Stockholm International Water Institute with French Water Partnership, Government of the Netherlands, Government of Tajikistan (TBC), Government of Colombia (TBC), Government of India (TBC), Government of Senegal (TBC), Government of South Africa (TBC)

Water cuts across all SDGs and the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation are central to the achievement of the overall 2030 Agenda. Water is crucial for advancing human rights, access to health, education, and jobs, as well as for food security, economic stability, reducing poverty and inequality, tackling climate change, and enabling peace, justice, and sustainability. The SDG water-related targets, present in most SDG’s, provide a unique opportunity to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda and should be considered as a key enabler of the sustainable and resilient recovery from Covid-19.

The current lack of progress on SDG 6 on water indicates that water remains under-valued, and that the full benefits and services it delivers for society, the economy, and the environment are not properly recognised, with consequences for public and ecological health, and economic development. Valuing water has the potential to be a catalyst for greater political leadership, societal reform, and business innovation that enables sustainability and resilience, including climate action and pandemic preparedness.

With concrete examples and solutions from the ground, this event will highlight the importance of valuing water in the context of current COVID-19 recovery efforts as a pathway to building resilience and enabling systemic change. This event will also signpost the 2023 Mid-term Review of the UN Water Action Decade, which will be centred on the value of water in order to achieve all the SDGs by leveraging technical, social, economic and environmental interactions between sectors and across the global agendas.

Kelly Ann Naylor, Vice Chair for UN-Water

High-level panel:

H.E. Jonibek Hikmat, Permanent Representative of Tajikistan to the United Nations

H.E. Jose Luis Acero Vergel, Vice-Minister for Water, Colombia

Abdoulaye Sene, Executive Secretary, 9th World Water Forum (Dakar, 2022)

Examples from the ground:

Promoting economic growth while reducing inequalities and staying within nature’s carrying capacity

Xavier Leflaive, Principal Administrator, OECD

Karin Gardes, Chief Operating Officer, SIWI

Kynan Tegar, Indigenous filmmaker from the Dayak Iban, Indonesia

Moderated by:

Alexander Otte, Associate Programme Specialist, UNESCO

Closing remarks:

Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director, SIWI

Interpretation to French will be offered during the event

Register for event