31 January 2019: UN-Water has published the results of a six-month public dialogue on its ‘SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation,’ which reviewed global progress towards SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation). Dialogue participants called for more case examples of implementation, better access to national data, and information about how countries are drawing on SDG 6 to tailor their own national targets.
In general, participants in the public dialogue welcomed the Synthesis Report, praising the quality of data, content, and the process that was undertaken in developing the report. With regard to the next Synthesis Report, they called for harmonizing data collection efforts so as to avoid placing additional burden on governments, and creating multistakeholder partnerships for data collection.
The public dialogue provided guidance to the HLPF on review of SDG 6 in July 2018.
Some dialogue participants wished for greater attention to be given to issues of groundwater, smallholder farmers, small island developing States (SIDS) and ageing infrastructure. Dialogue participants also recommended that the next Synthesis Report highlight the water-related aspects of migration, drainage, greywater, and menstrual hygiene management. One specific suggestion was to produce an “implementation guide” or a “solutions guide” to accompany the next Synthesis Report, to provide public and private entities with information about what they can to do help achieve SDG 6.
The SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018, published in June 2018, provided summaries of progress towards each of the eight SDG 6 targets, and concluded that “the world is not on track” to achieve SDG 6 by 2030. The report provided guidance to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) during its review of SDG 6 in July 2018.
The public dialogue took place from May 2018 to September 2018, It was organized following a decision by the 28th UN-Water Meeting, in February 2018, and its results were discussed during the 30th UN-Water Meeting, held in Rome, Italy, from 31 January to 1 February 2019. [Publication: UN-Water SDG 6 Public Dialogue Report] [Executive Summary] [Report Web Page] [UN-Water Notice of Launch] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation]