Faith, Political, Business, Entertainment and Development Leaders Assemble for Summit this Week to Ignite Historic People’s Movement
“Now is the time for massive change if we are to have a water-secure and swachh future,” Says HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, President, Parmarth Niketan :
See attached list of luminaries participating in the Summit
RISHIKESH- Eminent faith leaders, captains of industry, entertainment stars, development experts, media luminaries, and representatives from global bodies including the United Nations will assemble at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh this week for a historic two-day summit to help ensure a Swachh and Water-Secure future for India.
With the technical support of UNICEF and other partners, the two-day long You are the Solution Summit of Leaders is being organised by the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA). Located at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, GIWA is the world’s first initiative that is engaging the planet’s many faiths as allies in efforts to create a world where every human being has access to safe and healthy water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
GIWA is organising the You are the Solution Summit of Leaders at the auspicious time of Ganga Dusshera in light of India’s urgent need to safeguard its quickly-diminishing water sources and to ensure safe and healthy sanitation for all. Within 13 years, it is predicted that India will have only half the water it needs unless change is rapidly made. Already, water scarcity is on the rise, with over 30 crore people impacted by deadly droughts last year alone. Meanwhile, more people are not using toilets in India than anywhere else in the world, and septic waste is being dumped with abandon, causing 80% of our nation’s drinking water sources to be tainted with sewage.
The Summit will address these pressing issues by working towards sparking a people’s-led movement for lasting change.
Said HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, President of Parmarth Niketan and Founder/Chair, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance India, “India’s urgent water and sanitation crisis can only be addressed if all come together and ignite a great wave for change. No longer can we wait for the solution to be handed to us. Instead, all must realize that we ourselves are the solution. We have witnessed aanshan for too long. Now it is time for action! Let us shift our focus from aanshan to action!”
The Summit will feature leaders who are renowned across the nation, as well as every-day people who have made enormous change in their communities. Together, they will share words of inspiration and plan together towards realizing (and becoming) the change they wish to see.
Said Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, Secretary General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, “There has never been a Summit like this, where every-day men and women (aam admi) will be celebrated for their achievements alongside India’s foremost leaders, where knowledge will be shared and a people’s-led movement will be ignited. This Summit is truly a Make India Summit, as it is focused on empowering the people to be the change!”
Proceedings will commence on the morning of June 3rd with a state-level “Swachh Uttarakhand/Swachh Bharat: You are the Solution Summit.” It will be followed on the evening of June 3rd with the live-broadcasted National-level “You are the Solution Summit of Leaders,” which will continue through the 4th with high-level planning workshops. The Summit’s closing ceremonies will include a national Ganga Day Celebration, and will address important issues concerning Ganga rejuvenation.
The Summit is also being called to order on the weekend of Ganga Dusshera, in response to Uttarakhand’s Hon’ble High Court’s ruling that recently gave Ganga and Yamuna the rights of a person.
As Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji explains: “I am so pleased that the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers have been given rights equivalent to a person by a landmark decision of the Uttarakhand High Court. This means hope for millions of people dependent of Holy River Ganga, but there is still much to be done. As our Ganga’s—and our nation’s– waters decline and suffering increases, we know it’s time to do more than talk. Our Summit will help work towards understanding and implementing the actions now required from each of us in light of this great decision and India’s growing water and sanitation crisis.”
See attached list of luminaries participating in the Summit
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