United Nations Water

There is no single UN entity dedicated exclusively to water issues. Over 30 UN organizations carry out water and sanitation programmes, reflecting the fact that water issues run through all of the UN’s main focus areas. UN-Water’s role is to coordinate so that the UN family ‘delivers as one’ in response to water related challenges.

What we do

The overarching focus of our Members and Partners is to support UN Member States to sustainably manage water and sanitation.

We do this in three ways:

1. Inform Policies
2. Monitor and Report
3. Inspire Action

How we help drive progress

UN-Water’s Members and Partners have helped place water and sanitation at the heart of recent milestone agreements such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015-2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, and the 2015 Paris Agreement within the UN Convention Framework on Climate Change. UN-Water’s consolidated technical advice from UN entities and external organizations helped shape Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. As a result, SDG 6 and its various targets take the entire water and sanitation cycle into account.