UN-Water has issued a call for inputs to inform the UN SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2026. The global stakeholder consultation from 22 October to 21 November 2025 includes an online survey and a series of virtual discussions. The feedback from the consultation will help identify what has worked well, what gaps remain, and what lessons can inform the next UNdevelopment agenda. 

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, political commitment to water action has increased. The International Decade for Action 2018-2028, ‘Water for Sustainable Development,’ serves as a political platform for Member States to discuss water- and sanitation-related issues. The SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2020 as part of the Decade for Action for Sustainable Development, offers a unifying framework for international cooperation and support. Water and sanitation also emerge as priority areas in the 2023 SDG Summit political declaration, the Pact for the Future, the Sevilla Commitment, and the 2025 HLPF political declaration, among others.

Within the UN system, the Secretary-General has appointed the first Special Envoy on Water. The first-ever UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation, launched in 2024, outlines a system-wide holistic approach to work on the interrelated cross-sectoral aspects of water and sanitation. A Collaborative Implementation Plan will guide the implementation of the Strategy over the four-year period from 2025-2028.

After nearly 50 years since the first UN conference on water in 1977, UN Member States are convening around a set of UN conferences on water – in 2023, 2026, and 2028. The UN 2023 Water Conference mobilized over 840 voluntary commitments and led to a follow-up resolution, providing a series mandates, including the UN Water Conferences in 2026 and 2028.

The preparatory process is already underway for the 2026 UN Water Conference, to be held from 2-4 December 2026 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal. Tajikistan will host the 2028 UN Water Conference. 

The UN SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2026 by UN-Water will serve as an input from the UN system and its partners to in-depth review of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) by the 2026 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The report will reflect on ten years of implementation of SDG 6, highlighting the positive impact SDG 6 has had on in-country progress and its contribution to fostering a more coherent and action-oriented water policy dialogue at all levels, along with lessons learned. Forward-looking in its approach, the report will include UN-Water’s vision for the remaining five years up to 2030 – and beyond. [Public Consultation to Contribute to SDG 6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2026]