On 6 November 2023, UNU will host “Clean Water and Sanitation for All by 2030? What Needs to Be Done”, a conversation with Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, CEO of Sanitation and Water for All. This event will start at 18:30 in the 2F Reception Hall at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.
“Clean Water and Sanitation for All” is the 6th of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations General Assembly set in 2015 and UN Member States committed to achieve by 2030. Access to clean drinking water, improved wastewater and sewerage, and the maintenance of freshwater supplies and natural ecosystems are key to sustaining human life, and closely tied to poverty alleviation, public health, and peace and security.
Sanitation and Water for All was established as a multi-stakeholder partnership hosted by UNICEF to bring together national governments, UN agencies, civil society, research and learning institutions, utilities, the private sector and regulators to help achieve clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
However, progress has been slow. In 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Today, Sustainable Development Goal 6 is badly off track" and it “is hindering progress on the 2030 Agenda, the realization of human rights and the achievement of peace and security around the world". Why is the world falling behind and what action needs to be taken to achieve this ambitious target?
Catarina de Albuquerque will join UNU Chief of Staff Michael Baldock for a conversation exploring the challenges faced in coordinating actors with divergent, and sometimes conflicting, interests to focus on a common goal, how to encourage politicians to prioritize water and sanitation issues, and what actions can still be taken to accelerate progress and improve accountability towards the achievement of clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation; you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.
Please note that this event will be in English. Advance registration (by 5 November) is required. Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page.
Please be prepared to present identification at check-in.
About the speaker
Catarina de Albuquerque is the Chief Executive Officer of Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), a UNICEF-hosted partnership working towards the objective of water, sanitation and hygiene for all, always, everywhere. In 2008, she was appointed the first UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. Her work helped to ensure the right to water and sanitation were incorporated into the language of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN General Assembly in 2015. She studied law at the University of Lisbon and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva.
