The way forward
The following sections align with each of the five ‘accelerators’ of the , in which partnerships and cooperation play a central role. Such partnerships and cooperation transcend boundaries and sectors, making SDG 6 everyone’s business.
Education and capacity development
Education and capacity development are crucial to accelerate progress towards SDG6. Education involves the sharing of knowledge and skills between teachers, students, institutions, and other providers and recipients of information. Technological progress is a major driver of increased capacity. The COVID-19 pandemic has given a major boost to the adoption of information and communication technologies for teaching and training worldwide and to improve communications among partners. In many parts of the world, water management is shaped by local knowledge and practices, particularly regarding utilising natural processes. Integrating this knowledge requires multidirectional forms of knowledge exchange among diverse partners.
Some challenges are technical in nature, such as creating inclusive online platforms and systems that maximize access to disadvantaged groups and communities. But stronger adoption of partnership approaches such as communities of practice, citizen science, professional networks, open innovation, and life-long learning is needed. Many citizen science projects have a strong educational dimension and are increasingly used to build awareness on local issues, such as water pollution and equitable resource allocation, and to increase transparency and inclusivity.
Data, information, and monitoring
Major constraints to accelerating progress include data gaps from the local through to the international levels, including insufficient levels of disaggregation and difficulties (or reluctance) in sharing data. Enhanced partnerships are essential to ensure that relevant data are effectively generated and processed into objective information that is made available to end users. The broader engagement of partners in priority-setting, planning, data collection and joint development of data governance mechanisms, can foster improved collective ownership. Successful partnerships require time, transparency, and mutual respect. Areas of common interest need to be identified, expectations discussed, and trust built with consultation, communication, and consensus-building critical steps.
Open-access global data repositories tend to lack the spatial resolution or level of disaggregation required for more targeted interventions. Greatly increased capacity for government agencies tasked with resource monitoring and management is needed to generate improved data to address water-related economic and social issues. Transboundary institutions such as river basin organizations, national government entities, academic institutions, as well as development organizations, are repositories of data that can be streamlined and shared to jointly monitor and manage transboundary water resources.
Innovation
Innovation will be an essential ingredient of progress and partnerships can accelerate the development and uptake of innovative technologies through knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and applied research. Strengthened and expanded South–North and South–South partnerships offer significant opportunities. Partnerships between universities, entrepreneurs and venture capital providers can accelerate business applications and need to be strengthened and expanded in middle- and low-income countries. Communities of practice for knowledge co-creation and innovation with partners from the North and South could go a long way towards developing technically feasible, economically viable, socially acceptable, and locally adaptable solutions.
Novel partnerships are also needed to accelerate the uptake of new technologies for water processing, distribution, and treatment. But the introduction of new technologies and innovations must ensure it does not worsen inequities, for example for some ITC applications that disadvantage those without proper access to internet or mobile phones connections, not to mention electricity.
Funding investment
Financing will be critical to accelerating progress. Achieving equitable access to safe drinking water for all by 2030 could require tripling current investment levels. Some current funding may be poorly targeted and even counterproductive in addressing the needs of the poorest people and communities. Improved cooperation mechanisms are key for bringing financing and beneficiaries together and facilitating joint financing of relevant projects to improve the impact of investments. Water funds are examples of multi-stakeholder platforms that pool funding from various actors. Cooperation among the different sources of finance can support and leverage co-financing arrangements.
Better cooperation between the demand and supply sides of finance requires improved mutual understanding among partners of each of their perspectives and requirements. Better tailored and specific financial products for water supply and sanitation facilities at the household level, such as micro-credits for low-income consumers and households, and could improve financing impact.
Governance
Trust and hope are fundamental building blocks for social cohesion and security. Meaningful participation and inclusive stakeholder engagement take time but will ultimately lay the foundation of accelerated progress. Policy and project processes need to better adapt to the concerns and potential contribution of different groups through enhanced partnership and cooperation. To be successful, public–private partnerships need to build cooperation that is beneficial to all stakeholders – to serve the public interest while providing a decent return to the service provider.
Both private sector and public sector operations are more effective in countries with clear, predictable, and stable legislative frameworks, as these allow long-term investment to be supported with confidence and receive a reasonable return. The inter-connected nature of water requires a much-improved whole-of-society approach that embraces both formal and informal institutions.
