The UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) acts as the “UN Think-Tank on Water”, responding directly to the global water crisis. The three core functions of UNU-INWEH are:

• to help developing countries meet the Millennium Development Goals through capacity development
• to facilitate global knowledge enhancement and networking to address the global water crisis
• to foster better approaches to water management and governance through applied research designed to fill critical policy gaps.

The current academic activities of this Institute are focused on freshwater ecosystems, coastal ecosystems, dryland ecosystems and the water–health nexus. The broad priority areas for UNU-INWEH are improving human well-being, facilitating adaptation to climate change and fostering gender equity.

UNU-INWEH further hosts the Global Environmental Change and Human Health (GECHH) a Joint Project of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP).