Progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6—ensuring water and sanitation for all—remains off track across Asia-Pacific. Climate pressures, ecosystem degradation, rapid urbanization, fragmented governance, and persistent financing gaps are slowing advances. Yet water is not simply a sectoral issue: it connects climate action, ecosystem health, disaster risk reduction, and inclusive development.
To address these challenges, UNESCO, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), UN-Habitat, and India Water Foundation will convene a side event at the Asia Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development 2026 exploring how transformative, coordinated, and innovative actions can accelerate SDG 6. The session links concrete, science-based water solutions with the enabling conditions required to scale them—from policy coherence and innovative finance to strengthened partnerships and data systems.