There is no single UN entity dedicated exclusively to water issues. Over 30 UN organizations carry out water and sanitation programs, reflecting the fact that water issues run through all of the UN’s main focus areas. UN-Water’s role is to coordinate them all so that the UN family ‘delivers as one’ in response to water-related challenges.
The world is seriously off track to meet internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 “to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030”. UN-Water’s Blueprint for Acceleration: SDG 6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2023 is a concise guide to rapidly delivering concrete results.
International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.