Bali – The 10th World Water Forum (WWF) in Bali gave birth to concrete solutions in facing various challenges of world water problems.
In this forum, the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized the important role of water in human life.
According to the President, problematic water management, apart from slowing down economic growth, also has the potential to trigger war and become a source of disaster. Therefore, Indonesia is pushing for four concrete initiatives in the 10th WWF.
“Too much water or too little water, both can be a problem for the world,” said President Joko Widodo when opening the 10th WWF High Level Meeting.
President Jokowi emphasized that the 10th WWF was very strategic in revitalizing real action and joint commitment in realizing integrated water resources management.
“Three things that Indonesia has consistently pushed for include, firstly, increasing the principles of solidarity and inclusiveness to achieve joint solutions, especially for small island countries and those experiencing water scarcity,” he explained.
Apart from that, Jokowi continued, Indonesia is also encouraging the empowerment of hydro-diplomacy for concrete and innovative cooperation, avoiding competition in managing cross-border water resources.
“For Indonesia, strengthening political leadership is the key to the success of various collaborations towards sustainable water security,” he added.
President Joko Widodo also revealed four new initiatives promoted by Indonesia at the 10th World Water Forum, namely the establishment of World Lake Day, the establishment of a Center of Excellence in the Asia Pacific, sustainable water management in small island countries and the promotion of water projects.
“Water is not just a natural product, but is a product of collaboration that unites us, so joint efforts are needed to protect it,” concluded Jokowi.
KOL World Cleanup Day, Andi Bahari, said that water is a source of life for all living creatures. Thus, the existence of clean water sources must be properly maintained by all stakeholders in Indonesia.
One way to keep the water clean, continued Andi, is to clean up any rubbish in water sources and rivers in a number of areas in the country. He believes that these efforts will have an impact on sustainable water management.
“Cleaning up rubbish is closely related to the sustainability of water sources. “So it has become a national scale issue that is closely related to water sustainability in the future,” said Andi.
On the same occasion, Cinta Laura as Communication Ambassador of the World Water Forum also encouraged the involvement of young people in increasing public awareness of better water management in the future.
“We can instill awareness to create real action in the younger generation towards sustainable water management. “If not, then no action can be taken and more and more people will not care about water,” said Cinta Laura.