Sustainable Development Goal 6

Sustainable Development Goal 6
Mission statement	"Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all"
Commercial?	No
Type of project	Nonprofit
Location	international
Founder	United Nations
Established	2015
Website	sdgs.un.org

Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6 or Global Goal 6) declares the importance of achieving "clean water and sanitation for all". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly to succeed the former Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to the United Nations, the overall goal is to: "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all."^[1] The goal has eight targets to be achieved by 2030 covering the main areas of water supply and sanitation and sustainable water resource management. Progress toward the targets will be measured by using eleven indicators.^[2]

The six key outcome targets to be achieved by 2030 include:

1. Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all,
2. Achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
3. Improve water quality, by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater (wastewater treatment) and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
4. Substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
5. Implement integrated water resources management (IWRM), at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6. protect and restore water-related ecosystems including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

The two means of implementing targets^[3] are to expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries, and to support local engagement in sustainable and participatory water and sanitation management.^[4]

Despite Official development assistance (ODA) disbursements to the water sector increasing to $9 billion in 2018.^[5] the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of WHO and UNICEF reported in 2017 that 4.5 billion people still did not have safely managed sanitation.^[6] In 2017 only 71 per cent of the global population used safely managed drinking water, and 2.2 billion persons were still without safely managed drinking water. Other water-related hazards related to flooding and drought also remain significant threats to human development and wellbeing.

Like the others, this Sustainable Development Goal is closely interwoven with the other SDGs. For example, access to clean water will improve health and wellbeing, leading to a progress in SDG3; and, better health leads to a higher school attendance, progressing SDG 4, improving quality education. Achieving SDG6 can only happen if other SDGs are also achieved.