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Commemoration of the World Water Day 2018 and the Regional Launch of the World Water Development Report 2018 on Nature-based Solutions for Water and the SDG6 Synthesis Report

March 22 marks the annual commemoration of World Water Day. This year world leaders gathered in Brazil at the 8th World Water Forum (18-23 March), where ESCAP and UNESCO were leading different thematic sessions related to the theme. The World Water Forum had also celebrated the opening of a new UN Decade on Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028).

In recent years, ESCAP and UNESCO delivered a set of special public dialogues to feature the policy messages and the launch of the analytical products aimed to set up exemplary cases from the region. As part of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, the two agencies are conducting a side event to feature new two analytical products: The World Water Development Report 2018 (WWDR 2018)and SDG6 Synthesis report. The event is aimed at raising awareness on global water events, which should help to create synergies between the different initiatives and provides a networking opportunity for APFSD participants. 

The WWDR 2018 is an annual publication by the United Nations World Water Assessment Programme of UNESCO and UN-Water, which involves 31 Members and 38 Partners. The years WWDR aims to inform decision and policy-makers across all sectors on the potential of ‘nature-based solutions’ for sustainable water management. The term ‘nature-based solutions’ refers to water management practices that imitate naturally occurring processes. 

In addition, UN Water is featuring the brief of SDG 6 Synthesis report, which will be launched in June 2018, and will report on the global progress of SDG 6 on water and sanitation. 

This event is engaging distinguished experts from member states and regional think-tanks, private sector and civil societies to discuss potential nature-based solutions for water and how they could be considered for water management policy and practice. The deliberation and discussions from the event will contribute to the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). 

In addition, the event will facilitate networking between different sectors and catalyze regional initiatives for exploring innovative strategy to attain SDG6 in Asia Pacific. 

  • How can we tackle water challenges using nature-based solution? 
  • What impactful policy levers would help address SDG 6 in Asia Pacific, to ensure improvement of human livelihood and ecosystem health?

Additional Documents

Presentations

for more information, please contact

Environment and Development Division +66 2 288 1234 [email protected]