It is a great pleasure to be with you today to officiate this year’s Integrated Water Resources Management conference and I welcome you to this important gathering.

I would like to extend my thanks to our partners for your contribution to advancing the environment sector in Rwanda. We are especially grateful for your ongoing support in water resources management and landscape restoration. Thank you for being with us on this journey, and for making today’s conference possible.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, water is your human right. Access to water underpins public health and is critical to sustainable development. Availability of water is critical for us to build a prosperous country. We cannot move forward as a society while some people are living without access to safe and sufficient water.

This year’s World Water Day is focused on ‘Leaving no one behind’. Rwanda should be proud of the progress being made to improve access to water, and we must remain focused on ensuring we reach everyone. Doing so requires us to protect water resources, control pollution, and mitigate flooding. It is also important that people from all walks of life, especially young people and women, are part of these efforts, not simply beneficiaries.

Around the world, those living in rural areas are still under-served and this is also true for Rwanda. To truly leave no one behind, we need to ensure water, sanitation and hygiene services are available at low cost and high quality - no matter where people live.

Successful realisation of Goal 6 on Water of the Sustainable Development Goals will also underpin progress across many of the other goals, particularly on nutrition, child health, education, gender equality, cities, sustainable energy and water ecosystems and oceans.

By working together, we can build a water secure and water resilient country. This year's IWRM conference is your opportunity to make a difference - to expand your networks, your knowledge and your impact. Every idea you share, every new approach to increase water resilience, and every new technology that saves water will help us to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.

Today in Rwanda, water resources face increasing demands from domestic water users, farmers, industries, energy suppliers, and ecosystems - all competing to satisfy their needs. Water is a precious resource that needs to be used efficiently to meet these demands. This is the only way we can leave no one behind, today and into the future.

As a result of these increased demands, the cost of inadequate water resources management are also growing. And not just financially – but also in lost opportunities, compromised health, and environmental damage.

During this conference, you will be deliberating on catchment and spatial planning, flood management and forecasting, water productivity and efficiency, water quality and pollution control and water accounting.

Catchment and spatial planning done by our Water Resources Management Department and partners reveals the best practice approaches for integrated water resources management and for management of related land and natural resources.  

Water productivity and efficiency, together with other critical issues such as climate change, flooding, and water pollution require us to constantly look for innovative ways to make our society and the economy more sustainable and resilient.

Climate change is already making rains more intense and droughts drier. It is a defining issue of our time and a priority for the Government of Rwanda. Our ability to adapt to climate change will depend on how well we manage our water resources.

The Integrated Water Resources Management approach applies knowledge from various disciplines, and uses insights from diverse stakeholders, in a participatory approach, to implement efficient, equitable and sustainable solutions to water and development challenges.

To do so, we are reorganising the water resource management sector through creation of the Water Resources Board. The board will oversee integrated planning of water resources, catchments restoration and erosion control, flood management and water storage development. It will also ensure water use efficiency and quality management. The creation of the Water Resources Board demonstrates the government's commitment and the importance of water resources in the socio-economic life of our country.

I take this opportunity to commend efforts from our partners with whom we have worked in the development of the Water Resources Board, as well as various areas of water resources management, domestic water supply, irrigation for agriculture and hydropower to make sure that eco-innovative solutions are used wherever possible.

Let’s make the most of our time together by sharing knowledge, advancing cooperation and always keeping the end goal in mind: impacting the lives of citizens for the better.

I would like to conclude by inviting you to join us for all activities of Water Week, as well as those taking place for Forest and Meteo days. We began with a Walk for Water on Sunday and will conclude by celebrating World Water Day on Friday with the launch of the rehabilitation of Secoko sub-catchment of Upper Nyabarongo catchment - one of the more degraded catchments in Rwanda. Please join us.

With these remarks, I declare this conference officially oppen and I wish you fruitful discussions.

Thank you for your kind attention.