UN, OECD to closely align global work in water and sanitation

Jakarta, 29 November 2024 – Global access to clean water and sanitation is not just a fundamental human right, but also key to economic development, and development actors need to cooperate closely to deliver on water-related goals under the 2030 Agenda. This was the conclusion of a meeting this week between Retno Marsudi, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Water, and Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

“Aligning efforts by the UN, the OECD and other partners, and working together in complementary ways in support of developing countries will accelerate the progress towards tangible improvement in people’s lives,” Ms Marsudi said after their meeting in Jakarta. “The Sustainable Development Goals are interconnected, and water is very much a lynchpin that binds the goals together. Therefore, success in water and sanitation is a prerequisite for success in the other Sustainable Development Goals.”

Improving water governance, financing water infrastructure and unlocking the potential of well-managed water for overall economic growth are at the heart of the OECD’s multidisciplinary work in this area, Mr Cormann told the Special Envoy.

“The OECD stands ready to further strengthen its cooperation with the UN, and we are pleased to work closely with the newly appointed Special Envoy to achieve stronger alignment,” Mr Cormann said.

Ms Marsudi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, took office as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Water on 1 November 2024. She is working to enhance international cooperation and synergies among various international water processes in support of the achievement of all water-related goals and targets, including SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). Ms Marsudi works along what she calls her Triple A Priorities: advocate for water and sanitation, align goals and workplans and accelerate progress to full access. (For more on her appointment, read this press release.)

The OECD collects data on official development assistance flows from provider countries and multilateral organisations. These data show that water and sanitation related ODA rose by 11% to USD 8.5 billion in 2022, representing 3.1% of total ODA.

Progress on SDG 6 is lagging compared to other SDGs. Despite some improvements in access to clean water and sanitation, around 2 billion people globally still lack safely managed drinking water services, and over 4 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation services. SDG 6 is among the goals requiring the most urgent action due to its fundamental role in health, well-being, and sustainable development.