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 » Korean Water Institute on Water Security and Sustainable Management placed under the auspices of UNESCO
07.12.2016 - Natural Sciences Sector

Korean Water Institute on Water Security and Sustainable Management placed under the auspices of UNESCO

© UNESCO/Christelle ALIX Signature of the agreement on i-WSSM between the Republic of Korea and UNESCO, 7 December 2016.

An agreement was signed today by the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, H.E. LEE Byong Hyun, to establish the International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management (i-WSSM) at the K-Water Institute in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, as a category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO.

“We are privileged to sign this agreement today, at a moment when UNESCO reinforces its support to member states in the field of water security, and we count on this new centre to assist us in capacity building, providing access to technology and setting up the corresponding policies, to allow our Member States to evolve to full ownership, in the true spirit of the Sustainable Development Agenda,” said the Director General.

“By signing the agreement, the Republic of Korea brings today the 4th category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO, the first one in the Science sector. This underlines once more their true commitment to UNESCO’s diverse mandate, and I thank them for that” she continued, addressing the Ambassador on behalf of UNESCO.

The Ambassador reaffirmed that the Republic of Korea recognizes the strength of UNESCO in its broad and intertwined mandate. “We are proud to join our forces with UNESCO and its Member States, now also in the field of water cooperation, as we believe it contributes to the reduction of poverty and is essential for creating healthy and stable societies” he said.

The Centre will focus on research, education, and development of technologies for effective adaptation to climate change and towards achieving sustainable water resources development and management. Through these efforts, the Centre will contribute to the current objectives of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP). It will specifically target issues related to global change impacts on river basins and water security, which are also key areas of interest in the recently approved strategic plan of the eighth phase of IHP (IHP-VIII, 2014-2021). I-WSSM also aims to contribute to Water Education through its capacity building component, and is expected to make strong contributions towards achieving the UN Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially goal 6 on Water.

The ceremony, which took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, was also attended by Mr Jung Yung-soo, Minister Counselor, Ms Lee Sun-kyung, Attaché, Mr. Kim Do-kon, Director of the Water Resources Industry Division, and Mr. Lee Kang-min, Assistant Director of the Water Resources Industry Division from The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of the Republic of Korea, as well as Mr. Kim Do-gyoun, General Manager, Ms. Oh Se-jin, Senior Manager, and Mr. Kim Do-kyun, Manager of the K-water Institute.

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