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Water & Sanitation

While substantial progress has been made in increasing access to clean drinking water and sanitation, billions of people—mostly in rural areas—still lack access these basic services, which were recognized as a human right by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010. Worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water, and more than 673 million people still practice open defecation. Unsafe hygiene practices are widespread, compounding the effects on people’s health. The impact on child mortality rates is devastating, with more than 297,000 children under five who die annually from diarrheal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water.

By managing our water sustainably, we are also able to better manage food production and energy, and contribute to decent work and economic growth. Moreover, we can preserve our water ecosystems, their biodiversity, and take action on climate change. Water and sanitation are essential to the future of sustainable development.

Events and Articles

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Showing 11 - 20 of 68 results

9th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention

The meeting successfully highlighted the importance of transboundary water cooperation, welcomed Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, and Togo as new Parties, and saw the signing of the Ministerial Declaration on the Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin by ministers from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 29 September 2021 - 1 October 2021

34th UN-Water Meeting

UN-Water Members, Partners, and observers considered how to accelerate progress toward water and sanitation for all by 2030 when ambitions appear off-track.
Event 15 March 2021 - 17 March 2021

33rd UN-Water Meeting

The 33rd UN-Water Meeting offered a brief chance for the Members, Partners, and observers of this UN interagency coordination mechanism to discuss the role of water and sanitation in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and to receive updates on upcoming opportunities to engage at the global level to build momentum for implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) on clean water and sanitation.
Event 29 September 2020

32nd UN-Water Meeting

Participants at the 32nd UN-Water Meeting moved through a packed agenda focused on issues related to the UN-Water programme of work and the UN-Water 2030 Strategy, ways to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (clean water and sanitation) implementation, and ways to elevate and address water and sanitation challenges at the country and regional level in light of the UN reform process, among other issues. 
Event 28 January 2020 - 29 January 2020

Budapest Water Summit (BWS) 2019

Discussions at the Budapest Water Summit framed how to prevent emerging water crises, how to manage crises where they cannot be prevented, and identifying relevant gaps in knowledge, governance, technology, finance, regulations and institutions.
Event 15 October 2019 - 17 October 2019

31st UN-Water Meeting

The 31st UN-Water Meeting discussed progress on and next steps for joint initiatives that UN-Water Members and Partners have undertaken to ensure that the UN is “delivering as one” to address global water challenges. Many of the initiatives discussed during this meeting, which took place immediately prior to World Water Week 2019, will contribute to implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular emphasis on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (clean water and sanitation).
Event 23 August 2019 - 24 August 2019

13th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP13)

COP13 adopted 25 resolutions, including on a language strategy with a step-by-step plan to add Arabic as the fourth Convention language, gender, peatlands, blue carbon ecosystems, sustainable urbanization, agriculture, intertidal wetlands, wetlands in West Asia, and Arctic and sub-Arctic wetlands. The release of the Global Wetland Outlook provided a touchstone for discussions on challenges ahead to ensure the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 22 October 2018 - 29 October 2018

8th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention MOP8) serviced by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Throughout the meeting, many speakers highlighted the importance of further expanding the Water Convention and making its tools globally available to enable cooperation and effective water management. MOP8 addressed many substantive issues, including reporting under the Convention and SDG indicator 6.5.2 (proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation). 
Event 9 October 2018 - 12 October 2018