On February 27th, Mr. Li Liangsheng, Vice Minister of Water Resources, met Madam Lidia Arthur Brito, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, and her colleagues in Beijing. Both sides conducted in-depth exchanges on stepping up cooperation between Ministry of Water Resources and UNESCO.
Li pointed out that Ministry of Water Resources attaches great importance to cooperation with UNESCO in the field of water resources. Two sides have achieved fruitful cooperation outcomes in IHP, international water conferences, water-related goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the establishment of UNESCO’s Category II Centers, thus laying a solid foundation for further deepening water cooperation between China and UNESCO.
Li emphasized that UNESCO is one of the most important multilateral partners of Ministry of Water Resources. On the basis of long-term friendly cooperation, both parties shall comprehensively deepen and scale up practical cooperation, so as to make more contributions to global water governance. Moreover, both sides shall promote the signing of an MOU on water cooperation, providing a guiding framework to carry out all-round and in-depth concrete cooperation in the future. As a long-term member of IHP, Ministry of Water Resources stands ready to actively support and participate in relevant actions, and use existing exchange and cooperation platforms to share more Chinese solutions and experience with the international water community. Ministry of Water Resources will fully support the development of International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation, and gear up cooperation with UNESCO in water science, popular science on water, water culture and other fields.
Lidia Arthur Brito spoke highly of China’s achievements in participating in global water governance, and expressed gratitude for conducting all-around water cooperation with UNESCO. Besides, she looked forward to the signing of an MOU on water cooperation between two sides, so as to determine the cooperation direction in the future, and promote more practical cooperation in the spheres of water-related natural disasters management, ecological hydrology, water quality monitoring, science-based water assessment, among others.
Source: INTCE