UN agencies, partners, and government representatives convened for the 43rd UN-Water Meeting to tackle a heavy agenda for advancing global water and sanitation policy. The preparations for the December 2026 UN Water Conference was the key focus of the meeting and of the one-day workshop that followed.

Participants recognized the opportunity the 2026 UN Water Conference provides to build on the dialogue that began at the 2023 UN Water Conference, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) briefing note. “They also stressed that it needs to deliver concrete and actionable outcomes to demonstrate the value of multilateral cooperation in the face of a challenging financial and geopolitical environment,” it reports.

Among other items, participants heard an update on the final details for the third edition of the UN SDG 6 Synthesis Report, to be launched during the July 2026 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). This report will reveal the impact and value of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation).

The Co-Chairs for the six interactive dialogues, named in the six months since the 42nd UN-Water meeting, reported on the initial discussions that took place during a January preparatory meeting in Senegal and on their initial planning for the dialogues. These dialogues will be the centerpiece of the 2026 UN Water Conference and will be co-chaired as follows:

• Water for people: Ghana and Switzerland;
• Water for prosperity: China and Spain;
• Water for planet: Egypt and Japan;
• Water for cooperation: Zambia and Finland;
• Water in multilateral processes: Mexico and Germany; and
• Investments for water, South Africa and France.

In each of the six presentations, the Co-Chairs recognized the interlinkages among the six themes, while also stressing the need for discussions to be focused.

Wrapping up the two-day open session, Alvaro Lario, UN-Water Chair, highlighted participants’ preference for acting coherently across mandates, as fragmentation is costly and coordination must lead to delivery. He also outlined how “discussions had revealed ways in which the outcomes from the 2023 UN Water Conference are helping countries make progress.”

During the full-day workshop on 26 March, Co-Convenors from UN agencies who are drafting concept notes for each of the interactive dialogues held world café-style discussions on the outlines for each concept note. They provided feedback on overlaps and gaps and on key elements in each outline.

Throughout the meeting and workshop, participants recognized UN-Water as a valuable convening space for discussions on global cooperation on water and sanitation. They also emphasized the need to ensure upcoming meetings are viewed as linked events. These include: the Fourth High-level International Conference on the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Sustainable Development,’ also known as the Fourth Dushanbe Water Action Decade Conference; the in-depth review of SDG 6 at the July session of the HLPF; and the 2026 sessions of the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the three Rio Conventions – the UNFCCC, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Also highlighted was the need to plan for the follow-up of each event, “to ensure learning takes place and progress is achieved on the ground.”

The 43rd UN-Water Meeting convened at the headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy, from 24-25 March 2026. It brought together 120 registered participants, while more than 80 individuals registered to join online. [ENB Coverage of 43rd UN-Water Meeting] [SDG Knowledge Hub Policy Brief on Moments in 2026 That Will Shape the Agenda]