The Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions is a unique partnership led by UN DESA and ITAIPU BINACIONAL to promote Water and Energy Sustainability and other SDGs in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The objective is to build a global multi-stakeholder partnership and network to enhance capacities, dialogues and cooperation at all levels, for enabling cross-sectoral approaches, advocacy and knowledge management that address SDG6 and SDG7 and interlinkages with other SDGs holistically, in order to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The intention is to grow this global network over time to become one of the largest global multi-stakeholder-based knowledge networks on energy and water.

Leveraging UNDESA and Itaipu’s complementary strengths, activities to be implemented under this project aim to achieve following outcomes: 1. Increased capacity of governmental institutions and relevant stakeholders to effectively manage the water-energy nexus and interlinkages with other SDGs for sustainable development to facilitate national implementation of the 2030 Agenda; 2. Enhanced knowledge management and best practice sharing on the water-energy nexus and interlinkages with other SDGs for sustainable development; 3. Enhanced global advocacy and outreach in the areas of energy and water and their interlinkages.

For this partnership to achieve the desired outcomes, enhancing capacity of governmental institutions and relevant stakeholders to effectively manage the water-energy nexus for sustainable development and interlinkages with other SDGs will be essential. To do so, a series of capacity building initiatives will be implemented, including: - Undertake a stock-taking of capacity building gaps to identify priority needs, map existing efforts to reduce duplications and enhance relevance and synergy; - Conduct capacity building and training workshops, based on the needs assessment and covering all relevant areas including policies, project development, financing, innovation, technologies and monitoring. Drawing on lessons and best practices around the world from Africa, Arab States, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, knowledge sharing and technology transfer will be promoted through creating a large network for information sharing on water and energy initiatives and technologies, and promoting exchange of experiences at global level.

The governance structure of the initiative comprises: (1) a joint Programme Management Unit and (2) a Steering Committee. • The joint Programme Management Unit will manage day-to-day operations of the partneship, including programme implementation, global advocacy and partnership mobilization, and financing and administrative support. The joint Programme Management Unit will operate from two locations: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) at its headquarters in New York, USA, and Itaipu Binacional (in the side of Paraguay of Itaipu). • The Steering Committee will provide guidance on strategic direction for an effective implementation of the initiative. The Steering Committee will be composed of UNDESA, Itaipu Binacional, and other stakeholders/partners including governments, businesses, civil society and international organizations, and will be led by two Co-Chairs. Members of the Steering Committee will meet at least once each year.

ITAIPU Binacional (Paraguay-Brazil), UN DESA