Join the Conversation about Water Security for the People, Produce, and the Planet

U.S. delegation co-leads Secretary Haaland and Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator and Global Water Coordinator Maura Barry (center) among the women leaders that made up the 2023 U.S. delegation. At the last UN Water Conference in 1977, only 11 women were part of the USG delegation, while in 2023, all U.S. departments and agencies were led by female delegates.

Summary

Unprecedented drought pushing millions into starvation in the Horn of Africa. Rising conflict over shrinking natural resources. Surging cholera caseloads across the world. What do all of these things have in common? Water.

As UN Secretary General António Guterres so aptly stated recently, “Water is humanity’s lifeblood, from the food we eat to the ecosystems and biodiversity that enrich our world to the prosperity that sustains nations, to the economic engines of agriculture, manufacturing and energy generation to our health, hygiene and survival itself.”

That is why USAID leads efforts internationally to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation services for millions around the world, and to advance social equity in water resource management under the U.S. Global Water Strategy. Water also features prominently in USAID’s efforts to advance agriculture-led growth, resilience, and nutrition under the U.S. Global Food Security Strategy; and it is central to the Agency’s efforts to address the climate crisis under the USAID Climate Strategy.

From March 22-24, water experts and advocates came together at the United Nations 2023 Water Conference to mobilize international cooperation and new financial commitments to reach water and sanitation access for all by 2030.

Follow along as Dina Esposito, USAID Assistant to the Administrator for the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS) and USAID Global Water Coordinator, and Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator Maura Barry take a deep dive into what happened at UN Water and why it matters.

Read the full interview on USAID’s LinkedIn Page.

About the author

Dina Esposito

Assistant to the Administrator for the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS) at USAID, Feed the Future Deputy Coordinator for Development, and the Agency’s Global Food Crisis Coordinator & Maura Barry is Senior Deputy Assistant to the Administrator in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security at USAID and USAID Global Water Coordinator.