The 7th World Water Forum came to an end on Friday as political leaders, government officials and experts from over 100 countries declared water as the "core of sustainable development", stressed on the importance of water-related issues in dealing with climate change, pledging their joint efforts to tackle them.
"This international event is an indicator of a collective will to address water issues globally," Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said on the sidelines of the forum in South Korea. "It is an opportunity to explore all the elements affecting water management."
Underlining the integrated water resources management (IWRM), the minister pointed to the increasing need for water and energy resources worldwide as key issues discussed in the forum, Yonhap News reported.
Water management is an especially serious challenge in Iran as the country has faced severe shortage of water in the past several years. It has an annual average precipitation of 252 millimeters, which is approximately one third of the global average.
Precipitation is below average in most provinces, with level of water resources in 13 provinces reported extremely critical and in 11 provinces in alarming conditions.
The six-day event - held in South Korea's southeastern cities of Daegu and Gyeongju - sought to boost global efforts to deal with various water issues and promote technological support for developing countries in overcoming water-related problems.
