ESCWA organized a celebration to commemorate the World Water Day: Leave no one Behind, on Friday 22 March 2019 as part of the regional consultation meeting on climate change for 2019 AFSD and HLPF that was convened at the UN-House Beirut from 21 to 22 March 2019.

The event included a statement delivered by Ms. Roula Majdalani, Director of the Sustainable Development and Policies Division (SDPD) at ESCWA on behalf of Ms. Rola Dashti, ESCWA Executive Secretary which highlighted the disparities in access to water and sanitation services in the Arab region between men and women, rural and urban areas as well as across the various social classes.

The celebrations featured the regional launch of the 2019 United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR): Leaving no one behind Mr. Richard Connor, World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)/ UNESCO was introduced by UNESCO Cairo office, and presented the main findings and key messages of the report and emphasized the need to adopt practices and policy that support better inclusion and address inequality of access to water related services.

In addition to this, country perspectives on Leaving no one behind were presented by Yemen, Sudan and from the Lebanese Youth Parliament for Water.

The FAO regional office for the Near East and North Africa closed the session announcing that together with the League of Arab states, ESCWA and other regional organizations, the FAO is  convening the “Land and Water Days 2019 for the Near East and North Africa” in Cairo from 31 March to 4 April 2019, to find collaborative solutions for the improvement of agriculture, water management and food security in the region.