The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) has begun facilitating national-level consultations ahead of the second round of reporting on SDG Indicator 6.5.1 – the degree of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) implementation. Lesotho and Zambia are the first countries in the region to hold the consultative meetings on 20-21 August 2020.
The country workshops form part of SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme, which assists governments in designing and implementing country-led responses to SDG indicator 6.5.1. The Support Programme brings together representatives from governments, civil society, academia and the private sector to report on SDG indicator 6.5.1.
The SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme is implemented with the UN Environment Programme’s guidance and coordinated by GWP in collaboration with UNEP-DHI and Cap-Net-UNDP. The Programme is part of the broader Africa Water Investment Program (AIP) that GWP is implementing in African countries.
The objectives of the SDG6-SP initiative are the following:
- Stage 1 - Identifying challenges: Strengthening SDG 6.5 national monitoring and reporting frameworks to identify critical areas for attention.
- Stage 2 - Formulating responses: Assisting countries in formulating appropriate responses to water resources management challenges.
- Stage 3 - Implementing solutions: Supporting countries in implementing solutions aimed at achieving SDG 6.5.
Monitoring and reporting on SDG indicator 6.5.1 is based on a self-assessment survey, sent out to all UN Member States every three years. This year marks the second reporting cycle, where GWP is collaborating with UNEP to support 60+ countries to measure the degree of implementation of IWRM, encapsulated in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 6.5.1.
The first reporting cycle on this indicator took place in 2017 and established a global baseline on the SDG 6 indicator 6.5.1. The results of the 2017 workshops informed the SDG 6 baseline data included in UN-Water’s SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation, which also served as an input to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). They also contributed to the 2018 report, Progress on Integrated Water Resources Management, which was the global baseline for the degree of IWRM implementation.
During this second round of SDG 6.5.1 reporting, GWPSA and UNEP are facilitating consultations for 6 SADC countries. These are Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.
The data collected during these consultations will serve to complete the survey instrument that will be delivered to UNEP to establish the 2020 global position on SDG 6.5.1., as well as to prioritise actions at the country level to accelerate implementation of IWRM.