Momen to attend OIC CFM in Mauritania, UN Water Conference in US

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen is scheduled to leave the capital Tuesday evening to attend multiple events in Mauritania's Nouakchott and the US' New York in the next 12 days.

Momen will attend the 49th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC, scheduled to be held during March 16-17 in Nouakchott.

In a preparatory meeting held last month at the headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah, OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha said the Palestinian cause, the central issue for the organization, is going through serious developments that have recently been discussed by the executive committee whose recommendations will be followed up.

The same applies to the situation in Afghanistan, which was the focus of the extraordinary meeting of the executive committee that adopted several recommendations, including continuing engagement with the de facto authorities in Kabul through Special Envoy, Ambassador Tarig Ali Bakheet, and arranging a second visit for a delegation of scholars.

The secretary-general congratulated Mauritania on assuming the chair of the current CFM session.

Momen will lead the Bangladesh delegation at the UN Water Conference to be held in New York during March 22-24, a senior official told UNB.

The UN 2023 Water Conference must result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world's lifeblood the commitment it deserves, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The world will come together to address the urgent water crisis at the conference in New York.

Co-hosted by the Netherlands and Tajikistan, the conference will be a global momentum for accelerated implementation and improved impact to advance the broad challenges surrounding water, organisers said.

Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is the most basic human need for health and well-being.

Water is essential for human health and well-being, energy and food production, healthy ecosystems, climate adaptation, poverty reduction, and more.

But decades of poor management, misuse, over-extraction of groundwater and contamination of freshwater supplies have intensified water stress and degraded water-related ecosystems. 

Urgent action is needed to ensure a sustainable and equitable distribution of water for all needs, according to the UN.

On his way to the US from Mauritania, Momen might have a brief stopover in the UK's London. He is scheduled to return home on March 26, reports UNB.