Removing barriers SDG 6: Barriers preventing effective progress on water and sanitation

Halfway through the period set by the international community to implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda, data shows us that we are not progressing at the appropriate pace to achieve the water and sanitation goals included in Sustainable Development Goal 6.

To be sure, great efforts are being made, but these efforts are failing to reduce the inequality that lies at the heart of Leave No One Behind.

At the conclusion of the Water Conference in March this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres showed that all expectations for progress in the 2030 Agenda will collapse if we do not protect water, highlighting the enormous interconnectedness of SDG 6 with the entire agenda. . Thus, food security, poverty reduction, access to education, health, peace or gender equality cannot be achieved if safe access to water and sanitation is not guaranteed for all people.

We know the current situation, and we are clear about the global diagnosis of problems that leave behind so many people around the world, revealing uncomfortable truths that we cannot continue to ignore.

Accordingly, two questions come to my mind:

• What are the obstacles to reducing inequalities in water and sanitation?
• What actions are needed to move more quickly and effectively towards universal access, without discrimination?

The United Nations proposes five accelerators to drive progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6: better financing, more data and information, capacity development, more innovation, and a better governance framework. But how can these accelerators be put into practice so that no one is left behind?

To answer all these questions, we have a team of international specialists who will share their ideas, explore the reasons behind not enough progress and break down the challenges with courage and clarity.