Water and sanitation are at the very core of sustainable development. In addition to domestic purposes, water is needed for food, energy and industrial production, uses that are highly inter-connected and potentially conflicting. These various uses generate wastewater that may cause pollution if not properly managed. Water is also needed to ensure healthy ecosystems, which in turn can improve the quantity and quality of freshwater, as well as overall resilience to human and environmentally induced change. The climate system is linked to the environment and the socio-economic system through water, and climate change are often reflected in shifts in water availability, severing water scarcity in some regions, and flooding in others.

The 2030 Agenda includes a dedicated goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6) that sets out to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” With water at the very core of sustainable development, SDG 6 does not only have strong linkages to all of the other SDGs, it also underpins them; meeting SDG 6 would go a long way towards achieving much of the 2030 Agenda.

A new global monitoring initiative, “Integrated monitoring of water and sanitation related SDG targets – GEMI”, is currently being implemented by a group of eight UN agencies, coordinated by UN-Water. GEMI aims at coordinating the preparation of the monitoring methodologies for four targets of SDG6, and at supporting member states in their implementation.

Agriculture is the largest user of water resources in many developing countries. The capability to forecast and monitoring the impact of policy decisions on water availability is therefore extremely important for decision makers, particularly in the fields of food security and rural development.

The presentation will introduce the work done in FAO under this project, highlighting the actual and potential linkages and collaborations with other FAO initiatives.

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