1 February 2019: The 30th UN-Water Meeting reviewed the consultation process that was undertaken during the final stages of the preparation of the SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018, including recommendations for the next SDG 6 Synthesis Report. Participants also discussed a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling for two high-level meetings on water and sanitation issues.

In preparation for the in-depth review of implementation of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) during the July 2018 meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), UN-Water Members had coordinated their efforts to develop the report titled, ‘SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation.’ A consultation process was undertaken during the final stages of the preparation of the Synthesis Report, following a decision by the February 2018 Meeting of UN-Water, with the results of the consultation process reported to the February 2019 Meeting of UN-Water. Participants in the consultations provided recommendations for the next Synthesis Report, including: inviting feedback earlier in the process of developing the report; incorporating more case studies and easier access to more national data; improving indicator methodologies; focusing on intra-linkages between the SDG 6 targets; and including all water-related targets, not just those in SDG 6.

Participants at the 30th UN-Water Meeting also discussed a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling for two high-level meetings – one in 2021 and one in 2023 – on water and sanitation issues, and options for how UN-Water could contribute to the preparations for these meetings. The resolution, which is focused on the midterm review of the implementation of the International Decade for Action, calls for a one-day high-level gathering in 2021 to promote water-related Goals and targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2023 meeting will consider the implementation of the objectives of the Decade, and is to be preceded by a preparatory process and accompanied by two reports: one will assess progress in the first half of the Decade, and the second will summarize the proceedings of the 2023 event. In a decision on this agenda item, UN-Water requested its Task Force on Water Action Decade Implementation to respond to the explicit and implicit mandates for UN-Water included in the resolution, and to report on progress to support the resolution at the 31st UN-Water Meeting.

The 30th UN-Water Meeting, which convened from 31 January to 1 February 2019, in Rome, Italy, at the headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), also considered agenda items on data for measuring SDG 6 progress, country-level activities for UN-Water, and the role UN-Water Partners can play in engaging with UN-Water and the specialized UN agencies, among other topics. The next UN-Water Meeting will take place in August 2019, in Stockholm, Sweden. [IISD RS meeting coverage] [SDG Knowledge Hub Sources]