Watersan Perspective reporter
January 15, 2015
The UN-Water Chair Michel Jarraud has highlighted the central role of water in sustainable development of communities.
In his welcome video at the opening of the 2015 International Annual UN–Water Zaragoza Conference in Zaragoza Spain today, Jarraud stressed that, “water is at the core of sustainable development.”
He told over 300 people, mostly from the United Nations Agencies and programmes, experts, representatives of the business community, governmental and non-governmental organizations attending the conference that they should, “never lose hope for water and never give up.”

Jarraud described the 2015 as an important year for sustainable development. He was referring to the expiring of the Millennium Development Goals deadline in 2015 and the launching of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the end of the end of the same year.
The conference which lasts till January 17 was officially opened by the mayor of Zaragoza Juan Alberto Belloch Julbe.
Speaking during the same occasion, Leo Heller, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation noted that a component of human rights should be included in all discussions related to SGDs.
There are 17 proposed SDGs and 169 targets. SDG six focuses on water and sanitation. It has eight targets.
Others five SDGs have seven targets directly or indirectly linked to water-related issues.
A high level summit to adopt the SDGs takes place in New York, USA in September this year.