St. Kitts and Nevis this week joined global leaders at a high-level United Nations meeting aimed at advancing Sustainable Development Goal 6: ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. The one-day meeting, held under the presidency of Philemon Yang of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, featured keynote addresses from Senegal’s Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, and Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability of the United Arab Emirates.
Representing the Federation were Dr. Mutryce Williams, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Eustace T. Wallace, Minister Counsellor and lead on Economic and Financial Affairs (2nd Committee) at the Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the UN.
Ambassador Williams delivered a compelling national statement, grounding the issue in local context and cultural identity. “Our indigenous names for St. Kitts and Nevis are Liamigua and Oualie – land of fertile ground and land of beautiful waters,” she declared. “Our ancestors bequeathed us an inheritance of bounty. Yet, that bounty has been threatened, and in some cases reduced or erased altogether by runaway climate change, severe biodiversity loss, and crippling plastic pollution.”
She warned that St. Kitts and Nevis has shifted from water-rich to water-scarce in mere decades, citing prolonged droughts, sea level rise, saline intrusion into national aquifers, and pollution as key challenges. “This is not pollution of our making,” she emphasised, drawing attention to the disproportionate burden borne by Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Ambassador Williams also used the platform to highlight the positive impact of international cooperation on water resilience and climate adaptation in the Federation. She expressed gratitude to multilateral partners, particularly the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for their support in advancing geothermal energy and desalination infrastructure in St. Kitts and Nevis. These developments form critical pillars of the country’s Sustainable Island State Agenda 2040 and contribute directly to the realisation of SDG 6.
“This is a true expression of friendship, and a true telling of the potential and promise of south-south cooperation,” she remarked.
The United Nations, in framing the urgency of SDG 6, stated that achieving clean water and sanitation is both an end in itself and a critical enabler for the entire 2030 Agenda. With only five years remaining until the target year, the UN has called for a surge in investment, innovation, political will, and global solidarity.
That spirit of collaboration will be on full display at the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, co-hosted by Senegal and the UAE and scheduled to take place in the UAE from 2nd to 4th December, 2026. The conference is expected to galvanise action and offer a path forward to a water-secure future for all.
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