Official SDG monitoring processes can be used to create opportunities for tangible actions that accelerate measurable progress on water resources management

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Sandra Bruehlmann

Authoring Organizations:	SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme
Consulting Organizations:	Global Water Partnership
Universal:	Yes
Last Updated	May 8, 2024

Overview

Water-related Action Plans should be based on SDG 6 monitoring and designed with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, to serve as a collective roadmap for different sectors to contribute to achieving the SDGs. Equitable and inclusive water resources management must be a key component of all water-related investments to ensure that investments do not generate unintended externalities and are truly sustainable. The SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme provides such investment opportunities for all stakeholders willing to contribute to a water secure future.

Benefits

Aligning non-government water-related investments with government-led multi-stakeholder Action Plans can ensure the sustainability and impact of the activities, increasing the return on investment, while also supporting sustainable partnerships to reach the SDGs, in the spirit of SDG 17. If the Action Plans are based on the results of SDG 6 monitoring, investments in these plans contribute in a measurable way to helping countries meeting SDG targets, allowing non-government actors to contribute to the public good. This reduces the transactional costs of such investments.  

Guidance

The 6.5.1 survey (on the degree of implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management), completed by countries in 2020, provides an updated status report of each country’s legal, institutional, management and financial challenges and opportunities to reach the water-related SDGs.  

• In all countries, the SDG 6.5.1 national reports are available as a useful starting point for designing actionable goals to initiate systemic change while improving the country's score on SDG 6.5.1 (http://iwrmdataportal.unepdhi.org/countrydatabase). Countries and stakeholders interested in implementing a multi-stakeholder consultation to evaluate and report on SDG 6.5.1 may consult the Support Package for further guidance or contact the SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme.  

• Some countries have already defined IWRM Action Plans based on this monitoring exercise (available on https://www.gwp.org/en/sdg6support/engage/iwrm-actions/actionsearch/), and the corresponding actions are investment opportunities that can be supported by interested stakeholders. More countries are being supported all the time. Countries and stakeholders interested in implementing an Action planning process may consult the Acceleration Package for further guidance. 

• The SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme is available to support sustainable water-related investment decisions (sdg6iwrmsp@gwp.org).  

Example

The IWRM Action Searcher currently contains 175 actions, in different stages of implementation. One example of an action that has been implemented is an outreach and educational campaign implemented in Grenada (https://www.gwp.org/en/sdg6support/sdgmap/caribbean/grenada/actions/action-3/).