For billions of people, mountain meltwater is essential for drinking water and sanitation, food and energy security, and the integrity of the environment. But today, as the world warms, glaciers are melting faster than ever, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme.
Developing and maintaining a secure and equitable water future underpins prosperity and peace for all. The relationship also works in the opposite direction, as poverty and inequality, social tensions, and conflict can amplify water insecurity.
This paper aims to review the state of gender equality in Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) and showcases how a gender perspective can inform and strengthen the discourse around SDG 6 acceleration.
To accelerate the achievement of SDG 6 targets as part of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, UN-Water is developing SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Studies to explore countries’ pathways to achieving accelerated progress on SDG 6 at the national level.
The lack of coordination between Water Resources Management (WRM) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and the resulting institutional fragmentation impedes progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) towards sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Target 6.5 is: “By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.” Indicator 6.5.1 tracks the degree of integrated water resources management (IWRM) implementation, by assessing the four key dimensions of IWRM: enabling environment, institutions and participation,
Target 6.3 is: “By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally”.
Target 6.5 is: “By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.” Indicator 6.5.2 looks at the area of a country within transboundary basins and assesses the extent to which that area is covered by operational cooperation arrangements.
Target 6.6 is: “By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.” Indicator 6.6.1 tracks changes over time in water-related ecosystems. Earth observations are used to determine changes to surface water bodies, such as lakes, large rivers, flooded wetlands and reservoirs.
