SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (CMC) — The fourth edition of the Regional Water Dialogues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with delegates is being told that proper water management is an urgent imperative.

The conference, which ends on Wednesday, is being being organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

It is being attended by government ministers and more than a 100 representatives from 18 countries in the region, from the public and private sectors, international organisations, development banks, academia and civil society.

ECLAC said that the event integrates a high-level ministerial space, with exchanges of technical experiences with a multi-stakeholder approach, in order to promote good practices and further the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 in the region, which seeks to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

“On this occasion, a high-level session on water and agriculture will be held to seek out high-impact solutions on water resources, taking into account that the agricultural sector is the main water consumer, with a consumption share of over 70 per cent,” it added.

ECLAC executive secretary José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs said that water is not only essential for life but also for achieving sustainable development in our countries.

“That is why we seek to share experiences, but above all to propose concrete actions and strengthen the commitments made in regional and global spheres to ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, in a context of various cascading crises and climate change,” he added.

He highlighted the relevance of the Regional Water Action Agenda, adopted last year in Chile, noting that the document summarises the main voluntary commitments and courses of action agreed upon by Latin American and Caribbean countries for furthering and accelerating effective progress on implementation of SDG 6 during the second half of the United Nations Decade for Action on Water 2018-2028.

“This Regional Water Action Agenda constitutes a call to action for mobilising all the political, technical and financial resources available in and for the region in order to promote a sustainable and just water transition with four pillars of simultaneous action,” he said.

The ECLAC official said that the four pillars are to guarantee the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, eliminate water poverty; reduce over exploitation and water-related conflicts; and promote innovation and the circular economy of water.

“One important necessity is to accelerate the investments required for infrastructure provision, maintenance and operation that would close the gaps in access to safe water and sanitation services.

“ECLAC has estimated that to provide universal coverage of safely managed water and sanitation for the population by 2030, on average countries would have to invest 1.3 per cent of their gross domestic product annually for 10 years, which would create 3.8 million green jobs a year and would increase gross value added by 1.6 per cent,” Salazar-Xirinachs said.

IICA Director General Manuel Otero said water action is synonymous with action for sustainable development and action for life.

“Our continent is the main net exporter of agricultural and food products in the world. This is an enormous responsibility because the need to carry forward food security and the planet’s environmental sustainability falls on our shoulders.

“Water is central, it is a priority defined by authorities for establishing partnerships. That is why anything that facilitates dialogue, knowledge exchange and promotes the implementation of innovative solutions is central,” he said, underscoring the importance of the partnership with organisations like ECLAC, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank.

The organisers said that during the meeting here, delegates reviewed implementation of the Regional Water Action Agenda approved in 2023, with the aim of analysing the progress and challenges of achieving SDG 6 and highlighting successful experiences and lessons learned for achieving that objective.