Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam held talks with United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on preparations for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference and the future of global water governance within the UN system.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Sewilam praised the United Nations' role in preparing for the 2026 conference and commended Mohammed's efforts to keep water issues high on the international agenda.
He stressed the importance of continued cooperation with the United Nations to ensure the conference delivers practical outcomes that strengthen global action on water.
As co-chair of the third interactive dialogue, "Water for the Planet," alongside Japan, Sewilam reviewed the results of extensive consultations with UN member states, UN agencies and other stakeholders.
He said the current phase focuses on developing pioneering initiatives capable of delivering tangible and practical results, while emphasizing the need to maintain momentum on global water commitments.
The minister also underlined the importance of ensuring coherence between the UN Water Conferences held in 2023, the upcoming 2026 conference, and the planned 2028 gathering, saying stronger coordination among intergovernmental water processes would support implementation and sustain political commitment.
The discussions also focused on expanding the use of renewable energy-powered desalination, water reuse and wastewater treatment as essential components of a diversified water resources strategy to address growing global water scarcity.
Both sides highlighted the need to encourage innovation, lower the cost of water technologies and link proposed initiatives to clear financing mechanisms to enable their implementation as viable programs and projects.
The 2026 UN Water Conference is expected to build on commitments made during the 2023 conference, with a stronger focus on accelerating implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
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