Breaking silos to build resilience from water-related risks
New York - Whether from too much or too little water, 90 percent of disasters are water-related. Climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of water-related events which makes it increasingly difficult for communities to manage the disaster risks associated with water hazards. Therefore, to save lives and protect development gains, it is vital to prevent or reduce water-related risks before they lead to disasters.
Acknowledging the central role of water in sustainable development, the UN 2023 Water Conference and Water Action Agenda, elevated water as a central United Nations priority. That same year, midterm reviews of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Water Action Decade coincided, which brought into focus the urgent need to take action on water-related disaster risks.
A United Nations system-wide response to water-related risks and challenges
In response to the UN 2023 Water Conference and the Water Action Agenda, the United Nations System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation was developed to guide UN wide efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. The strategy was launched on 16 July 2024 at the 'SDG 6 and Water Action Agenda Special Event' at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York.
Moving forward to deliver jointly on water priorities
On the margins of the HLPF, UN leaders gathered at the first ever UN-Water Principals meeting, to discuss the Collaborative Implementation Plan, currently under development, that will guide the operationalization, localization, and monitoring of the System-wide Strategy. The leaders at the meeting committed to working together to deliver on the strategy and stressed the need to break silos between sectors to build resilience.
The Collaborative Implementation Plan will aim to strengthen collective leadership, enhance demand-driven support to countries, and improve policy coherence while strengthening accountability for progress through joint review and learning. In addition, the Plan seeks to accelerate progress and transformative change by enhancing the delivery of financing, data and information, capacity development, innovation and governance to developing countries.
UNDRR calls for comprehensive water management strategies to address water-related risks
Attending the meeting on behalf of UNDRR, Mr. Kamal Kishore, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of UNDRR, emphasized the necessity of developing comprehensive national water management strategies to provide a framework for UN action to address risks in a systemic manner at the country level.
He highlighted the importance of strengthening data collection and tracking losses and damage from water-related disasters to inform risk reduction and adaptation measures. "Understanding damages and losses should underpin our strategy to deal with extreme conditions."
Mr. Kishore also stressed the need to embed resilience into water infrastructure decisions and investments, which is a growing area of work for UNDRR as it has supported several countries in conducting stress tests of their infrastructure systems to identify vulnerabilities.