Reviewing the United Nations Water and Sanitation Strategy Implementation: Updates from recent meeting on SDGs and water management

The 39th UN-Water Meeting recently took place, bringing together Members and Partners to discuss the implementation of the first-ever UN system-wide water and sanitation strategy. A key aspect of the meeting was improving coordination and collaboration with other international processes. Additionally, discussions centered around the launches of upcoming reports.

The UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/77/334, which called for the water and sanitation strategy, builds upon the UN 2023 Water Conference held in March 2023. According to reports, UN-Water has been tasked with developing a collaborative implementation plan for the strategy.

During the meeting, participants highlighted various issues that the implementation plan should address. These include clarifying the role of UN-Water as a coordination mechanism and not as an agency, improving communication among UN-Water’s Task Forces, and addressing communication challenges at regional and national levels to better support countries strategically.

The meeting summary report suggests developing tools, such as a repository of agreed text on water and sanitation within intergovernmental agreements and resolutions. Participants also discussed upcoming events that could help raise awareness of water and sanitation issues, including the Summit of the Future, the One Water Summit, and meetings related to the Rio Conventions.

Discussions also focused on the launches of upcoming reports, such as the World Water Development Report on ‘Water for Prosperity and Peace,’ a report by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and a UN-Water Analytical Brief on the Water Dependencies of Climate Mitigation.

The 39th UN-Water Meeting took place in Rome, Italy, at the headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) from 12 to 13 March 2024. This meeting aimed to advance cooperation and collaboration in addressing global water and sanitation challenges.