12 November 2012: UN-Water, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have opened online public discussions on water, as part of a consultation process to define the post-2015 development agenda.

The thematic consultation on water is supported by the Governments of the Netherlands and Switzerland, and implemented through a UN-Water Task Force. The agencies will draw on input from the consultation to prepare a summary and recommendations for the attention of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) at the end of March 2013.

The online discussions are running on the “World We Want 2015” website and are open to all. A concept note on the consultation proposes two focal areas for discussion: access to safe drinking water, sustainable sanitation and hygiene; and water resources, including Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The note also suggests that the water consultation can serve to “guarantee the inter-linkages” between the process to establish Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the work of the post-2015 task team and HLP.

In addition to the online discussion, other elements of the water consultation may include the commissioning of papers on water-related topics, further online consultation in early 2013, regional and technical meetings, and a high-level meeting hosted at The Hague in conjunction with World Water Day, on 22 March 2013.

The UN-Water-led consultation is one of 11 themes to be addressed in the post-2015 consultation process led by the UN Development Group (UNDG). The other themes are governance; inequalities; growth and employment; health; education; environmental sustainability; hunger, food security and nutrition; conflict and fragility; :population dynamics; and energy. [World We Want 2015 Water Discussion] [JMP Water and Sanitation Discussion] [UN-Water Webpage on Consultation]