Strengthening and Revitalizing Global Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Three Solutions for Securing Water and Sustaining Growth.

AuthorSanjaasuren, Oyun

Shifting our priorities from economic growth to sustainable development is the political imperative of our time. To do so, leaders must deliver on water security, ensuring that water becomes an enabler, rather than a major barrier to sustainable growth. What is it going to take?

EVERYONE AT THE TABLE

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) was created in 1996 to advocate for the application of integrated water resources management (IWRM), and has since produced a substantial body of knowledge in that respect. GWP cheered when a Sustainable Development Goal on water, SDG 6--"ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all"--was incorporated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including a specific target (6.5) for the implementation of IWRM. This integrated approach has become a global political commitment.

One of the core tenets of IWRM is "a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policymakers at all levels." GWP was also pleased when the 2030 Agenda called for an all-of-society engagement and partnership to bring about the large scale transformational change needed to address the worlds challenges through SDG 17, "Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development". This inclusive approach is essential for solving water problems, most of which stem from the growing demand of competing users. Water is everywhere: in food, health, energy, migration, jobs, poverty, climate change solutions and disaster relief. Business as usual--a fragmented approach with each sector acting unilaterally--means we will eventually need three planets worth of water! A water-secure world will require all users at the table to share water more holistically and understand that unless upstream resources are managed sustainably, the well may dry up for everyone.

The first solution to securing water and sustaining growth is multi-stakeholder inclusion, thereby deploying SDG 17 for SDG 6. The GWP local-national-regional-global network includes stakeholders--governments, civil society, and business--who have the power to solve water problems. Our network on the ground provides the knowledge, capacity and flexibility to respond quickly, so that political will may be exercised for achieving water security in a timely fashion.

As an example, GWP leveraged its stakeholder network in 2017 to advance the SDG 6 reporting process. Together with the United Nations Environment Programme-DHI, the custodian agency of the SDG target...

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