Mr. Ambassador.

My delegation thanks Slovenia, Algeria, Panama, and Sierra Leone for convening this meeting. I would also like to thank the briefers for their briefings.

1/ First, water and sanitation infrastructure are too often targeted in armed conflict or diverted to serve military purposes. International humanitarian law however provides them with special protection. Attacks targeting these critical civilian infrastructures can hinder civilians’ access to drinking water. They can cause pollution and contamination of water and the environment, both protected under international humanitarian law. They can undermine the right to water, the right to health, and related human rights.

All of the above has devastating consequences for civilians, as layed out in details by the briefers: they include suffering, disease, forced displacement, and the inability to cultivate land for food, to name but a few.

In Ukraine, Russia’s deliberate strikes have caused considerable damage to water infrastructure, threatening the water supply to a vast number of homes. The partial destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 6, 2023, flooded around 80 Ukrainian municipalities, with considerable human, economic, and ecological tolls. In Gaza, Israel obstacles to the provision of humanitarian aid hinder people’s access to drinking water. The suspension of electricity and fuel supplies has brought desalination plants almost entirely to standstill.

Parties to a conflict are always obliged to uphold international humanitarian law.

The international community must act to put an end to such violations. We therefore call on all States that have not yet done so to join the Global Initiative launched by the ICRC alongside six States, including France. Incidentally a working group is also focusing specifically on civilian infrastructure.

Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 2417 and 2573, must also be implemented.

2/ Secondly, many countries affected by conflict are moreover facing climate change and its intended disasters. This is the case in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, extreme weather phenomena resulting from climate change are increasingly contributing to food insecurity. In South Sudan, floods and drought are exacerbating the humanitarian and security difficulties facing the population. In Somalia, the combined effects of the security and climate crises have worsened the humanitarian crisis.

In light of this situation, France and its partners are taking action. And France calls on the international community to take action.

In 2023, we signed the WASH Roadmap call to action to step up our actions to improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene in fragile, conflict-affected, and violence-affected environments. One of the goals of this appeal was the creation of a UN Special Envoy for Water, which has now been done. We are delighted to work with Ms. Retno Marsudi and to be continuing cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the right to water and the right to sanitation.

France also whishes to see global water governance be stepped up, in view with the upcoming United Nations Water Conference to be held in 2026. That will allow all water-related challenges to be coherently addressed, including the risks facing the most vulnerable populations to crises such as climate change. The President of the French Republic reminded us of the following during the One Water Summit in Riyadh last December.

The issue of water therefore mobilizes us to the level of the challenges so that the right to water is guaranteed everywhere and for everyone.

We need to act collectively to protect civilians and ensure the respect for international humanitarian law. France is committed to this end.

Thank you.