Posted on 29 March 2023
The UN Water Conference held in New York last week addressed the global water crisis, as an estimated 2 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water.
Teburoro Tito, UN Representative for Kiribati, spoke to the challenges his nation and the Pacific region face at the conference. “Waging a war on two fronts simultaneously, to address water issues and climate change, is no mean feat, especially for a small island nation like Kiribati which has very limited resources at its disposal,” he says.
Kiribati is experiencing prolonged drought, with no rain in two years and the highest infant mortality rates in the Pacific due to drought. Childfund New Zealand representative David Kakiakia said on World Water Day that he has “ambitious hope for the future” in the nation but calls on the rest of the world to aid the nation in face of the crisis.
Tito reiterates this for not only his country but others suffering, saying at the conference “Given the gravity of the looming global water crisis, the world must come together as a human family and learn from each other and integrate the wisdom of the past.”