The event to debut the UN Group of Friends on Drowning Prevention on March 22 (Photo: VNA) New York (VNA) – The UN Group of Friends onDrowning Prevention made debut at an event co-chaired by the permanent missionsof Vietnam and Fiji at the UN headquarters in New York on March 22.
Addressing the event, Ambassador Nguyen PhuongNga, head of Vietnam’s Permanent Mission to the UN, stressed that drowningclaims 360,000 lives a year across the globe, higher than malnutrition ormaternal mortality. However, this topic has never been discussed at the UN.
The World Health Organisation recently describeddrowning as a “silent epidemic”. Statistics show that drowning usually occursin low- and middle-income countries while the drowning rate is also higheramong vulnerable groups. Every minute, a child loses his or her life to thewater.
She noted that Africa has the highest drowningrate, but the highest child drowning rate is in the Asia-Pacific region.
In fact, drowning is completely preventable bysimple solutions such as swimming lessons, lifebuoys, and public servicesdelivered at a large scale and low cost which can save hundreds of thousands oflives each year.
Ambassador Nga said it’s time for countries tobe united to prevent drowning. She called on UN member states, UN agencies, andrelevant organisations to join efforts to minimise drowning in the world,thereby helping to attain the goals in the 2030 Agenda for SustainableDevelopment and leave no one behind.
With the support of the Bloomberg Philanthropiesand Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the UN Group of Friends on DrowningPrevention was founded by the permanent missions of Vietnam, Fiji, Bangladesh,Ireland, Tanzania and Thailand to the UN with a view to improving publicawareness of and promoting support for drowning prevention.
The debut of the UN Group coincides with theWorld Water Day (March 22) and the UN’s launch of the International Decade forAction on Water for Sustainable Development.-VNA
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