Background

The high-level 2026 United Nations Water Conference to Accelerate the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all will be held in the United Arab Emirates from 2–4 December 2026, co-hosted by Senegal and the United Arab Emirates.

The Conference will consider challenges to achieving SDG 6 as well as opportunities and innovative ways to support its implementation and accelerate progress. Participants will exchange views, develop initiatives, and identify actions to advance SDG 6, including cooperation at all relevant levels to enhance means of implementation and partnerships.

The Conference will also highlight gender perspectives and empowerment of women and girls in ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for all.

The Conference will result in a summary of the proceedings of the Conference, to be prepared by the Presidents of the Conference, as its outcome document. The summary will also serve as an input to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

Additionally, the Conference will offer an opportunity to share best practices in accelerating SDG implementation—including those included in the Water Action Agenda—and will invite Member States and other stakeholders to announce voluntary commitments in support of the Conference objectives. Members States decided that the 2026 Conference should build on the discussions held during the UN 2023 Water Conference.

The 2026 UN Water Conference will be comprised of plenary sessions and six interactive dialogues (A/RES/78/327). The Conference secretariat, UN-DESA, will prepare a background note on potential themes of the interactive dialogues, based on the inputs of Member States, the UN system, and a wide range of other stakeholders. The themes of the interactive dialogues will be adopted by the UN General Assembly at a one-day meeting to be convened by the President of the General Assembly on 9 July 2025.
More information about the UN 2026 Water Conference can be found here.