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Close of International Year of Water Cooperation in Mexico

The closing ceremony of the International Year of Water Cooperation will take place in Mexico City from 5 to 6 December. The event will be an opportunity to take stock of progress and achievements made throughout the year and plan the continued promotion of water cooperation.

Organized by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water with the support of the Mexican government through the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), the event will be opened by Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Antonio Meade Kuribreña; the Health Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Clayton Burgin; Tajikistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sirojidin Aslov; Costa Rica’s Environment and Energy Minister, José Lino Chaves; Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Science, Gretchen Kalonji and CONAGUA Directeur-General, David Korenfeld Federman.

The first day, focusing on lessons learned during the International Year, will feature a ministerial session on global prospects for water cooperation and key events during the Year. On the second day, entitled Beyond the International Year: Recommendations for Action, will be an opportunity to plan future activities.

The United Nations General Assembly in 2010 proclaimed 2013 , following a proposal by Tajikistan and the Year was launched at UNESCO on 11 February. UNESCO was asked by UN-Water to organize the Year together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and support from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)

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Media contacts: Aitor Bengoa, UNESCO Mexico, +52 50 52 80 7071, a.bengoa(at)unesco.org

Agnès Bardon, UNESCO Press Service (Paris), +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 64, a.bardon(at)unesco.org