11 January 2018
UNU Brief Outlines Steps for SDG 6 Implementation
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The brief describes six components "that governments can focus on to meet SDG 6 with equity and true sustainability".

To ensure SDG 6 implementation, the brief also details six steps, which depend on cross-sector, inter-agency collaboration and planning.

2 January 2018: The UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) has published a policy brief on how to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6). Titled, ‘Accelerating Water-Related SDG Success: 6 Steps and 6 Components for SDG 6,’ the brief emphasizes effective national enabling environments built on multi-stakeholder collaboration that can hasten SDG implementation.

The brief describes six components “that governments can focus on to meet SDG 6 with equity and true sustainability.” These include: adequate capacity; policy and institutional strength; finance; gender mainstreaming; disaster risk reduction and resilience mainstreaming; and governance integrity. More specifically, the components focus on: countries setting and achieving their own development objectives; policy coherence, and the ability of institutions to take evidence-based decisions, and build, implement and enforce inter-related policies; and defining costs and benefits of achieving each SDG 6 target, and aligning the national finance system to SDG targets. For gender, the components call for national policies that address women’s water-related needs and empower women to participate at all levels of water management. With regard to DRR, they suggest that countries developing robust mechanisms to anticipate and reduce water-related disaster risk to protect communities, assist in disaster recovery, and protect water assets from hazards. Finally, the components focus on corruption, suggesting that countries mainstream integrity and transparency to ensure greater accountability and trust in decision-making.

To ensure SDG 6 implementation, the brief also details six steps, which depend on cross-sector, inter-agency collaboration and planning. They include the need to: inventory current data and knowledge; compile knowledge to create a single authoritative evidence base; and use the evidence base to evaluate the enabling environment for SDG 6. The other steps call for the development of a plan to address weaknesses and build on strengths; implementation of the plan across all water-related sectors; and tracking progress in strengthening the six components.

UN-INWEH, with partners, developed the SDG Policy Support System (SDG PSS) to help countries measure and report on progress towards the six components for SDG 6 and six steps outlined in the brief. In 2017, the SDG PSS was piloted in Costa Rica, Ghana, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, and Tunisia. [UNU News Story] [Policy Brief on ‘Accelerating Water-Related SDG Success’]

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