Participants,

Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of Tajikistan, I would like to welcome you all at the opening ceremony of the Water Pavilion.

Our country has been steadily and actively promoting water in the global development agenda over the last two decades.

During this period, at the initiative of Tajikistan, the UN General Assembly adopted eight (8) resolutions related to water.

Resolutions on declaring 2003 as the "International Year of Clean Water", 2005-2015 as the "International Decade of Action "Water for Life", 2013 as the "International Year of Water Cooperation" are among our global initiatives.

These developments effectively contributed to the promotion of water agenda at the global scale and enabled significant help to attracting more attention of the international community to the need to address this challenge.

In this context, on the initiative of our country, the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution on the International Decade of Action "Water for Sustainable Development" for the years 2018-2028.

At the heart of this Decade's efforts is to give new and powerful impetus and momentum for action in the water sector in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

In June this year, we held the Second Dushanbe Conference on the International Decade of Action "Water for Sustainable Development".

This Conference has developed key messages for the UN Water Conference in 2023, within the framework of which the progress towards achieving the goals of this Decade will be evaluated.

As is known, next year's Conference will be held for the second time in the history of the United Nations, and the international community pins high expectations of this gathering.

Tajikistan and the Netherlands, as co-chairs of the Conference, are trying to make it historic not only in terms of time, but also in terms of its outcomes.

It is satisfying that the Water Pavilion has also focused on the United Nations Water Conference, and I am sure that the outcomes of the deliberations and discussions will make a valuable contribution to the preparation process for this important conference next year.

Dear Participants,

Water resources and climate change are inextricably linked.

We clearly observe this in Tajikistan, where more than 60 percent of Central Asia's water resources are originated.

Due to climate warming, the speed of melting of our glaciers is dramatically increasing year by year.

To date, one thousand of Tajikistan's fourteen (14) thousand glaciers have completely melted (vanished).

Floods, droughts and other natural disasters related to water every year cause a lot of economic and social damage in the country, and in most cases cause loss of life with casualties.

An important aspect of our decisions in the process of adaptation to climate change and elimination of its consequences is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Tajikistan currently produces 98 percent of its electricity from hydroelectric power plants, ranked the sixth in the world in terms of green energy production.

We intend to double our capacity to generate "green energy" from renewable sources in the future.

At the same time, our country makes a remarkable contribution by reducing the risks and threats of natural disasters and effective water resources management, which play a key role in achieving climate-related goals.          

Leaders of the Water and Climate Coalition, of which Tajikistan is an active member, approved their Action Plan at the Dushanbe meeting, which includes different initiatives in this direction.

In particular, our proposal to declare 2025 as the "International Year of Glaciers’ Protection" is currently under discussion at the United Nations.

As part of our efforts to prepare for the United Nations Water Conference, we presented water and climate cooperation as one of its main topics.

Our efforts within the framework of the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit are also aimed at raising the international community’s attention to the key role of water resources in achieving climate goals and calling on for modern and innovative actions in this direction.

We are confident that the Water Pavilion will also contribute to the promotion of these goals and agenda.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like to thank the Egyptian side for prioritizing water issues in the global climate agenda and productive collaboration in organizing this Water Pavilion, as well as the governments of the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and related organizations and institutions that have made a valuable contribution to make this happen.

I am confident that joint efforts we undertake will yield desired effect and enables us to implement serious developments in addressing key water issues next March in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations Water Conference.

I wish all of us success in this endeavor.

Thank you for your kind attention!